The Proclaimers’ Charlie Reid welcomed 2006 in front of 25,000 Aberdeen fans… then was left freezing outside his hotel after a smoke alarm went off at 5am.
Twins Charlie and Craig make a welcome return to the city when headlining P&J Live on Saturday to promote recent album Dentures Out.
Ahead of the show, Charlie remembers the night he and his brother celebrated Hogmanay with a headline outdoor show in the Granite City.
And how just hours after the Castlegate party he was awoken by an alarm and forced into the bitter early morning cold.
The Proclaimers have racked up many memorable shows in Aberdeen since first playing the city in 1986 as support to The Housemartins.
Proclaimers’ Hogmanay gig in Aberdeen was a memorable one
That Hogmanay night 16 years ago is one that sticks in Charlie’s mind… for reasons good and bad.
He said: “I have great memories of that Hogmanay show in Aberdeen although it was really, really cold. My then wife and my kids were up in Aberdeen that night and we stayed in a hotel.
“Unfortunately the smoke alarm went off at about five in the morning and everyone had to leave. As I recall someone from the support band had been smoking and that set it off.
“It’s funny looking back on it now. But at the time when we were standing in the freezing cold at five in the morning it wasn’t funny.”
Charlie hopes big outdoor Hogmanay parties return to Scotland
The Proclaimers headlined a Hogmanay party that also included The Coral and Liberty X. Fans packed out Castlegate and Union Street to watch the twins perform hits such as I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), Sunshine on Leith and I’m On My Way.
Charlie said: “I loved the outdoor Hogmanay gigs but they seem to have declined a bit in Scotland over the last few years. Hopefully they will resurface again.
“It was a great night in Aberdeen, apart from having to get out of my bed after an hour’s sleep.”
Months of self-imposed isolation due to concerns over Covid
Aberdeen is the final show on The Proclaimers 35-date British tour.
For Charlie, Saturday’s show will mark the end of a self-imposed three-month isolation from friends and family due to concerns over Covid.
He said: “I’ve been staying away from everyone and not really going out. Since we started the main tour in October I’ve not been seeing pals or even family.
“That’s due to concerns over Covid because if you get it you have to cancel gigs and don’t know when you will be able to redo them. It is a downer not to be able to see my pals and family.
“When we finish the show in Aberdeen I’ll be able to see everyone again.
“However the people it really hit are the nurses and doctors who were living apart from their families during the pandemic. I felt so sorry for them. What a sacrifice they made.”
Turbulent times reflected in The Proclaimers’ music
New album Dentures Out, released in September, is a furious analysis of a United Kingdom obsessed with a manufactured nostalgia. It is also a scathing comment on the current state of UK.
Dentures Out still retains The Proclaimers’ impeccable ability to deliver a memorable melody.
Charlie, 60, is surprised, and disappointed, at the lack of bands making political comment.
He said: “I assume they think it’s not good for business, I don’t know. It strikes me as extraordinary if they are not really interested in what is going on.
“If record companies or management are advising them to say nothing and be quiet, well that wouldn’t be for me. I don’t see the point not being in the times and not reflecting what’s going on.
“You can’t change anything but you can certainly reflect what you feel. Sometimes that’s what some other people feel as well. Maybe they’ve been told not to do it – which is depressing in itself.
“Or maybe we just have a generation of people who just don’t care, which is even more concerning.”
The drive to write fresh material keep the Reid brothers fresh
Dentures Out is The Proclaimers’ 12th studio album. Album track The Recent Past contains the line: “80s popstars who thought they would last, Now at Butlins can be seen.”
That scenario will never be Charlie and Craig who are compelled to write new material and refuse to fall into the trap of becoming ‘your own tribute act’.
He said: “If you want to carry on enjoying what you are doing you can’t keep playing exactly the same songs forever. Obviously, we will always play the better-known hits like I’m On My Way, 500 miles and Sunshine on Leith.
“If you are not writing new material then you become your own tribute act and we are not willing to do that. For us it is vital to keep writing new material.
“As long as we are writing new material we will keep doing this. At some point when it is physically too difficult we will stop (touring) but I hope we will carry on writing songs – that is the main thing.”
For information and tickets for The Proclaimers at P&J Live this Saturday go to pandjlive.com
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