You ask me to
Believe in magic
(Runrig, Every river)

Runrig, I can barely express what I’m feeling right now, after this amazing and at the same time heartbreaking weekend. I’m full of words and speechless at the same time. Regardless of how I put those words together I can’t really manage to say all that has to be said. So, for starters, I’ll begin with the most simple yet most important thing: THANK YOU.

A couple of weeks ago, on June 9th, I was in Cologne, celebrating what I thought had been my last concert with you. And then a lot of things happened quite quickly and serendipity found me more than once. Due to a tweet, a retweet by you (I can’t believe how often Twitter already was involved in magic and great things happening in my life) and pure magic I suddenly found myself with two tickets for The Last Dance, your last dance, in Stirling on Friday. I had tried to get tickets before and until this amazing night in June I had been certain I would never succeed.

However, magic and luck joined forces afterwards. Almost in the last minute and definitely in the most unexpected moment (I still can’t really process what happened) I suddenly got tickets for Saturday as well. And I really, really stood there, in Stirling, with this beautiful backdrop, speechless and stunned for minutes, touched and bedazzled forever, paralysed by happiness, drunken with luck and with tears of joy in my eyes.

I’m not usually the concert goer, but seeing you perform on those two nights made me seize every moment. You touched something inside me, triggered all emotions from happiness to sadness (most often at once) and sent me to another sphere. It was a truly special night and I am honoured to have sent you off with that amazing crowd of people. 25,000 singing, dancing, smiling and crying, all feeling what I felt and what cannot to be described properly.

I will always remember this show, this potpourri of feelings, the terrific joy I felt, being part of that amazing crowd, the sadness when it was over, but most of all the thankfulness for having been there. It was a night to remember. It was an honour to be there. Those were moments to touch one’s heart forever.

Thank you Runrig, thank you for the music and the memories. Even if you close this chapter (and I can understand the reasons for this decision), your music will remain, always. The years we shared are far from over, they will go on. Thank you for your capacity to capture so much in your music, to raise issues, to be a unique voice and to express so much more than just the words that make up your songs. I know there are many people who followed you for decades and I am almost ashamed to say I discovered you much later, only a couple of years ago. But this is not to diminish the effect you had on me. Thank you for a lot of memories, for your company and, looking at this weekend, for the most unforgettable concert in my life. I am deeply grateful I was able to celebrate that farewell with you, send you off with tears in my eyes, a smile on my face, fire in my heart and thankfulness in my mind. Mòran taing, Runrig! You asked me to believe in magic – and then it happened.

And, because it’s not possible not to mention it: Thank you to the man who made it possible for me to be there that Saturday night. Thank you to those who made me listen to your songs for the first time. Thank you Scotland. I’ll never forget.