GLEN URQUHART PUBLIC HALL in Drumnadrochit

Promoter’s’s Statement: Jennie Macfie

“A WEE GEM of a gig”, is how one artist described the Hall – a warm, friendly ambience and mellow acoustics, with an audience which listens attentively but is never subdued in its response. No wonder we are inundated with requests to play here; the hardest part of my promoting duties is deciding who to book, trying to balance our limited funding with a need to cover as wide a programme as possible in a venue which is also in great demand for community use.

Like the rest of the Hall Management committee, I’m an unpaid volunteer with a busy life in other areas as well, so at times the task seems quite impossible, but somehow you always manage. I’ve worked in theatre, film and television production, so “the show must go on” is gouged deep into my heart.

Even so, I would never have kept going without PAN, the Promoters Arts Network (which I now chair), representing over 100 promoters across the Highlands, Islands and Argyll who all share what can only be described as an addiction to promoting the arts. We find nothing in life more satisfying than putting on a show and seeing it ignite the audience’s passion, whether that be for a piece of theatre, music or dance.

With higher fuel costs, a recession looming and the 2012 Olympics being a burden on funding, it doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that there are many challenges ahead for arts promoters everywhere; I hope by working together we will succeed in continuing to provide world class entertainment on Highland audiences’ farflung doorsteps.

Jennie Macfie answers our questions.

NORTHINGS: When was the venue established?

JENNIE: The Hall was donated to Glen Urquhart in 1906. It’s been at the heart of life in our community ever since.

NORTHINGS: What famous names have taken to the stage?

JENNIE: We started off without any funding at all, then Highland Council gave us a small grant, but we’ve only been able to afford bigger names since we started getting funding from the Scottish Arts Council’s promoting fund. We’ve had artists here who are used to playing major venues around the world, like flamenco guitarist Ricardo Garcia, French jazz supremo Erik Truffaz, C&W star Hank Wangford and dancer David Hughes, plus many of the greats in Scottish traditional music, including Bruce MacGregor, Duncan Chisholm, Chris Stout, Shooglenifty and rising crossover stars Lau. We’re keenly anticipating Blazin Fiddles’s gig on 28 August – tickets are already selling very fast and it looks like being a sellout.

NORTHINGS: What are your big ideas for the future of the venue?

JENNIE: The Hall is a charity so everything depends on funding; filling in application forms and waiting for a result is a slow business. I’m hoping to get funding for proper lights and a PA, but with a venue that is over a century old, we have to prioritise maintaining the building itself. There’s an application in to Awards for All to supplement funding from Highland Council to replace the chairs and tables with folding versions that hang on a trolley, and to renovate the Main Hall floor.

Energy use is constantly on our minds these days; we’ve had a comprehensive survey done, funded by HICEC, which is going to be a great help in deciding what to do and making our case for it to funders. Our new venture is Sunday teatime concerts which are good for people who aren’t so keen on going out at night; seventeen members from one family, ranging from 3 to 70, all came to one in March and we want to find other ways to show people what a good time they can have here.

NORTHINGS: Does the venue have a ghost?

JENNIE: Some committee members say they’ve heard unexplained footsteps and the sound of a door closing when the Hall was supposed to be empty, but there may be a more prosaic explanation for that!

NORTHINGS: What was your worst disaster as promoter?

JENNIE: A long-booked play which turned out to coincide with a major international sporting event AND a going away party for one of the Glen’s favourite residents. Only my sister, loyal to the last, turned up… so I sent her off to the party and the actors went home. You can’t win ’em all….!

NORTHINGS: And what was your biggest triumph?

JENNIE: The Drums and Rockets pre-Hogmanay celebrations last December with Orkestra del Sol and Breabach. I’ve known the main members of Orkestra del Sol for years, so they’ve been playing here since they began and thanks to that and their appearances at Belladrum, they’ve built up a large, very devoted following all around Inverness.

We were turning folk away at the door as we were up to the limits of our license. People still come up to me and say that was the best gig they’ve ever been to! It certainly was the most fun I’ve had as a promoter, and the aftershow party went on till dawn. The only thing on the downside was that my long time collaborator on Drums and Rockets, Artistic Director Conrad Molleson, had flu and missed most of the fun.

Otherwsie, my favourite gigs – the ones which rang the bell on the Spinetingleometer from the first note of the first bar – include Erik Truffaz, Szapora, Deva, Michael Marra, Rumba Caliente, the Chris Stout Quintet and Lau – great performers, all of them.

NORTHINGS: If you could have any artist in the world for a one-off special, who would it be, and why?

JENNIE: That’s such an impossible question! Sylvie Guillem, the greatest dancer of her generation even at the age of 42, would be amazing, but the stage is nowhere near big enough. Today I’d cut off my right arm to book the RSC’s new Hamlet – David Tennant AND Patrick Stewart – what more could anyone want?

If had a time machine, I’d go back for the much mourned, greatly missed Martyn Bennett. Equally unattainable, though still alive, Prince would be a wee bit of a coup; we share a devotion to Joni Mitchell – but I’ve seen both him and Joni already. So… it has to be Radiohead, as long as they play the whole In Rainbows album. (OK, Thom? Is that a deal?)

NORTHINGS: Why should people look forward to visiting your venue?

JENNIE: Three reasons; it really is a wee gem of a gig; our new Sunday afternoon teatime concerts provide the best home baking in the Highlands free with your ticket; and last but not least, we programme artists who hit the bell at the top of the Spinetingleometer!

© Jennie Macfie, 2008

Links

• Glen Urquhart Public Hall