SCOTLAND’s original boy band - or at least part of it - is back under the spotlight this weekend before thousands of bikers who are descending on the Cairngorms for the annual rally Thunder in the Glens (TITG) rally.
Shang-A-Lang and Bye Bye Baby will ring out as Les McKeown’s Bay City Rollers — whose Rollermania turned the world tartan in the 70s — take to the stage in Aviemore.
And a Summerlove Sensation is in the offing as Gloucestershire couple Shelley Denton and Paul Osborn — two biking enthusiasts — tie the knot today. She’ll be given away by Alex Glen, director of the Dunedin Chapter of the Harley-Davidson Owners’ Group (HOG), the rally organisers.
More than 2300 bikes have registered for the event and thousands more are expected to visit over the weekend. Rally director George McGuire told The National: “This is the first time Les McKeown's Bay City Rollers have performed at Thunder.
“They’ll play on the Sunday night and as well as the 1500 we can get inside the hall we’re expecting around 2000 more to watch them on a giant screen we’re having set up outside the MacDonald Hotel — a first for Thunder.”
Aviemore is booked solid for the weekend with accommodation scarce elsewhere, and McGuire says shuttle buses will run between there and areas such as Grantown-on-Spey, Boat of Garten and Nethy Bridge, although he thinks staging parts of the rally in these towns could be something for the future.
“I think we’ll have to look more at doing things the way they do in some of the American rallies, like Sturgis in South Dakota, where buses bring people from all around the city into the main events over the whole ten days of the rally,” he said.
Chris Taylor, from VisitScotland, said: “With its huge number of loyal fans and followers, this Harley-Davidson rally is ideally located in the Highlands thanks to its stunning scenery and breathtaking roads to ride.”
Macdonald Aviemore Resort managing director Ian Peck said: “We started to work with the event in 2005 by giving use of our Osprey Arena. Since that time, our collaboration has grown year on year — in addition to all rooms being sold out well in advance, all large conference and event areas will be in use and the resort will also be home to a campsite and 600 tents.”
Police Scotland event commander Inspector Mike Middlehurst added: “It’s a fantastic event and a highly anticipated weekend each year.”
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