No more chocolate for a while, methinks. I hopped along to the Farmers Market just in time to grab the last white chocolate and raspberry easter egg from Co Co Co. huzzah! And it had some white chocolate passionfruit eggs with it, honestly probably the best easter egg I’ve ever had. I’ll wait til the memory fades before I eat more chocolate, I don’t want it tainted!

What a day it was – scrumptious eggs for breakfast, succulent roast lamb for lunch and ol’ time rock’n’roll for supper, feasting for all the senses. After a day of tastebuds overload, my ears were filled with such sweet sounds harking back to classic 70s rock, my eyes beheld showmanship delivered with easy swagger and charm. Oh yay, Ol’ Times packed out Whistlebinkies and whisked the room up into a rocking frenzy (all that plugging the gig on Waverley Bridge really paid off).

It’s good old style headbanging, hipswaying music; really, if your body remains motionless on hearing Ol’ Times, well, there’s no hope for you! I remember a conversation with my mother about headbanging, no, I have no idea how we got on to it, but it always appalled her, “You never did that, did you?” Er, how could I not? It was purely instinctive, still is (never did the air guitar thing, mind).

Ol’ Times are not just another Irish rock band, for one thing (or two) they’re not all Irish, there’s Argentine and Italian in the mix. Not that you’d know the singer, Gabriele is Italian (pic right), oh he’s something else for sure, a wiry larrikin sparking with charisma, a natural showman. The few times I’ve seen them, the drummer came across (to me anyway) as spokesman and leader of the band, personable, quietly authoritative, oh and there’s a bit of a Tom Hardy look to him.

The band are now over in Glasgow, playing Malones on Thursday 13th, then Penicuik (yeah, if you know it you’re probably as bemused as me), before heading South for ten gigs around England. It’s all there on their social media, you should check it out; there isn’t a gig near my hometown in Yorkshireland, shame that (and yet they’re playing Penicuik!?) Hopefully it won’t be too long before Ol’ Times return to Scotland but for the meantime I picked up their CD (one song Word After Word can be heard on Spotify). Sweet!

Other musical notes, I was back in Binkies last night for Dr Salad and The Scat Rats – a double dose of Mr Rough! The good Doctor was laying down some heavy, heated grooves for the fans in their very own heavy romance genre. The grooving was not for stopping, but as half the next band was already on the stage and the other half was happy enjoying the music, the Salad course somewhat overran. Plenty Salad-lovers stayed around for some rhythm and blues, so in the time left, the lads piled on banger after banger for the dance floor freaks. For a late Tuesday night it was very boisterous!

Toodle pip, mes amis!