Toploader @ Strathpeffer Pavilion 22/04/2023

I enjoyed this more than I expected to and it ended up being one of the best shows I’ve been to so far due to the band’s talent, the relaxed atmosphere and it being a mere ten minute drive from my house. I was over the moon (I threw a moon reference in here for obvious reasons) to get the weekend off work but I had to work the Sunday morning after all because we were so short-staffed. I worried that last minute change of decision would take away from my overall enjoyment but it didn’t actually impact the night much at all. Once the bands were on stage all my attention was on them and nothing outside the Pavilion mattered for a few hours. I had a couple drinks at the house and Paul kindly drove me to the venue early so we could secure a parking spot and beat everyone else to the front of the queue. Getting to the barrier makes it so much easier to block out everyone around me. My energy fluctuates a lot, so it’s also good to have something to lean on throughout the night. I was very happy to find Strathpeffer has public toilets. Most places don’t! We ended up arriving far too early as nobody else turned up until 6pm, when the doors were due to open. We were even early enough to catch sight of Toploader leaving the venue for a wander. We snacked in the car and watched the world go by until about 5:40pm when I decided to queue to ease my anxiety, even though there was nobody else around. Annoyingly, someone pushed past me to force the door open after 6pm when we had been instructed to wait but I overtook them once we were inside.

Security was a breeze. The man joked about how much he hates wristbands as he wrestled an unassuming silver one on to my wrist. They managed to scan my e-ticket even though the QR code was tiny and I can’t zoom in on my phone anymore. There looked to be other security measures in place but they didn’t check my bag or anything, not that I had anything suspicious inside anyway. All I took with me was my phone, bank card, lipstick and a sharpie because you never know when a signing opportunity may arise. There’s no harm in coming prepared, even if nothing comes of it. I contemplated buying a drink at the bar as I entered but ultimately decided against it because I didn’t want to need the toilet and lose my spot at the front/centre of the stage. There were atmospheric smoke machines and high quality lighting but it didn’t get dark until the first band came on stage because of all the sunlight streaming through the large windows before they closed the doors. The venue took a while to fill up and there wasn’t a huge turnout in the end, which was a shame. That didn’t put a dampener on the evening though, as each of the bands seemed to be having a lot of fun regardless. The majority of attendees looked like teenagers, which was interesting. I don’t know if they knew the band or went because it was a big event for Strathpeffer. I had a lot of time to kill before the opening act, so ended up filling out a job application. I got the job in the end, so it turned out to be time well spent. I was paranoid I looked like a complete buzzkill but nobody was paying attention to me, thankfully.

A girl to the right of me was super excited because her mum is part of Dashh- (the spelling differs from source to source but I’m choosing to go with their Facebook title), the first opening act. Their social media pages state they formed during lockdown and one of the lead singers looks a lot like my old singing teacher, which could be true because they are a local band. They had great charisma, held the attention of the crowd very well and sounded wonderful. I enjoyed their original songs and wish I could have heard more of them but appreciate when opening acts do covers of famous songs because it makes it easier to get into the music when you already know the words and melodies. They did Fleetwood Mac covers (obviously big fans) followed by an unexpected mash-up of songs you might not think would go together such as ‘No Scrubs’ by TLC and ‘Lady Marmalade’ from ‘Moulin Rouge’. I highly recommend looking it up on YouTube or their Facebook page, if it is on either. I wouldn’t expect these seemingly random songs from the 90’s and early 2000’s to complement each other so well but they made it work. I imagine the songs they selected are also very nostalgic to people, adding to their enjoyment. I didn’t get into music until 2006, so I never held these songs in high regard. However, I still got goosebumps as they jumped from song to song and it felt like a proper blast from the past. They wrote this on Facebook after the event:

“Woah. Last night, along with local legends The Side, we supported Toploader.

Where to start. We opened the night with a 30 minute set and just about managed to pack in 3 of our own songs, 2 mashups (including our ‘dashh up’ where we love watching people’s reactions) and 2 covers.

What a welcoming crowd, thanks for getting involved and dancing to our own tunes – we especially loved all your enthusiasm for our last (and newest) song… EPIC.”