The Scottish Tattoo 2002

"Scotland Forever"

Birmingham Symphony Hall

Audience Feedback 2002

The show was super - Back next year hopefully. Christine Davis

Enjoyed the whole show. Ann Burton

Amazing Grace sent shivers all down our bodies. Gaelic Singers most haunting. Irish Dancers enthralling. Wonderful bands. Leonora Brown 

Wonderful value for money - come to Nottingham and Sheffield please! 

J. Padley

Made me proud to be a Scot. Thank you for a wonderful night.  Haste ye back. Mrs S.G Evans

What a really great night.  Look forward to next year. Thank you to all who took part. Ann Peyton

A wonderful night's entertainment. John Peyton

Thoroughly enjoyed the show. More audience participation please. Please come back soon. Eileen Barr.

Good well balanced show. C.Elwell.

I enjoyed it all. Excellent mixture and well put together. Mts T Elwell

How wonderful to see and hear people from all parts. Mikayla Powell

More brass band please. Mrs Skeldon

Excellent show. Great dancers and bands. Come again next year.

Mrs J Nicol

More Moira singing -we love her voice. Pipes & Drums, Dancers and harp players all very good. Anna Stewart

Really enjoyed the history lesson and would like to think it would be a permanent feature. Excellent night.  Brummies don't make a fuss but they all enjoyed it round me! G Sheldon

Irish Dancers stole the show. Brass excellent. John & Valerie Wilkinson

Please come to Dublin! Sheila Kelly

A very rousing and emotional performance. Mrs M Cox

Please bring the tour to America! Danetta Shaeter

Fabulous! Thanks. B A Moore

A well thought out programme which exceeded expectations.  massed bands magnificent with excellent performances from everyone. Miss S A wood

Excellent - good variety of styles and interesting historical information. Great evening. Thank you. Charles and Wendy Sandison

Liked the Dance Band.  Story very well threaded by the music. A night to remember. Come again. Peter Findlay

Wonderful Mrs K Gormley

Wonderful.  I loved it. More Scottish Fiddlers. M. Lamont

I loved the massed pipes & drums.  I'm 16 and don't have an ounce of Scotland in me, but I think its wicked.  My mates at college think I'm weird but I think it's cool. Amy Seamark

It's a wonderful show. My husband was a Jap prisoner of war.  Whn they asked him if he was an English soldier, he said no I am Scottish but part of the BRITISH ARMY. Nelly Kelly

Great Performance! Mrs M D Jones

Excellent performance from all. Mr & Mrs G Aldridge

Very refreshing to be so uplifted by such enthusiastic performers. A. Stewart

Looking forward to next year. A Boland

Loved all the dancers. It's very musical.  You cannot state who is the best as so much goes into it. It is a really good evening.  E. Mattock

Good show. Well enjoyed. Will come next year. Mrs L Matheson

Good all round performance. Mr & Mrs J Sanderson

It brought back lots of fond memories.  Please return to Symphony Hall. Margaret Green

The show was brilliant, fantastic. If it comes to Birmingham again, I and others will definitely attend. Keep up the good work. Doug Griffin

A wonderful evening. Thank you. L. Pilla

I enjoyed the whole show. My family all gave it an excellent. Like me. Thelma Pallett

Loved the dancing and Brass band was superb. Mr & Mrs C Groves

Loved the pipes and dancing. Mrs M Cameron

Excellent value. really enjoyed everything - especially Cliar. Mrs R Patterson

Very good. Bit too much Scottish dancing for me. Irish dancers superb and Highland dancers doing the Hornpipe. My favourites... The piper who played Amazing Grace, young Irish Dancer and Pipes. Mrs S Beasley

I thought the whole show was wonderful and would certainly want to see it again. Miss K Marriott

All excellent. Pipes terrific. Ms E Ellis

Enjoyable and entertaining Mrs M Oliver

We had a wonderful evening and enjoyed all the performers. 

Mr & Mrs A Patel.

The accordionist added a great deal to the music. Mrs B M Parker

Enjoyed everything particularly pipes and Cliar. Shorten to 2 1/2 hours. Brass band very good but did not fit. Mike & Christine Turner

We thought it was an excellent show.  Really liked Cliar's first song. 

Mr & Mrs P Perkes

Please come again next year.  I only get to wear my kilt 4/5 times a year!

Paul Archer-Murray

Mr A-M also thought the show could be more like Edinburgh.

Just love the pipes, dancing etc. Enjoyable evening and value for money.

Mr & Mrs E Annals

Loved every minute!  Mrs E Connor

Some mixed reactions......

A wonderful evening. Favourite Scottish Band and all dancing.

Moira/Stu on/offs not good. Brass Band out of place. Not enough audience singing opportunities.  Flower of Scotland etc. Songs we sang at school. 

Mrs M Brock

Excellent but thought the actors could be nearer the side. Mics also blocked view. Mr & Mrs B. Lowe

Excellent. Pipes top of the pops but Cliar played too long in the 2nd half and Moira's links not for us. Bryan & June Ross

Overall content fine. Shorten show. No adlib suggestive jokes about under kilts. Don &Christine Neill

Excellent but dialogue tiresome with actors on'offs. Too long. Well done. 

Sheila Skinner.

Shorten by 1/2 hour. Less is more. A.M Tsolskis

Thoroughly enjoyed the evening but very distracting with actors on/offs. Would have liked groups nearer the front of the stage. Hope to come next year. Peter & Wendy Anderson

Music & dancing very good indeed. Narration could be done over the sound system. Too many comings and goings. Mics at stage front obscured the view. More sing song needed. Overall a good show. Mrs E Eckersley

Everything excellent, could not fault it apart from narrators coming and going.  V A Keight

Show excellent apart from the man and woman coming on and off to give us a history lesson.  4 pensioners

I did not like the negative aspects of the commentary saying the English subjugated the Scots and Irish. There is a close link between the Scots and Northern Irish and Scots armed the Irish Protestants.  Enough said!

More  Gaelic songs from the Hebrides perhaps.   Mr Cameron.

Not for these folk...

Dancers and bands excellent, Cliar good but too much Gaelic. Would have been better without the Scottish script. Did not actors own reference about Tony Blair.  better dress sense and posture from Moira.  No thanks given to Birmingham or performers..  Disgusted by not playing the National Anthem.  Too long - parking goes up after 4 hours! Mrs M J Beach

Enjoyed the perfomers (why Irish?) As a Brummie, was it really necessary to stage what I considered to be a Scottish Nationalist Party forum and campaign in the heart of our city?  Moira/Stuart not appropriate in detailing Scotland's history, achievements aspirations. Scotland is a fine nation but should not inflict their views and Scottish rhetoric on Midlands folks.  

The absence of a thank you to Birmingham and its residents and disgraceful omission of the National Anthem made the night for me a depressing spectacle. Alan Beach

PS I belong to 2 Scottish Country dancing Groups and enjoy it immensely.

First the positive. Cliar and singers excellent. All performers good BUT

Comperes leaden and kept coming and going. Performers overused. Too repetitive. Show should last 11/2 hours total. Not just me, everyone I spoke to and overheard. Performance is for the audience not the performers. 

Mrs Anne Lindsay

Ian's comment.

Having read and published the many wonderful comments from everyone, it is right to publish the adverse comments too,  We are all entitled to an opinion.  I accept the actors had a lot of on/offs in Birmingham.  The stage had to be cleared for the other performers.  The actors position was due to sightlines either side. I also agree that the show is too long! Shorter next time but not 11/2 hours!  So thank you Anne cruel but fair!

Mr Cameron - there is no doubt that the English subjugated the Scots and Irish...but it was a few hundred years ago! Both stand proud, however, for Scots that history  of striving for freedom - as laid down in the "Declaration of Arbroath" is part of the Scottish psyche and that is what I wanted to bring out.

The feedback from Mr & Mrs Beach is the most distressing. The show is not a military tattoo and hs no current military personnel performing in it.  The National Anthem is not an essential ingredient. When the show was performed on 21 April - the Queen's birthday - the anthem was rightly played in her honour. 

The show is different from other shows in that it does not have an announcer.  Instead, the Scottish flavour is enhanced by a scripted theme.  This year "Scotland Forever" - to quote my handbills "Relive the emotional story of Scotland's many heroes, warriors, leaders, inventors, builders, explorers".  That is what was delivered, for most in an enjoyable way with music, song and dance.  

Tony Blair counts himself as English, although born in Scotland.  That is the reference in the script.  No other and definitely not derogatory, he is great.

I am a Labour Councillor!

Scottish Nationalist Party Forum??????????? 

Personal attack on Moira - out of place.

Finally, the not thanking the people of Birmingham.  Just a wee reminder...I came on stage at the end of the interval and thanked everyone for attending.  Also, at the end I came on stage and clapped the audience in all parts.  The feedback..which everyone here filled in states at the beginning "This is the first time in Birmingham and the wonderful Symphony Hall.  The BSH team have been excellent and you have turned out in excellent numbers.  Shall we do it again?"

My case rests!

Thank you to everyone for the honest feedback and the many wonderful comments.  To Amy Seamark aged 16 - I think you are cool too! Your friends do not know what they are missing!  

All comments much appreciated and you are all invited back next year - if I can get a date in the Symphony Hall.  ("The Massacre of Glencoe")

Best wishes and good health

Ian