Paisley’s The Spree festival returns next week (11-19 October) with its biggest line-up yet.
Glasvegas, Hue and Cry, The Snuts, Gruff Rhys, Karine Polwart, Jerry Sadowitz, PP Arnold and Hayseed Dixie are just some of the top acts coming to town for the fast-growing festival, which is now into its eighth year.
The bulk of the action at The Spree 2019 will take place in the specially-erected Salon Perdu Spiegeltent in Paisley’s County Square – with a bigger tent than in previous years allowing for more people to enjoy the performances.
The opening night (Friday 11 October) sees a tribute to one of Paisley’s favourite musical sons – A Gerry Rafferty Songbook, featuring Roddy Hart, Emma Pollock and Rab Noakes.
On Sunday 13 October, hotly-tipped Scots rockers The Snuts will play to a sold out Spiegeltent before Hue and Cry entertain a sell-out crowd on Monday 14 October.
Platinum-selling indie-rockers Glasvegas come to Paisley for their only full-band Scottish date of the year on Tuesday 15 October and Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys brings his solo show to the Spiegeltent on Wednesday 16 October.
London’s First Lady of Soul, PP Arnold, will perform songs from her six-decade career, including the classics ‘First Cut is the Deepest’ and ‘Angel of the Morning’ alongside Ocean Colour Scene guitarist Steve Cradock on Thursday 17 October.
Singer-songwriter Karine Polwart is celebrating her first UK Top 40 album and will bring her Scottish Songbook of fantastic covers – including songs by Frightened Rabbit, Biffy Clyro, Chvrches, Gerry Rafferty, Deacon Blue and more to the Spiegeltent on Friday 18 October.
The festival closes on Saturday 19 October with two fantastic shows. First, a sold-out performance from comedy headliner Jerry Sadowitz in the Spiegeltent, then a second late-night closing party of classic rock hits from US ‘rockgrass’ outfit Hayseed Dixie.
Comedy lovers can enjoy two late-night stand-up shows featuring Fred MacAulay, Susan Riddell, Christopher Macarthur-Boyd and Mark Nelson (Friday 11 October) and Scott Gibson, Rosco McCelleland, Jay Lafferty and Gary Little (Friday 18 October).
The Spiegeltent will also host an all-day festival within-a-festival on Saturday 12 October, with LNP Promotions ever-popular ModStuff celebration of all things Mod, including the spectacle of the annual scooter rideout.
The popular Paisley Arts Centre will host a series of gigs, including Lost Map’s Lost Weekend Sunday Social featuring the Pictish Trail, Fell, Molly Linen and Callum Easter (Sunday 13 October), Paisley in Song featuring Michael Cassidy and Andy Monahan (Frightened Rabbit) on Thursday 17 October, and an appearance from ex-Arab Strap musician Malcolm Middleton plus support from Megan Airlie (Saturday 19 October).
The Arts Centre will also show a number of film screenings, including Loki’s History of Scottish Hip-Hop and Stretch & Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives (Tuesday 15 October) and Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records, which includes an after party where you can dance away to the label’s hits of 60’s and 70’s (Friday 18 October).
The Wee Spree popular programme of kids activities will take place as part of the main Spree festival with thousands set to be entertained during the school holiday period.
Highlights include the Bricks 4 Kidz Camps on Tuesday 15 October, Dance Along Moana and Mary Poppins film screenings on Thursday 17 October, Comedy 4 Kids Show on Friday 18 October and a bumper afternoon with Scotland’s top traditional musicians and young up-and-coming talent at Fèis Phàislig’s Stramash in the Spiegeltent on Friday 19 October.
This year will also see the return of the popular Spree for All fringe festival with gigs and events taking place in towns and villages across Renfrewshire.
The Spree festival is one of the centrepieces of Renfrewshire Council’s major events programme which has made Paisley one of Scotland’s key cultural destinations in recent years.
This year’s festival is programmed by Regular Music and sponsored by Tennent’s Lager.
