Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm! Some tasty shows coming up

Crash Test Dummies lead singer Brad Roberts

The end of May will see Robbie Williams visit Murrayfield and in June Billy Joel plays the same venue. The start of July sees the Kaiser Chiefs playing Edinburgh Castle followed the next night by Marti Pellow. Then as if August in Edinburgh wasn’t busy enough already we are back at Murrayfield with Oasis playing three nights and AC/DC playing just one night which did surprise me.

As I learned when we were unprepared for how busy we would be when Harry Styles was in town, these sort of gigs can greatly increase the footfall we get in the shop and it will be no surprise that the largest crowds we are expecting are for the Oasis and AC/DC gigs.

I doubt we will reach the mayhem that ensued when Taylor Swift was in town but there is an added twist to the Oasis gigs as there is a two-day gap between the second and the third gigs and I do expect there will be lots of fans here for all three gigs and making a week of it.

We sold dozens of t-shirts just on the back of the shows being announced so I’m expecting to do a roaring trade in August – not so much from people buying a shirt to go the gig in, but just stocking up from the wide selection we always have in stock.

We also have a great selection of AC/DC shirts and rock shirts in general and rock fans do love a good t-shirt so I fully expect fans to buy a wide range of shirts rather than just AC/DC.

The gig I’m not sure about is Robbie Williams. It is certain to be busy but I suspect it will be an older audience and we don’t really have any of Robbie’s merchandise. Normally I would say that the artist has decided to sell exclusively from their own website but after a quick check of Robbie’s site it appears he is not selling shirts at all. I’ll be amazed if there is not something available at the gigs though. It also looks like Edinburgh is the first date of the tour which will be interesting for the fans not knowing quite what to expect.

They may not be stadium-size gigs but the Usher Hall has some big names playing this year. Mogwai are of course playing tomorrow and in a busy five days at the end of March Deacon Blue play on the 30th, Van Morrison plays the next day and Primal Scream play on April 3. The Waterboys play on June 13. Pixies play the O2 Academy in May and not a gig venue you hear of that often these days, the Edinburgh Playhouse hosts Alice Cooper in July.

In checking what gigs were on this year a few unexpected ones appeared. Lene Lovich plays La Belle Angele on May 4, New Model Army play O2 Academy on October 18, Bow Wow Wow play Liquid Room on November 6, ABC play Lexicon of Love, November 15 at the Usher Hall and most intriguing of all Crash Test Dummies play La Belle Angele on May 23 – Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm!