August 2003

This was the most wild month of my life! (at the time!) I got paid 3 pounds 20p per hour and worked crazy shifts – anything from 8am-4pm to 5pm-1am. As a staff member for Gilded Balloon, we got to see all “our own” shows for free so I saw great acts like Flight of the Conchords (BEFORE they were famous!), GUD (with Paul McDermott), Mitch Benn, Jimeoin, Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen, Stephen K Amos, Mickey D, Puppetry of the Penis, (don’t judge! I was curious! And fairly unimpressed to be honest… And I’m not putting a link in), The Umbilical Brothers, and many more! This is also where I discovered (yes, “I” discovered) The Cat Empire. And it was the start of a beautiful friendship!

We worked crazy shifts, and Edinburgh didn’t sleep for the whole month of August. Normally all pubs would shut at 11pm, and clubs at 1am, but most places stayed open til 5am and re-opened at 10am so there was always somewhere to quench your thirst, rub shoulders with the stars, and generally have a grand old time.

The money was rubbish, we got treated like crap, and the hours were long; but the experience was priceless.