The Printed Word

  The devil is in the detail. It always is. For ice hockey fans, the prospect of  the 2020-21 season taking place in some shape or form remains on the horizon - visible, but still lacking real focus. The catalyst for hope came via the £4m emergency funding to the EIHL which almost felt too good to be true. For some, it was. The money came from Sport England, so only applies to five of the ten members of a league that operates across all four UK countries, and now finds itself trying to navigate a clear path with devolved governments in Scotland, Ireland and Wales for further vital support for the other half currently on the outside looking in. Suddenly knowledge of the Barnett Formula and consequentials is of more value than knowing a player's plus-minus stats. And that cash? It came with conditions. It always does. It was billed initially as a loan - which begged the question, would that be one only the five recipients would pay back or would it be split league wide? I'd love...

Forget Edinburgh’s posh galleries –the very best art can be found, for free, around the people’s republic of Leith. In fact, the city is awash with murals just waiting to be discovered. All you need to do is get your best walking shoes on and go and explore. Leith is a vibrant, creative melting pot, and tracking down the artworks will lead you into side streets and cul de sacs you probably didn't even know existed. But it’s a fascinating tour you can take at any time. The boarded up shop fronts down at Leith Depot - scene of contentious development plans which the community has rightly resisted - are a constantly changing gallery in their own right. The drawings, sketches and writing sum up the spirit of Leith. They do what all artwork has to do to resonate - speak to the people who live there. The recent Leith Late Mural Tour was fascinating as it pointed out gems which otherwise blend into the background - from a nod to Trainspotting to Eduardo Paolozzi, to the fabulous celebrati...

  In 2021 it will be 40 years since I first saw Bruce Springsteen play live. “He’ll change your life” my music teacher told me when I said I had a ticket to his 1981 gig at the Playhouse Theatre in Edinburgh. The River was my induction into E Street. Letter To You is its perfect bookend. Two albums, four decades apart, both infused with the same mesmerising vigour and spirit which are the hallmark of his epic concerts. It’s ironic that an album built for stage and stadium can only be played on repeat in our homes, but it gives us something special in dark times - hope. Letter To You may well tick every box in Springsteen’s armoury (sure it's got trains, journeys and a girl called Janey) , but it is still something quite magnificent. Raw, reflective, personal and powerful, and all of it wrapped in those unmistakable ties that bind E Street. Recorded live in a matter of days, it has that same ‘live’ feel that the movie of Western Stars captured so beautifully and delivered to the big...

National Album Day slipped quietly across our radar last week. I no longer own any vinyl or a turntable, but, at one stage, records consumed a huge part of my life. My musical youth could be found in the grooves of 33rpms, and double album with magnificent gatefold sleeves. National Album Day  sparked memories of my own journey from Music For Pleasure sound-a-like albums and K-Tel compilations to the era of punk and onwards. Like many kids I started out buying records in Woolies. If I remember correctly the store on Princes Street - now that grim, soulless Apple store - had albums and pick & mix pretty close to each other. It knew its market ... Back in the 70s, all the songs you heard came via Top Of The Pops and the Sunday chart show on Radio1, so my first purchases were those terrible MFP albums where session musicians drained the life out of the latest hits - Bowie's Laughing Gnome and Mungo Jerry’s In The Summertime were probably among the first. I suspect the Music For Pl...

The decision to can the 20-21 ice hockey season was no surprise. Like a doctor confirming the time of death, Tuesday, September 15 was when the EIHL finally put us out of our misery. The emptiness which will follow for ice hockey fans will not have fully sunk in. Right now, we all crave re-establishing routines, but lockdown has erased so much of our social fabric. For some, that is gigs, for others it’s meet-ups with special groups, and for hockey fans, it ‘s rinkside every weekend where familiar faces are all around, and the noise, the shared songs and chants, and the ebb and flow of the game is our escape. Those bonds cannot be fully replaced by endless re-runs from the archives - is anyone really still absorbed in them? - while the desire to play our part by buying tickets for online 50/50 raffles will surely wither to near zero.  Lockdown has changed everything, and its ripples will continue to extend to the very horizon. Fo r ice hockey, the challenge isn’t just surviving wit...

  Somewhere in the depths of lockdown, I stumbled across a quote in a story on our Government’s handling of the pandemic. It said, the job of a leader is to lead - and not leave people to try to work out what they’re meant to do. Or words to that effect. I sense that’s exactly the position the EIHL finds itself in as it tries to plot a clear path to starting the 2020-21 season. The optimism which greeted news of the Magic-5 weekend at Nottingham vanished months ago. Right now, few fans would stick any money on the season even starting. The league’s update this week stretched to just two lines which said, well, nothing really. They’d met. They’d talked. They’d make an announcement on September 15. That was it. The league has said little to instil confidence among fans. Almost all of its summer PR has been built on looking back, rather than ahead where the picture is has zero clarity. So, fans are left to dissect individual statements from leading lights, to weigh up their thoughts a...

  When you are not in control of your own destiny, it’s hard to make any headway. The EIHL’s bid to run the 2020-21 season has always felt like a journey to be made more in hope than expectation. Social distancing, restrictions on numbers rinkside, and the threat of possible local lockdowns were all serious roadblocks - and all completely beyond their direct sphere of influence Factor in trying to adhere to  the different approaches of four devolved governments, and you have the ultimate nightmare scenario. Moving the start date from September to December certainly pushed the whole season on wheels and shunted it down the tracks in the hope of buying some breathing space - and clarity. But the sport still needs two clear, stable months to get everything, and everyone, in place for the puck dropping. As August expires, that still feels less than certain. The league has said very little, with most of its PR output focusing solely on social media engagement - endless polls to fin...

Add caption Mid-Au g ust is usually peak pre-season time for British ice hockey. This year there is silence and uncertainty. And with the  entire EIHL season stuck on wheels and rolled  down the tracks until December,  player movement is very much away from these shores and into Europe and beyond. The list of imports taking their kit bags and skates elsewhere seems to be growing by the day, and that places a huge question mark over recruitment for 2020-21 as coaches and GMs get to grips with a delayed start, and the jitters now starting to surface among key figures within the sport. This week saw Mike Cazzola confirmed as leaving Fife Flyers for Italian club, Cortina, in the Alps Hockey League. The UK had been his hockey, and studying base, since making the jump from the ECHL back in 2017, and this move into Europe underlines the trend now emerging.. Cazzola is the fifth Fife import to depart the UK.  Kyle Just signed for Hungarian hockey club, Újpesti Torna Egyle, C...

August dawns and Edinburgh is incredibly quiet. Worryingly quiet. The festival season has been lost in its entirety. Venues which ought to be a hive of activity amid final checks right now are empty and locked up. This time last year we were half a dozen shows into the 2019 Fringe - the Assembly preview night firing the starting gun for three weeks careering from venue to venue, soaking up the atmosphere and spending a small fortune on food and drink. The city may have a love-hate relationship with the festival - and there is much to re-think and re-imagine  - but the bottom line is it brings huge numbers of people who spend heftily on tickets, food, drink and accommodation. Without it, everyone takes a major hit. Last August we packed in some 75 shows., This August - we have one; a walking tour in the company of Arthur Smith. The city’s emergence from lockdown has barely begun. It’s almost impossible to spot more than a handful of tourists. The escalators which spill...

With the 2020-21 ice hockey seasons delayed until the end of the year, it’s more important than ever for clubs to stay in touch with their fan base. And that means thinking out the box. While 50-50 raffles and ‘shirt off the back' draws are vital, and well established ways of generating income at a time when revenue streams have all been turned off,  clubs need to get creative and funky if they are to bridge the yawning gap from lockdown to  puck drop. And it isn't just about hard cash. The sport has to engage if it is to keep its fan base involved, enthused and willing to hang on until the rink doors re-open. Some have worked incredibly hard - but the rest need to look at what they have done, how they have done it, and fully grasp that clinging to the old ways is utterly invalid this side of lockdown restrictions easing. Cardiff Devils output has been as sharp and professional as ever - as you’d expect from a club that leads the way in so many aspects of its organis...

Garry Tallent, Oran Mor, Glasgow My diary for August 2020 is almost blank. Every gig and show is ripped out - apart from one. Compare that to August 2019 and 75 shows shoehorned into three weeks of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, haring across the city from venue to venue, trying to catch four, sometimes five shows every day. The cost was ludicrous, but the memories and experiences priceless. Coronavirus has come perilously close to destroying the arts sector in the UK. Theatres are entering redundancy talks with staff amid fears they will close permanently, the summer festival season has been lost in its entirety, and shows rescheduled once will, almost certainly, be kicked further into the long grass as the entire industry hunkers down. March 2021 is the date many have ringed in their calendars for a possible return to gigging and live stage shows, and that may be too late to save many venues. A full calendar year without revenue is a horrific prospect. We are in serio...