Music maestro please!

Back in March when I was first thinking about what the 500 miles Challenge would be like in Festival Square and Conference Square, I thought it would be ideal if we could have some music to keep the “one milers” going and to attract and entertain an audience. When I mentioned this to Tom O’Brien at Edinburgh Council, he explained that any band platform would need to be covered and that there are an awful lot of the restrictions on the erection of freestanding structures in public places. Not one to raise obstacles without also offering a way round them, Tom also told me about “curtainsider lorries” and gave me Rab Randall’s mobile number saying he might be able to help me.

I called Rab out of the blue not knowing what to expect and gave him my chat about what I wanted to do. I mentioned a “curtainsider” without even knowing that it is a type of large truck where the sides are “curtained” for ease of loading and unloading – but which is often used as a makeshift stage because they are stable and covered.

The story of how I eventually hired a curtainsider for Miles for Smiles on Saturday 3 October with all of the necessary insurance is too horrible and boring to even start to tell you. Only today did I finally get all the permissions I need and all the boxes ticked! I hope it’s worth it!

The fantastic part of the story is about the amazing team which has made and will make it all possible - and given me an education in outdoor event management! Rab of Backbone Production and Event Engineering is the main man. He brought in Steph Fleming of EFX Audio to do the sound and Stevie Mail of FS Lighting to do the lights. He told them I had “nae money” and bless them all, they said they’d provide equipment and their time all day on Miles for Smiles Saturday for “nae money”! Another of Rab’s contacts is hiring me the fixed back line for the day. Steph’s insurance broker has helped me get public liability insurance and Steph is arranging for my curtainsider to be driven from Forfar (I said it was a horrible and boring story) on the Friday. These guys are going to do all the set up and stage management all day.

What can I say?! I am partly typing this to convince myself that it is all true. There are some unbelievably kind people out there and I have been very lucky to bump into some of the best! Thank you Tom, Rab, Steph and Stevie! I hate to think how many pints I owe you!

I’ll tell you the running order of the bands when it is finally fixed in a day or two.