Paisley came alive with festival fun as the opening weekend of The Spree brought thousands of people into the town centre.
The bulk of the action for the nine-day event (11-19 Oct) is taking place in the stunning Salon Perdu Spiegeltent in County Square, which has made a striking setting for the shows so far.
The festival got under way on Friday night with a very special tribute to Paisley-born songwriting legend Gerry Rafferty.
Scottish singers Roddy Hart, Emma Pollock and Rab Noakes captivated a sell-out crowd with a set spanning Gerry’s rich career, and brought the Spiegeltent crowd to its feet as they closed the show with two of his best-known songs – Baker Street and Stuck in the Middle With You.
Friday night also saw late-night comedy laughs from some of the best acts on the Scottish circuit, compered by Fred MacAulay and rounded off by headline act Mark Nelson.
Saturday saw an all-day mod-fest in The Spiegeltent with ModStuff – run by LNP Promotions. A free charity afternoon show saw the spectacle of more than 100 scooters riding off around the town, before the packed evening show saw Paisley Pattern aplenty as a sharply-dressed crowd danced the night away to a set of 60s mod and soul classics.
The week also includes the Wee Spree programme of kids shows – with Saturday morning engineering some robotic fun with Computer Explorers, while on Sunday toddlers got their chance to take to the Spiegeltent dancefloor with Mini Manouvres.
And on Sunday night the rising stars of Scottish indie-rock The Snuts had a packed-out Spiegeltent bouncing for a lively show including a cover of These Streets by Paisley’s very own Paolo Nutini.
There’s loads more still to come this week – Hue and Cry, Glasvegas and Jerry Sadowitz have sold out already, but gig-goers still have time to get their hands on the last tickets for Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys (Wednesday 16th), soul legend PP Arnold (Thursday 17th), Karine Polwart’s Scottish Songbook (Friday 18th), Comedy Lates with Gary Little and Scott Gibson (Friday 18th) and Hayseed Dixie (Saturday 19th).
Paisley Arts Centre is also hosting a Paisley in Song night with Michael Cassidy (Thursday 17th) and Arab Strap mainman Malcolm Middleton (Saturday 19th).
Anybody looking for something to do with the kids during the October school week can check out the programme for The Wee Spree – which offers everything from dancing to Disney to comedy to Lego to baby disco.
The Spree is run by Renfrewshire Council, programmed by Regular Music, and sponsored by Tennent’s Lager
