Bringing an extra dose of energy to the Red Hot Highland Fling 2011/12 are Bags of Rock, who promise to “deliver a balls-to-the-wall rock show that doesn’t take itself too seriously”. Just the thing for Hogmanay so it was great to catch a few words with the band…
You’ve been from Kiev to Kuala Lumpur via the retrofest that is Rewind, what are your highlights of 2011?
Yeah, the guys have indeed been full steam ahead this past 11 months.
Gregor and I started the band from scratch, then embarked on writing and recording the album (the Next Level) of mostly original tunes.
We had our debut gig at the o2 in Glasgow at the end of April then onto a few other big shows including the Rewind Festival. Our official album launch was in Oran mor in Glasgow a few weeks back which was a great success for the band. We had a fabulous turn out of music lovers from across the board, Rock to Traditional.
We are trying to push the envelope with this album by having the pipes play in styles that they have not been accustomed to.
Its also great to see peoples reaction when they hear Scotland’s traditional instrument being backed up by a powerful rock band!
We are guessing you guys had loads of options to play at this time of year, what brought you to Inverness?
We believe that it is best for us to establish ourselves strongly in Scotland first before taking the Bags overseas. Inverness is somewhere that we haven’t managed to reach yet.
We are really looking forward to playing at the Red Hot Highland Fling and can’t wait to rock out as we have heard great things about this gig.
Our guitarist/front guy has also played here before and told us that the crowd are really up for getting involved.
What are your plans after your Hogmanay performance?
Well as usual the chaps will probably be looking for a party or two to attend and get involved in the Inverness banter!
And finally what does 2012 hold?
2012 is shaping up to be a very big year for the Bags of Rock. We have a few big announcements on the cards, keep an eye on the website for all of our activity, blog, facebook etc
Thanks to Bags of Rock
You can of course see Bags of Rock at the Northern Meeting Park on the 31st of December 2011