FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 16th – 23rd JUNE 2024
Just as I began to celebrate the 7pm Mass last Sunday, I noticed a big group of people come in, make their way across the back of the church, down one of the side aisles, and then take up a few rows in the pews. Our Sunday evening Mass, like the 9pm Mass in St Aloysius Jesuit Church in Garnethill, can attract a transient congregation as well as a regular congregation, but it was unusual to see such a large group of people coming in together, and from what I could glean, they were all young people. Afterwards, as Father Gareth, Brother Conor, and myself, greeted people outside, we discovered that they were all from Chicago, where Brother Conor had recently completed his Theology studies, and that they were in fact Swifties. The Wikipedia definition is that Swifties are the fandom of American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Regarded by journalists as one of the largest, most devoted and influential fan bases, Swifties are known for their high levels of participation, creativity, community and fanaticism. For anyone who may have been living on another planet last week, Taylor Swift was playing the first two nights of the British leg of her European Tour at Murrayfield Stadium last Friday and Saturday. When I was watching the news coverage, and listening to so many young people from all over the world being interviewed on the streets of Edinburgh, absolutely brimming with anticipation and excitement, the last thing I expected was that a group of Swifties would make their way to Glasgow, and to St Mungo’s, to participate in Sunday Evening Mass. Their plan was to see a bit of Glasgow before heading off on a tour of the Highlands. I hope they travel safely and have a wonderful time, and I found it really heartening that getting to Sunday Mass was part of their itinerary.
I was prompted to remember some of my own concert experiences from way back. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, when I was a bit of a folkie, I would often go to the City Halls in Candleriggs to see groups like Fairport Convention, when the late Sandy Denny was lead singer, with her most amazing voice, and Pentangle, when Danny Thomson was the double bass player, who made me embarrassed to ever play the double bass again, he was so brilliant. I later had the experience of performing on that same stage when the group that I was playing with, the Open Hand Band (there were 5 of us), reached the final of the Scottish Folk Group Championships, coming second to a great group call the JSD Band. I remember that the Irish duo, Finbar and Eddie Furey, were the guest artists during the interval while the votes were being counted. It was a close call, but I think the best group won. The nearest I came to a Swiftie experience was going, twice, to open air concerts at the RDS in Dublin to see my all-time favourites, Simon and Garfunkel. The first time was on 15th June 1982. I was due to sit my final Theology exams the next day, so I should have been home studying, but there was no way I was missing that concert. The second time was on 17th July 2004, when Simon and Garfunkel were doing their farewell tour, with the Everley Brothers as their support act. I was rector and parish priest of Mount argus at the time; it was a Saturday night; and I was on early Mass next morning, but again there was no way I could possibly miss it.
There have been other memorable concerts – Rod Stewart at the Glasgow Apollo, being there with my niece, sometime in the 1970’s, with Rod revealing his Scotland strip at one point, and kicking a host of footballs into the audience; The re-united Eagles at Lansdowne Road in Dublin in 2006. I wasn’t a massive fan but I was gifted two spare tickets just a couple of hours before the show, and it was too good to miss seeing the legendary Joe Walsh in the flesh. Also, Carlos Santana at the Latium in Rome when I was studying there in 1983, accompanied by an Australian Passionist who was almost as good a guitarist as Carlos Santana himself. These are just a few of the many. I would probably find such experiences all too exhausting now, but the good memories live on, and I’m glad of them to look back on.
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
Just as I began to celebrate the 7pm Mass last Sunday, I noticed a big group of people come in, make their way across the back of the church, down one of the side aisles, and then take up a few rows in the pews. Our Sunday evening Mass, like the 9pm Mass in St Aloysius Jesuit Church in Garnethill, can attract a transient congregation as well as a regular congregation, but it was unusual to see such a large group of people coming in together, and from what I could glean, they were all young people. Afterwards, as Father Gareth, Brother Conor, and myself, greeted people outside, we discovered that they were all from Chicago, where Brother Conor had recently completed his Theology studies, and that they were in fact Swifties. The Wikipedia definition is that Swifties are the fandom of American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Regarded by journalists as one of the largest, most devoted and influential fan bases, Swifties are known for their high levels of participation, creativity, community and fanaticism. For anyone who may have been living on another planet last week, Taylor Swift was playing the first two nights of the British leg of her European Tour at Murrayfield Stadium last Friday and Saturday. When I was watching the news coverage, and listening to so many young people from all over the world being interviewed on the streets of Edinburgh, absolutely brimming with anticipation and excitement, the last thing I expected was that a group of Swifties would make their way to Glasgow, and to St Mungo’s, to participate in Sunday Evening Mass. Their plan was to see a bit of Glasgow before heading off on a tour of the Highlands. I hope they travel safely and have a wonderful time, and I found it really heartening that getting to Sunday Mass was part of their itinerary.
I was prompted to remember some of my own concert experiences from way back. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, when I was a bit of a folkie, I would often go to the City Halls in Candleriggs to see groups like Fairport Convention, when the late Sandy Denny was lead singer, with her most amazing voice, and Pentangle, when Danny Thomson was the double bass player, who made me embarrassed to ever play the double bass again, he was so brilliant. I later had the experience of performing on that same stage when the group that I was playing with, the Open Hand Band (there were 5 of us), reached the final of the Scottish Folk Group Championships, coming second to a great group call the JSD Band. I remember that the Irish duo, Finbar and Eddie Furey, were the guest artists during the interval while the votes were being counted. It was a close call, but I think the best group won. The nearest I came to a Swiftie experience was going, twice, to open air concerts at the RDS in Dublin to see my all-time favourites, Simon and Garfunkel. The first time was on 15th June 1982. I was due to sit my final Theology exams the next day, so I should have been home studying, but there was no way I was missing that concert. The second time was on 17th July 2004, when Simon and Garfunkel were doing their farewell tour, with the Everley Brothers as their support act. I was rector and parish priest of Mount argus at the time; it was a Saturday night; and I was on early Mass next morning, but again there was no way I could possibly miss it.
There have been other memorable concerts – Rod Stewart at the Glasgow Apollo, being there with my niece, sometime in the 1970’s, with Rod revealing his Scotland strip at one point, and kicking a host of footballs into the audience; The re-united Eagles at Lansdowne Road in Dublin in 2006. I wasn’t a massive fan but I was gifted two spare tickets just a couple of hours before the show, and it was too good to miss seeing the legendary Joe Walsh in the flesh. Also, Carlos Santana at the Latium in Rome when I was studying there in 1983, accompanied by an Australian Passionist who was almost as good a guitarist as Carlos Santana himself. These are just a few of the many. I would probably find such experiences all too exhausting now, but the good memories live on, and I’m glad of them to look back on.
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
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