First of all, the photo accompanying today's blog was taken at last night's venue: Pollokshaws Burgh Hall (which has a great-sized dance floor and brilliant access too...we quite like it!). As you'll probably know by now, Jiggered Ceilidh Band like to weave in songs to their dances. Was this notice in Pollokshaws Burgh Hall a sign that we should be introducing our version of MC Hammer's Can't Touch This into our Virginia Reel...doo doo doo doo- doo doo- don't touch this (reel)? I think it's highly doubtful that Jenny, Susan and Ewan will go for this.
Anyway, last night's event turned out to be a wedding party for Martin and Laura who got married in December. And at least a couple of former Jiggered clients were there and we chatted to them...
Next event is the fundraiser in Newmilns- please come along if you can (details here)!
Posted at 9:11 on 5th February 2012 by
...unfortunately, we didn't make it to the actual New York wedding of Joe and Lena! But when they planned a wedding party back in Scotland, they called on Jiggered Ceilidh Band to provide the entertainment at Pollokshields Burgh Hall, in the South Side of Glasgow (we've played here a few times now).
During the evening guests enjoyed some ceilidh music from us, disco music played throgh our PA (including Ewan's favourite, the Slosh), speeches from Lena's dad and Joe, a buffet, wedding cake and a wee slideshow of photos from the Big Day in the Big Apple.
The groom was complimenting us at the end of the night and asked how long we'd been playing as a band. When we told him we'd reach 10 years in October, he noted that we'd been together longer than the Beatles...They weren't as popular at ceilidh events, though.
Posted at 9:03 on 29th January 2012 by
It's not the first time that Jiggered Ceilidh Band have performed at a wedding at the Brig A Doon, Alloway. But there was something really special about the venue at Christmas time- it really suits a bit of snow, the festive decorations and the roaring fires!
Lee and Aitor were the newlyweds on this occasion and their families brought a fantastic mix of Scottish and Basque guests! We weren't sure whether ceilidh would be exactly what the crowd would be after....but we couldn't have been more wrong. The dancefloor was packed throughout our sets- in fact this was our keenest audience for ages. At the end of each dance, they'd just stay on the floor, look up in our direction and immediately grabbed their partner for the next dance! It was a pleasure to play for these guys, and we even joined in on a traditional Basque wedding song that one of the guests played on Jenny's guitar!
A great night- we wish Lee and Aitor all the best for the future...
Posted at 10:22 on 10th December 2011 by
The venue for the latest Jiggered Ceilidh Band gig was Kilmarnock's Centrestage. Centrestage provides opportunities for people of all ages to get involved in the performing arts...they have classes for folk wanting to learn about drama, music, dance. Tonight we were playing for their Family Ceilidh, the climax of a series of events celebrating St Andrew's Day.
We had a great time- the sound team (Paul, Ross and co) looked after us really well and made sure we sounded amazing! Add to that the Killie Pies during the break, a few new Jiggered fans and this was one of my favourite gigs for ages.
Posted at 23:27 on 3rd December 2011 by
Looking for a venue with its own tree-house? Why not try the Logde at Loch Goil? Jiggered Ceilidh Band were delighted to visit this lovely, exclusive venue for Emma and Gregor's wedding, a couple tying the knot after 17 years together!
It was a nice evening- we enjoyed a vociferous film review from resident movie critic Ewan Cunningham...it was enjoyed by Craig and Eva (the wedding photographer couple from Killie- check out their website). Ewan made it clear that he has high standards- every film will be scrutinised and compared with the golden standard (Home Alone 1 and Home Alone 2).
Posted at 12:46 on 23rd October 2011 by
Sharon and Chris (or the new Mr and Mrs Rossi as they're now known) booked Jiggered Ceilidh Band to play at their wedding in Dumfries, at The Duncan Rooms, Easterbrook Halls. We had played in the Easterbrook Halls before but only remembered that when we arrived at the venue!
First dance at the bride and groom's request was "When You Say Nothing At All"- we hadn't played this one before but if we had forgotten any of the lyrics we could have taken our cue from Sharon and Chris who sang along as they danced away!
A great night: the floor was packed for every dance, Guyzo's drumming was super, we met some friends and family (always fun catching up with folk you know at the break), enjoyed bacon rolls and wedges at the break...
Posted at 8:15 on 9th October 2011 by
Jiggered Ceilidh Band were playing at Glenskirlie for Laura and Chris' wedding. The bride had asked us to learn Brooke Fraser's hit "Something in the Water" for their first dance, which we combined with Adele's "Make you feel my love". It was a nice melody and I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to whistle during "Something in the Water"...Susan described my whistling ability as the talent they've been searching for in me for the past nine years!
A couple of guests were expecting The Jiggers but later in the evening both said they loved the Jiggered sound! Another guests said they thought our fusion of "I gotta feelin" by Black Eyed Peas with ceilidh tunes was great, but felt cheated we missed out the rapping bits!!
Posted at 7:51 on 2nd October 2011 by
Where do I start with this one? The latest wedding of 2011 for Jiggered Ceilidh Band saw them revisit Dalmeny Park Hotel where fiddler Susan got married a few years back!
The night's highlights included:
-A choreographed first dance from Ruth and Tom which was followed by an insane "flash mob who performed a brilliant dance to Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feelin'
-Meeting some old friends and making new ones
-Ewan and Jenny were playing very enthusiastically...Ewan was thumping his bass drum so hard that he punctured it and Jenny ended the night with two guitars with burst strings!
-Mother-of-the-bride Clarinda sharing the microphone and singing along with Jiggered. Classic.
Posted at 8:22 on 25th September 2011 by
Ask wedding venue Crear to recommend a ceilidh band and they'll tell you that Jiggered Ceilidh Band are a Crear favourite! We've played here a few times now and Stephanie and the team recommend us regularly! We're familiar with the long drive to Crear now and set-up at the venue as well.
Last night we were playing at Emily and Robert's wedding and it was a really nice Crear wedding reception- the crowd were young and loving all the dances! One highlight was a particularly well executed Cumberland Basket, with Emily and her bridesmaids leading the way as they were swung about the room. The video of this is available here.
Both my headlights died on the journey home...enjoyed explaining that to the policemen who pulled us over asking why I was using my fog lights and full beam!
Posted at 11:34 on 18th September 2011 by
It was an interesting evening for Jiggered Ceilidh Band on Saturday night as they played at Pollokshaws Burgh Hall for a wedding with a twist. The first half of the evening saw Jiggered providing some ceilidh music for traditional Scottish dancing. The second half of the evening was devoted to salsa! There were loads of wedding guests who clearly salsa dance regularly and I for one was well impressed.
With Ewan starting his journey back from the States, this was our last ceilidh for a while with Andi drumming. We will miss his mental fringe (at least the moustache is gone), his enthusiasm (texting hours before every ceilidh about how excited he was), his regular round-buying (no pressure Uee), his unrelenting cuddles and high-fives, his synchopated rhythm in the Canadian Barn Dance (and uncontrollable speeding up in every other song)....and so much more.
By the way, he begged me to publish this rather sickening list of attributes...
Posted at 18:40 on 11th September 2011 by
It was a first visit to Airth Castle for Jiggered Ceilidh Band for the wedding of Kirsty and Phil (not the weird couple from Location, Location, Location). We enjoyed the ceilidh loads- I met up with some friends I haven't seen since I was wee(er).There was some incredible dancing going on during the freestyle sections, a baby ceilidher (in a sling) and an MC who was the most Scottish guy you'll ever meet (wearing of course tartan troosers). The evening ran smoothly until the end when we had to draw out the intro to "Auld Lang Syne" for a good five minutes while we waited on the bride returning after a quick wardrobe change!
Highlight of the night for the band was the winding up endured by "Jenny from Jiggered"...practical joke awards for Susan, Chris and Andi. Good job team!!
Posted at 16:16 on 9th September 2011 by
It was a rare Sunday gig for the Jiggered troops as we trekked up to Carnoustie to play a wedding reception at the Golf Club Hotel. It was a nice drive and we enjoyed relaxing in the Hotel before setting up.
The bride, Sally, had asked if we could do Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars for the first dance- I only had my mobile phone with me to record it so the quality is not great but you can hear a wee bit here.
Stovies at the break- yum. And lots of great dancing (ceilidh and disco).
Posted at 17:21 on 29th August 2011 by
While drummer Ewan is locked in his hotel in New York as Hurricane Irene wreaks havoc in America, Jiggered Ceilidh Band were playing at a wedding in Glasgow. It was our first time at King's Park Hotel and there were some familiar faces (including folk whose weddings we'd played at in the past, some soon-to-be-married couples that have got Jiggered booked up and even Ali B who plays in ceilidh band Strings Attached and who we know from our Strathclyde days!) in the crowd as Mo and Lionel's reception kicked off. It was a great night.
Hope Ewan isn't standed for too long in NYC!
Posted at 13:28 on 28th August 2011 by
The fantastic four of Jiggered Ceilidh Band road-tripped back up to Crear once again for another wedding. Natalie the bride had made a special request that we do "Heaven: Candleight Mix" for the first dance. Crear agreed to let us use one of their beautiful grand pianos (the Yamaha S6, which is their cheaper piano but still has an RRP of over £46,000!!).
After the first dance it was over to Jenny to guide the intimate group of guests through every dance as almost none had any ceilidh experience but it was a lot of fun as we got to demonstrate the dances!
As ever, the long journey home was filled with wildlife- deer, owls, rabbits, foxes. Jenny even thinks she saw a heron. Or a herring. She's not sure which is which.
Posted at 13:18 on 21st August 2011 by
This weekend saw more wedding action for everyone's favourite Scottish ceilidh band, Jiggered Ceilidh Band. The bride and groom, Caroline and AJ, were getting married in Ardoe House, Aberdeen. It's a lovely big venue and the wedding was huge- thankfully there was an enormous dancefloor which was packed with dancers!
The couple had asked for Taylor Swift's "Crazier" for their first dance and we learned and performed it for them. It went really well, but the Jiggered boys struggled a bit with the lyrics...Chris was convinced the second verse included the word "catacomb". Ewan asked "What's that? A cucumber?". We were both wrong.
Posted at 7:41 on 13th August 2011 by
It was yet another summer wedding for Jiggered Ceilidh Band as we travelled to Milton of Campsie for Stephen and Angela's wedding. It was our first visit to Kincaid House Hotel. The ceilidh was held in the hotel conservatory and even though it was quite compact, we had a great night of dancing. The buffet was one of the best we've ever had and as if that wasn't enough there were Creme Eggs on offer too- WOW.
The envelope we received our cheque in had "Chris Smith and the Jiggered Ceilidh Band" on the front and I couldn't resist sticking this up as the blog photo to wind up Jenny who goes to incredible lengths to convince everyone that she's the leader of the band!!!
Posted at 7:48 on 7th August 2011 by
Lochside House Hotel, New Cumnock was the venue for the latest wedding ceilidh for Jiggered Ceilidh Band. This time it was Pete (my cousin) and Summer (a close friend of ours) who were getting married and becoming Mr and Mrs Smith- a nobler change of surname I can't think of, Summer. It was nice to be at Lochside, where I got married 8 years ago...
It was great to play at the wedding in front of a crowd featuring loads of friends and family and we wish Summer and Pete all the best for the future....Pete will need it. Summer's the most accident prone person I've ever met. Just one small example from yesterday, although there were no doubt many more: Summer's dessert arrived on a plate which had her name and the date drawn on in chocolate. Summer was so pleased she lifted it up to show some guests, allowing the meringue nest, fruit and cream to slide off the plate.
As an aside, wedding photographer for the day was our "fill-in" (pardon the pun) drummer Andi Watson whose wife was being induced last night so big news expected on the safe arrival of Watson Jr.
Posted at 9:29 on 2nd August 2011 by
It was another visit to Crear for Jiggered Ceilidh Band last night...Getting back home at 3am wasn't a highlight of the night, but there were plenty others:
-meeting a kilted guest who was outraged that some others didn't know the etiquette of wearing flashes (ironic given the flashing etiquette he chose to ignore!)
-possibly the craziest woman we have ever come across at a ceilidh (yes, you in the blue dress)...it's been a long time since I've seen a girl hoist up her skirt and do the splits in the middle of a busy dance floor.
-getting to use some props for our photo-message to the bride and groom.
Congratulations to Sara and David from Jiggered.
Posted at 12:32 on 31st July 2011 by
Sherbrooke Castle was the venue for another gig for Jiggered Ceilidh Band last night. This time it was for a lovely couple called Ward and Cathie. Ward actually works in the same Maths Dept as Chris during the day....well, maybe "works" is the wrong word as he spends most of the time wandering the corridors sharing awful jokes, chatting about Dr Who, dishing out tablet (the sugary kind, not drug dealing), calculating how many school bells it is till the next holiday and performing his bizarre knack for memorising every Number 1 since records began.
It was a pleasure to play for the happy couple and we wish them all the best. It was also great to play in front of so many familiar faces!!
Posted at 20:25 on 21st July 2011 by
Jiggered Ceilidh Band have just finished a run of 5 ceilidhs in 8 days. It's been loads of fun.
Last night we were back at Pollokshields Burgh Hall where we've played a few times- the acoustics are lovely in the Hall and I took a wee video on my phone of Jenny and Susan playing Ae Fond Kiss. It isn't the best quality of recording but hear it live and you'll find it breath-taking, I promise you.
The wedding last night started with the bride and groom doing their first dance to a St Bernard's Watlz and they glided across the dance floor very elegantly...they must've practiced! The wedding guests were a lively bunch- full of energy, jumping across the floor, throwing each other about and spinning around wildly! Brilliant fun!
Posted at 7:19 on 17th July 2011 by
