Truth

One of the problems of the rapid rise to success is having to headline in support of your first album. You’re going to have to play all of the material, whether or not it’s all going to work live. Can be difficult.

White Lies showed up at the Barrowland last night on the back of much critical acclaim and a splendid #1 selling debut. Good though the record is and much as their sound seems made for the festival and arena, the boys need to be able to translate and interpret it live. The Barrowland is a decent size to sell out and always a good atmosphere. All the ingredients are there, but I was still interested in how they and the material would make the transition.

A couple of support acts is also standard for the limited main setlist, and Wintersleep from Nova Scotia kicked things off in decent indie-rock style, even having the nerve to finish with a pretty good 10 minute epic. School of Seven Bells, however, disappointed. Once the novelty of the twin sisters singing in harmony wore off (approx 11.6 seconds), it was just sub-new age warbling over guitars and drum machine. Next…

Minimal set, straightforward lighting and all black attire marked White Lies entry. Good. Can concentrate on the music and delivery. They didn’t disappoint. Whilst the album can sometimes seem overproduced, live brings a new interpretation. Stronger and harder, certainly, but you can hear also the gaps (if you follow), which is as important.

A strong start with A Place to Hide and an excellent …Fairground and the crowd are into it. Delivery is strong, and they look like they’re enjoying it. Not a huge amount of chat and posturing, but then they don’t seem that sort of band. The “live-worthy” limitations of having only one album of material are evident, and I suspect 4 or 5 songs won’t make the cut for the second and third album setlists. They are still strong songs in their own right, though, and if they never make it live again at least we heard them.

Guess what - the best songs on the record are the best live. To Lose My Life and Unfinished Business rock hard, and Fifty on our Forehead was excellent. Hardened, extended and rocking, it was the highlight of the main set. Hat tip for the previously unheard Taxidermy too.

The other conundrum is where you play your best song. Open with it or stick it at the end of the encores? White Lies opted to save Death for the end and it’s the right decision. Many much much bigger bands would sacrifice significant anatomy to have a song this strong in their armoury, and it’s a soaring, brilliant end to the night. I recommend leaving it there for good.

A really strong set that highlighted their strengths and showed that with another couple of equally powerful albums worth of material behind them, the migration to much bigger things is almost assured.

Setlist (corrected)

A Place To Hide

Farewell To The Fairground

To Lose My Life

Taxidermy 

From The Stars 

Unfinished Business 

EST 

Fifty on Our Forehead 

Price of Love 

Nothing To Give   

The Rip (Portishead cover) 

Death

Capital

Been a long time since I did one of the mass-participation runs; Great North Run 2005, at which I proved that if you’re stupid enough to try a half marathon with precisely zero training, you’re going to get precisely what you deserve and will take precisely “a long time” getting it. The atmosphere in the multi-thousand events is great though, and with that in mind I decided to put my newly rediscovered love of running to the test in the Great Edinburgh Run.

I hadn’t appreciated the profile of the course (why don’t Great Run put them on their website?) until reading a press release about the new world record-holder’s participation and mention of a “very tough course with a couple of steep climbs”. Cue hasty recalculation of target time, which had been around 46 mins, but a good “last run” made 45 seem feasible. 46 was now reinstated (and any hope of “beating my age” by going sub 44 abandoned)

Sunday broke bright, breezy and early, and the drive across the M8 - broken by a stop at Harthill to release a frankly infeasible amount of pre-race hydration - got us to Edinburgh in time to meet cheerleader Lockhart and stroll up to the starting area on George IV Bridge. Ignoring the support crew’s Bacon-roll taunts, I managed to end up at the front of the Orange pen, directly behind the elite athletes; worrying, as it meant there would be hoards of extremely keen folk itching to make a fast start just behind me – so I would have to do the same.

After a slight hitch as the Marshalls didn’t realise they’d have to get themselves and their rope out of the way to avoid getting squished, we’re off. Steeply down to Prince’s Street Gardens at what can be described as a very healthy lick. Then over Waverley Bridge, up to the Royal Mile, down to the Parliament (which I passed without noticing it!) and past Holyrood Palace to the 2k mark. Check watch. 7:45. Aaaargh; too fast, too fast.

Excess speed isn’t a problem now, as the next 2k is uphill on a steepening gradient around Arthur’s Seat (described a “serious and challenging” climb by the C5 commentator. No shit…). Settling into a steadier pace, with those hilly EK & Helensburgh runs helping; over the top and through 4k in 17:10. Better (well, the time is; I’m knackered).

A nondescript but pleasingly flat couple of k, turning onto Cowgate, passing the support team and under the finish line at 6k in 26 dead. Mentally work out that passing “under” the finish line - possible thanks to Edinburgh’s unique streets - means that the rest must be net-uphill, and the next couple of k up to The Meadows are just that. Not overly steep, but enough to notice when you’re blowing quite hard. Through 8k in 35:10, so a good margin for sub-45.

After a flat 9^thk, a small rise entering the 10^th is worryingly morale sapping, and I’m starting to feel it now. One last effort and a generously downhill last k gets me over the line in 44:12. 

Genuinely pleased with that on a course that must be a couple of minutes slower than a flat one, and nice though it would have been to shave the extra 13 seconds off, I’m claiming that at 44¼ the age has been beaten anyway. 

Official stats are 463^rd finisher out of 7817, 440^th man, and 48^th man in the 40 to 44 category.

Next, the Glasgow Half Marathon on September 6^th.