TWO expatriate Scots in Finland who were heading back to Scotland for a series of gigs in the Highlands and Islands have had to cancel appearances by the two-piece band Nightbird.
Don McCracken was managing the tour, which included the Tigh an Truish hotel, on the Isle of Seil, where he spent all his childhood holidays.
He and a fellow Scot, Mike Lennie, who plays guitar, bass and keyboards, along with Fenno-Swedish singer-songwriter Anna-Stina Jungerstam, have postponed the tour because of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, Nightbird are now looking at streaming gigs from the pub McCracken co-owns in Finland.
He told The National: “I’m afraid we made the call to postpone the tour for now. Finland has closed its borders, gatherings of over 10 people are forbidden, Finnair has cancelled all flights to Scotland (and just about everywhere else), and we’d have to go into two weeks quarantine when we returned.
“But really, we just wouldn’t be comfortable inviting people to gigs when there’s a chance it might spread the virus by doing so.
“Coronavirus might not be in the Highlands but we’d hate to be three Typhoid Marys. We’d end up publicising the gig by saying ‘stay home! Keep safe!’ “We’re absolutely crushed after all the hard work and excitement, but when the picture becomes clearer I’ll pick myself up and re-book it all and make it even bigger and better.”
He said the venues had been very understanding and supportive and he would “definitely” get it all rebooked.
In the meantime, he said they were considering live-streaming Nightbird gigs.
“Nightbird is doing at least one live Instagram gig for a venue in Germany where her gig was cancelled,” he said.
“It’s an interesting phenomenon that’s really caught hold here now that all Finnish artists are basically grounded.
“I am the joint-owner of a pub – Musta Kissa (the Black Cat) – in Helsinki, and we’re working on live streaming gigs in our empty pub as a way to get some money in for local artists. The art community has taken the biggest and most immediate hit of this situation, and of course most work for peanuts anyway, so any financial upset can be catastrophic.”
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