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Ska band Rudebeard will host Skalloween at Mad Hatters, Inverness, on Saturday


By Margaret Chrystall


Every ska band has to have a spaghetti western instrumental, say Rudebeard, hosts of Inverness venue Mad Hatters Skalloween night on Saturday.

Rudebeard hosts of Skalloween at Mad Hatters on Saturday.
Rudebeard hosts of Skalloween at Mad Hatters on Saturday.

But it makes sense when you see the title of their latest EP The Good,The Beard, And The Ugly, where you can find the spaghetti western instrumental for yourself.

The Fife-based ska-punkers have been on the go for three years, and have just released their sixth EP.

And that has inspired some post-lockdown gigging to take up where they left off on building a reputation for livewire performances.

Bassist of the six-piece Gordy Davidson emphasises that Rudebeard are back, but lockdown didn’t see them really go away – when it came to getting music together using ways it was safe to do so.

“We doubled the number of our songs,” he said. “When we have been up to Inverness before, we were only doing a set of 45 minutes – now we can do an hour and a half!”

Rudebeard have also got a brand-new selling point, according to Gordy.

“Our singer Rod now has hair. Lustrous, long, blonde lockdown hair. Down to his shoulders.

“If you take a look at our Bitter Pill video, there are lots of shots of him ‘shaking it oot’ as if he is auditioning for a shampoo advert.

“We believe that this is totally unique in the Scottish ska scene, and truly sets us apart from our balding, shaven-headed contemporaries!

“The Good,The Beard, And The Ugly EP is probably the poppiest package we’ve released yet. There are two sort-of love songs to the women in our lives. Bitter Pill is about a dissatisfied wife, while Calm Doon Karen is about a Daily Mail-waving lady of a certain age.

“Then we ride off into the sunset with the bossa-nova slow burner Larry In The Hole, dedicated to the lockdown, and all those of us who are still mentally sailing in her.”

The Skalloween Party is at Mad Hatters, hosted by Rudebeard on Saturday (Oct 30). The music starts at 9pm, free.


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