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Letter to America: The Proclaimers’ Charlie Reid on life in lockdown, Belladrum memories and hoping that America dumps Trump

Charlie and Craig Reid.
Charlie and Craig Reid.

What the live music scene will look like in a post-pandemic world is anyone’s guess.

But in the current circumstances, harking back to memories of the Proclaimers’ early gigs in Inverness feels a bit like imagining what life might be like on another planet.

Before they hit the big time, Charlie and Craig Reid had built up quite a following in the Highlands.

The pair regularly played gigs in the upstairs bar of the Market Bar in the Highland capital.

It’s a small space and on sultry summer nights it can be hot and sticky as regulars and tourists alike cram in to listen to good music being played live on the venue’s tiny stage.

Picture a few dozen sweaty bodies squashed together, swaying and screaming lyrics at the top of their lungs.

It’s a sight that would have public health experts running for the hills and one that most sensible folk would agree feels a long, long way away.

Like everyone else, lockdown turned Charlie Reid’s world upside down but one consolation for the twins is that they had just ended a lengthy tour a few months before Covid-19 was beginning to take hold.

The resulting restrictions meant the brothers went the longest period without rehearsing together since the early 1980s.

Charlie said: “I live in Newington in Edinburgh and Craig lives in the west side of the city, so we’re a couple of miles apart and didn’t see each other at all for the first couple of months.

“That was strange and bad enough. But as much as I love my brother, it was tougher not seeing my granddaughters and my sons.

“It’s been so extremely difficult for so many people and my heart goes out to those who have suffered through this, people who have had to isolate from their parents, those who have lost relatives and those who have been seriously ill and haven’t even fully recovered, it’s so incredibly sad.”

The easing of lockdown over the summer meant a brief return to rehearsing but new restrictions as the second wave began brought a halt to things once more.

Charlie said: “Whether you’re a performer or whether you just do it for fun, the act of just getting together in a room and singing is a therapeutic thing.

“I have to admit my head went down a little bit in the first few weeks but it’s reminded me how privileged Craig and I have been to have carried on doing this for all these years.

“That’s what I really look forward to getting back to.”

Belladrum memories

The Proclaimers’ early gigs at the Market Bar are the stuff of legend in Inverness but the twins also played a big part in the early days of an event that has become a Highland institution.

The inaugural Belladrum festival in 2004 was a modest affair by recent standards, attracting around 2,000 people.

The following year, the fledgling event was hoping for a bit of star power to help cement its place in the highly-competitive UK festival circuit.

The Proclaimers answered the call, got 7,000 fans partying in the rain as they belted out a string of hits, and Bella has never looked back.

“As soon as we set foot on the site at Belladrum, we knew it was going to last,” said Charlie.

“We knew it was young, but it was good to get into a festival that had legs.”

The performance was a roaring success despite the brutal weather conditions which transformed the Garden Stage into a mud bath.

As anyone who has ever lived in or even visited the Highlands knows, you have to prepare for all weather.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the height of summer, a sunny afternoon can evaporate in an instant and be replaced by gusts strong enough to knock you over and hailstones big enough to bruise.

“I remember the rain. What a sight it was,” Charlie recalled.

“It’s not the band you worry about when it’s like that, it’s the punters.

“You don’t want their enthusiasm dampened but it certainly wasn’t when we were on stage that day.”

After their 2005 set, Bella founder Joe Gibbs was full of praise for the famous twins.

He said: “I can’t thank them enough, the Proclaimers gave this event the support it needed from a major act in its difficult second year.”

It was no surprise then that Charlie and Craig were invited back to headline in 2015. This time though, they returned to a very different-looking festival.

Bella had been expanded to three nights for the first time and the brothers were headlining the first Thursday in its history.

It meant that thousands of music fans were on their way to the Belladrum estate at the same time as the Black Isle Show, a major agricultural event that attracts around 30,000 visitors over two days, was taking place in nearby Muir of Ord.

The resulting traffic was the worst seen in Inverness in recent memory, bringing the city and the surrounding area to a standstill.

The congestion was so bad that Highland councillors agreed to spend £3,000 on a traffic modelling study to avoid it happening again the following year.

Charlie said: “It had grown exponentially since we had first played the festival. The biggest change you saw right away was the traffic coming in, it took ages to get into the place.

“All the band felt that excitement. We hoped it would grow, we could see that it had and now it’s a fixture.”

The coronavirus pandemic caused the cancellation of 2020’s event, the first time it wasn’t held in 16 years, and even now we can’t be sure if 2021’s will happen.

But should Highland music fans should expect to see the famous Reid brothers back on the Garden Stage at some point in the future?

Charlie said: “Absolutely. You’re made to feel very welcome at Belladrum and we would love to play it again.”

‘Thank god the US has a strong constitution’

There has always been a strong political edge to the Proclaimers’ music and with everything that has gone on in 2020, it seems likely that their next album will reference  a thing or two we’ve seen on both sides of the Atlantic.

This week’s US election will have implications for the entire world and Charlie is not shy when it comes to nailing his colours to the mast.

He said: “Sometimes you really do have to push your jaw back up.

“Thank God the US has a strong constitution because it’s the only thing stopping them from descending into fascism.

“The very fact that America has elected someone like Trump, and could do so again, shows that we’ve reached a stage of degradation of democracy that is off the scale.

“It says a lot about American society and the about the decay of its culture. It’s worrying and depressing and I say that as someone who has always admired it, but I find that I do so less and less.”

As lifelong supporters of Scottish independence, the Reids have been buoyed by recent polls showing a consistent majority for it.

But Charlie remains cautious that a successful Yes campaign may still be several years away.

He said: “There must be a sweet spot for when you call a referendum but I’m not convinced we are well enough ahead yet.

“It might be in four or five years time, I’m not convinced it’ll be one or two.

“But certainly I am more enthusiastic than ever and more hopeful than ever, that as younger voters come onto the scene they will be minded that Scotland could and should be an independent country.”