Hogmanay 2013

The last four years, Hogmanay for Jiggered Ceilidh Band has been spent performing at Gleddoch House Golf Hotel and Spa. We love playing at weddings at various venues across the UK but it’s nice to have a regular event like this one where we know the set-up arrangements, where we know the crowd will be enthusiastic participants joining the floor for every dance and joining in singing the Scottish favourites (like Caledonia and Go Lassies Go)  and where there are familiar faces year on year!

We play from about 10pm till 1am with a piper belting out a couple of tunes before the bells. After the countdown to the bells, everyone enjoys a New Year hug/handshake/smooch (I enjoyed this bit almost as much as the awkward moment when Susan went to kiss a guest as he moved on to shake Ewan’s hand- classic). It was nice to share the first moments of a New Year with my great pals, Ewan, Susan and Emma. It’s been an exciting year for Jiggered with our new lineup and last night just reiterated for me how far we’ve come…sounding better than ever!

While stovies are being served we took a 10 minute break during which we dished out our Secret Santa gifts- a fine crop this year it must be said. I’m happy with my geeky Maths clock- the allegations of plantpot envy are wide of the mark!

The last four years Jiggered have averaged exactly 52 ceilidhs a year, as the graph shows. All the best to all our friends, families and fans for 2014…