Larry Carlton!

Unbelievable, but true… one of my heroes from when I was a teenager decided to do a gig in Darvel.  Yep, Darvel Town Hall. We couldn’t believe it, and as soon as we found out we rushed to get tickets at any cost. The great Larry Carlton, ladies and gentlemen! But Darvel?

It was a superb gig, he got a great sound form his 335 and Marshall, the bass guy (Travis) got an astoundingly rich sound from his two 5-string basses (one was fretless).  The Drummer was spot on, and got a clean, crisp sound in this Ayrshire village hall.

Granny baby sat so Mummy Ruth punched Darvel into the Sat Nav, and we drove through the Fenwick Moors, to arrive well ahead of time.  We drove up and down the main street until we finally spotted the hall.  After parking, we scouted for somewhere to grab a bit of dinner, but the place was closed except for takeaways.  Then we found the Railway Inn.  The blackboard outside mentioned bar meals, so in we went.  Of course they only took cash money, so there was a jaunt later on to find an ATM.  Jeez, how can people live in such a wilderness?

What would Grammy-Award-Winning Larry Carlton make of porridge-covered council estates in the middle of nowhere, West-Central Scotland, is anyone’s guess.  I just hope he had some appropriate cash to hand; there’s no Amex in Darvel.

Indeed what would the audience make of Darvel?  We met folks from North of England up for the gig — as well as London, Denmark and Germany.  It was a total sell-out. The queue for the toilets was insane, so we just left the premises and visited the nearby bookmakers and pubs instead!

Martin Taylor was a superb support, and it was funny to see his wife mixing with the audience, chatting to friends and local musicians.  We really got our money’s worth as both Martin and Larry played for ages.

At one point, Larry asked all the guitarists in the audience to raise their hands — and almost every single person did!  What a critical crowd!

This still amazes me — yes! I got to see Larry Carlton in the flesh!  OK, these days he resembles Larry David, but hey, he can still play a damn good run.  Pinch me!  This is a highlight of the year for me — possibly just a main highlight. Full Stop.

Dontcha love when something this bizarrely good happens?