I've just had my favourite band name tattooed onto my side. Why? Well...
I think it was 1989 (I know I was 15, so it might have been
1990…), my pal’s big brother was going to Glasgow to a gig. For reasons I can’t even remember we were
deemed worthy of going with him and his mate. My pre-parenthood life is all
very hazy so I’m not sure who supported who, but the bands we saw were Texas
and GUN. I dunno where we even were,
Glasgow somewhere!
Texas were pretty cool, I still have a soft spot for them.
But GUN were just right up my street.
Their first album hadn't long been released and once I had it bought, it
was played LOTS! I still count Taking on the World as one of the most perfect
albums I own, it still makes me just as happy when I play it now, 27 years
later. Actually, I think I probably appreciate it even more now.
I have no idea how many times in the 1990s I saw GUN (and
Texas!) live, but lots! I do remember
the first time I chatted to any of them – it was 1994 at the very first T in
the park at Strathclyde Country Park. I
went with my pal Caroline, we worked together in RBS. We had a very funny chat with Mark Rankin,
their original singer, (there were a few pints of Tennents involved…) and Peter
Cunnah from D:Ream about the use of punctuation in their band name. Again, hazy
but it’s in there somewhere!
They released lots
more cracking material, I went to some phenomenal gigs. I was a teenager – I had posters up in my
bedroom J In 1997 (no longer a teen, but still
obsessed!), Radio Forth had a weekend long competition running. Each show they
would play a GUN track and you had to phone in when you heard it. The prize each time was the GUN back
catalogue on CD, plus entry in to the draw for the big prize – a weekend in
Lisbon, Portugal where the guys were playing a festival.
I sat in front of the radio all weekend. I remember my mum and dad going up to see the
grandparents Dundee and to visit my old auntie in Kirriemuir, but I refused to
leave the house as I was so desperate to win the big prize! I actually ended up winning 3 x back
catalogues of CDs AND the trip to Portugal!
Happy days!!!
It was a great weekend, I took my friend Lynne and we had a
ball with all the people from other areas in the UK who had won. It’s a bit hazy yet again, there was a lot of
booze! But we got to hang out with the guys backstage and there are lots of
cool photos from the weekend.
But not
long after that they announced they were splitting up – gutted! I had a lovely letter from the girl from
A&M records who had been with us in Lisbon, inviting us to the last show
but I wasn’t able to make it L
Round about the same time, I was 24 so either late 1997 or
early 1998, my brothers and I had all discussed getting a tattoo as they were
both moving away. We never did get this
arranged, but I had the idea of a tattoo in my head so decided to get one
anyway. I toyed with various ideas, one being a GUN one. But as they had split I decided to go with
something else, a small spiral thingy on my ankle.
>>FF to 2008 – they’re back! Well, Jools and Dante
from the original line-up are back - and with Toby Jepson on vocals! I quite
liked Little Angels when Toby was with them so was keen to hear the new sound.
They played a cracking gig at the Carling Academy in Dec 2008, that was a really
cool night! By now, though, I had a 5 year old little munchkin on my hands and
as much as I would have loved to have gone to see them more, it just wasn’t
feasible. Cash and childcare were
limited. And then Toby left the band in 2010, I wondered if that was the end
again but no, Dante moved from bass and took over vocals. Happy days again!
Since then it has been like watching them start all over
again, with all the highs and lows that that brings. I know I get sick of seeing comments like
“it’s shit without Mark Rankin on vocals” on YouTube videos etc., so I’ll
assume it’s a bit tiresome for them too!
The first time I saw them with Dante on vocals was at
Electric Circus in Edinburgh in 2012 when they released a new album – Break the
Silence. It was SO good seeing them again! Stuck around briefly after the gig
to say hi but I had to run off for the last train back to sunny Fife.
Over the past few years I’ve been able to get to a lot more
gigs again. My little 5 year old
munchkin is now a strapping big 13 year old who could probably look after me
better than I can look after him! They even played PJ Molloys in Dunfermline a
few years back! Wah! My favourite band in my favourite pub, 5 minutes from my
house – awesome!!
The guys have just finished a UK tour, I saw them in Dundee,
Edinburgh, and Aberdeen and had a nice wee night out with them.
Every time I see them live these days they
seem better and better each time. I’ve
seen them 5 times this year and even from seeing them in May to seeing them in
October, they have upped their game so much.
I’m so proud! Especially of Jools and Dante for just keeping pushing
on. They really have had to come back
and start again but my god they’re writing the book on how to do that!
Since that gig in Edinburgh in 2012 I’ve been toying with
the idea of getting a GUN tattoo again.
Over the past couple of years, somehow, I don’t know how other than Slimming World just really suits me – I’ve lost so far 8.5 stone in weight and finally have the
confidence to bounce around at the front of the crowd without being bothered
about jiggling my wobbly bits! I was looking for a non-food based reward for
myself for when I get to my target weight, and the tattoo idea did a wee ninja
stealth crawl to the front of my mind – I like to think it’s been in
hibernation for the past 20 years, just waiting for the right time.
That's me on the far left (obviously, given that the rest of them are men...) after their 2012 Dunfermline gig:
And this is me almost half the size, after their soundcheck in Aberdeen last month:
I’m now only a couple of pounds from target, and here it
is!
20 years in the making, 27 years of
being a Gunette, now fully branded! I love it, love the lads, love the tunes,
love my fellow Gunette/Gunner family, love that the guys make us crazy fans
feel like we’re all the 6th member of the band. It has been suggested that I should claim that the tattoo is a permanent ticket to all future gigs, ha ha!! I just might work on that one!
Big love, always,
Jill xxx
