They will soon be turning heads again at venues across the region.
Popular Perth band The Owls have re-formed and are quickly counting down the days until their big comeback gig in a couple of months’ time.
John Ramsay (vocals), Mike Lee (guitar/vocals), Dave Bone (drums) and Rory Connaghan (bass/vocals) are hard in rehearsals for a Skalloween Show at the Ex Servicemen’s Club on October 29.
Tickets vanished like hotcakes and the event is already sold-out.
“There will be lots of rehearsals and we’ve booked ourselves into the studio every week,” said John, who has teamed up with Kasbah vs Beat Surrender for the big night as well as acquired the services of Perthshire Sound and Light.
The Owls - known previously as The Irritable Owls - were initially formed back in 2015 on the back of a chat in local watering hole The Foundry between John and mate Colin Scott.
“At that time he had never been involved in a live gig before,” John recalled.
“We used to go to the Kasbah and saw these Ska tunes and Mod tunes smashing the dancefloor to a certain age group.
“We thought having a band doing something like that would absolutely work.
“We were keen to give it a go, managed to get a bit of a set together and then played at The Twa Tams to dip our toes in and see what the reaction was.
“I remember we had five tunes and people seemed to absolutely love it. From there, it went from strength to strength.
“Within a year we played the Merchant City Festival in Glasgow in front of six or seven hundred people.
“And then we started getting council functions, the fireworks, Hallowe’en stuff at the Concert Hall. It went from nothing to something pretty big pretty quick.”
As often happens in life and music, commitments crop up, people become busy and trying to work a schedule becomes impossible.
The Owls decided to call it a day in 2019 and finished with a Christmas Kasbah night up the Tulloch Institute, which was packed out.
“It can be tough getting four guys to agree on everything - the politics of a band,” smiles John, who also plays with The Villains.
“There were never any hard feelings when we decided to call it a day and we actually did a couple of gigs that were advertised as the last ones.
“We all agreed to take a break because we’d had a laugh and enjoyed the ride.”
It was only recently - and off the back of the coronavirus pandemic - that thoughts about returning started to surface.
John said: “Over the years people did ask if we’d get back together.
“We hadn’t given it much thought until recently. Maybe the pandemic and not playing so much in venues has had something to do with it.”
A recent return to The Twa Tams to test the water went down a treat and whetted the appetite for what is to come in the months ahead.
“There is nothing better than when you get up on stage and people are actually turning up for you,” explained John, who also revealed the band is set for an appearance on hit TV show Come Dine With Me.
“We’d had some t-shirts printed and quite a lot of folk had purchased them. That first gig back we had people going about with Owls t-shirts on and that brings a buzz.”
Ahead of the October 29 show, The Owls will be performing in Pitlochry.
“We’re going to do a warm-up show in The Old Mill on October 8,” John said.
“We used to play there with the old band and, when they heard we were back together, they were in touch quickly.”
An experienced operator of the local music scene, John is pleased to see pubs across the city and region providing a platform for musicians.
It makes for an exciting time for all keen to entertain, of course including The Owls.
John said: “There is lots going on in Perth and a lot of young kids coming through.
“The city has a lot of open mics available and pubs are making an effort with bands on a Saturday night.
“Pubs like The Caledonian Bar, Dickens, Greyfriars and The Royal are giving youngsters a chance to come through.
“When you go to Edinburgh and Glasgow, you obviously find it. But for Perth to be trying it - and smaller pubs - is great. There is definitely still a music scene here.”
