One of the year's liveliest and certainly wee-est festivals is to take place on the Isle of Eigg. And it was sold out before the lineup had even been announced. Johnny Lynch of Silver Columns is the man behind the first ever Away Game – ferrying a gang of electronic acts, daft folkies and British Sea Power to an island in the Inner Hebrides.
Most of the time, only about 70 people live on Eigg. On 24 and 25 September, it's going to get rather more crowded. More than 29 acts are scheduled for the Away Game weekend, with all of them – apart from Eigg's own metallers Massacre Cave – coming from across the sound. Organiser Lynch is a member of the Fife-based Fence Collective, whose Home Game festival has been held in the fishing village of Anstruther since 2004. "We realised the reason a lot of folk make the pilgrimage to Fife for Home Game is because Anstruther is a pretty seaside tourist town, and it feels like a bit of a holiday," Lynch explained. "With Away Game, we fancied putting on an event where it feels like we're all on holiday!"
With a reputation for thrilling and cosy weekends, Fence had no trouble selling all 150 camping tickets within six minutes of the Away Game's announcement. Those lucky festivalgoers will enjoy performances by an array of wild'n'woollies, including the aforementioned British Sea Power, King Creosote, Jon Hopkins, Adem, and solo sets from Meursault, Hefner's Darren Hayman, Ballboy's Gordon McIntyre, and Malcolm Middleton (debuting his Human Don't Be Angry project). Organisers are also trucking over their favourite Fife bakery, Fisher & Donaldson, to provide stovies and soup.
As for the directions to the festival, it's rather straightforward: go to Eigg. You won't be able to miss it.
The full lineup is as follows:
British Sea Power
King Creosote
Silver Columns
Jon Hopkins
Daimh
Human Don't Be Angry (Malcolm Middleton)
Johnny Flynn
Walls (Kompakt)
Darren Hayman (Hefner)
The Pictish Trail
Found
Adem
Meursault (solo)
Withered Hand (solo)
Kid Canaveral
Come On Gang!
Lendf (Pip Dylan)
François & the Atlas Mountains
Rozi Plain
Gummi Bako
Over the Wall
The Massacre Cave
The Oates Field
Iona Marshall
Player Piano
Sweet Baboo
Onthefly (DJ)
Blood Music
Gordon McIntyre (Ballboy)
Silver Columns release their next single Always On in September and they're on tour with James Yuill this autumn
