The One With Andy Macdonald

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:00:14]:
Hello. Hello. Thank you for joining me once again. Thank you for coming back. I hope you enjoyed this episode.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:00:37]:
Do remember, give us the old likes, the comments, the shares, subscribe, reviews. It all helps. Let me tell you about somebody who gave me the best weekend I have had in years. This, all will become clear. This person, born and bred in MacMoray up here in the Northeast Of Scotland, the he’s the owner and event organizer of MacMoray Festival. He’s also a Scottish high jump record holder and Scottish athlete of the year 02/2008. He was team captain of Duff at Hopeman Primary School, going back a little bit, leading Duff to victory, beating the favorites Cameron House. Quite competitive, this gentleman.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:01:16]:
He’s a master hotelier of the luxurious Carlton Hotel on Forest High Street, which offers five star banter with two star accommodation. He is the owner of Forest Fest and the MacMoray championships, And he is a lover of animals and a hater of Karens. And above all, today, he is my guest. He is Andy McDonald. Let’s bring him in. Hey, Andy. How are you doing?

Andy Macdonald [00:01:44]:
I’m great. That was a fantastic bio. Couldn’t have written that better myself.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:01:51]:
Great. Thank you so much for coming on. Great to great to have you here. I know things are really hectic for you at the moment. You’ve got so much stuff going on.

Andy Macdonald [00:02:00]:
I know. I appreciate the break. Yeah.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:02:03]:
I do. So we’ve heard the bio, but who’s Andy? Who’s the guy behind it all?

Andy Macdonald [00:02:09]:
Oh, shit.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:02:10]:
I’ve lost you. The guy with the phone that falls. Sorry.

Andy Macdonald [00:02:15]:
Yeah. I couldn’t find my laptop, could I?

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:02:16]:
So now I’m just using

Andy Macdonald [00:02:18]:
the phone, and I’m balancing it against something really silly. And I’ve got Polly, say hi.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:02:23]:
Hello. So

Andy Macdonald [00:02:24]:
yeah. What did you ask me?

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:02:28]:
I have no idea. Who is who is Andy McDonald? Who’s the guy behind all that bio?

Andy Macdonald [00:02:34]:
Here, am I supposed to look at the bottom or the top one?

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:02:36]:
We’d look at whatever you want.

Andy Macdonald [00:02:38]:
Well, the top one, I can’t really see myself. And the bottom one, I can see too much.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:02:42]:
Now we we we can we can just see up to your nose. So maybe tilt it back a little bit.

Andy Macdonald [00:02:51]:
Well, this everything fell open.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:02:53]:
There we go. What’s I can see.

Andy Macdonald [00:02:56]:
Holding it.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:02:57]:
And a fantastic set of teeth as well.

Andy Macdonald [00:03:00]:
I was like, to say,

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:03:02]:
when

Andy Macdonald [00:03:02]:
I was when I was at university, I got smacked out with a bottle. I was on the dance floor drinking, cracked in front of my teeth. Oh, shit. Nose went to the doctors. They written both out, and then I got these, dentures put in. Then, eventually, I was, I got two fake teeth and then two caps on each side to make myself look a bit more pleasant.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:03:22]:
Well, there you go. Well,

Andy Macdonald [00:03:24]:
anyway Why not?

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:03:25]:
Why why not indeed? Hey. Yeah. So, again, who the heck is Andy? We’ve heard the bio, but who’s stop touching your camera. Who’s who’s the fall over.

Andy Macdonald [00:03:37]:
Luke, I’ve got ADT. Alright. I can’t help myself. I would use that all throughout uni and high school if I knew I had it, but I didn’t.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:03:47]:
Oh, well,

Andy Macdonald [00:03:49]:
I I can’t even balance

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:03:51]:
my camera

Andy Macdonald [00:03:51]:
here. Well, this is this is great. This is going really well, ain’t it?

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:03:56]:
This is

Andy Macdonald [00:03:57]:
what it’s all about. Here we go. God’s sake. Right.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:04:02]:
That’ll do. That’ll do. Just stay stay right where you are. It’s perfect.

Andy Macdonald [00:04:08]:
I’m sweating as well. I’ve been running around like nuts because at 05:00, I’m announcing McMurray Summers’ first, artist. No. That’s a little rubbish. See, my head’s gone.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:04:21]:
Yes. I’m at Easter. McMurray Easter.

Andy Macdonald [00:04:23]:
Well, actually, I actually got two I’m I’m killing two birds with one stone because I’m doing the best of summer twenty twenty four with an announcement, my first announcement of McMurray Easter. And that song’s kinda playing in the background. You see? And it all kind of goes together.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:04:42]:
Gotcha. Gotcha.

Andy Macdonald [00:04:44]:
That goes out to 05:00.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:04:46]:
Yeah. That’s exciting. Yeah. In just a few and, yeah, three quarters of an hour. So, supposed to better better make you most of this. So,

Andy Macdonald [00:04:54]:
I know.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:04:56]:
So, yeah, who who are you, Andy? Who’s we’ve heard the bio. Who’s the guy behind it all?

Andy Macdonald [00:05:01]:
I don’t know anymore. Do you know that? I don’t have a clue. I don’t know who I am. Sometimes I think I’m a, you know, a good person, and the next minute I realize, no. I’m just impulsive and sensitive. You know? I used to think I was passionate. Nah. Nah.

Andy Macdonald [00:05:14]:
Just a bit of a just a bit of a sensitive, competitive, angry, impulsive man. Yeah. I’m 40 years old, so I see myself as a man now. You know? I don’t take no crap from anybody. You know? I’m an adult. So Yeah. That that’s the person I am. But I’ve always been I’ve always been really, really, really, really competitive.

Andy Macdonald [00:05:35]:
Always, always have. I love I absolutely love, love proving people wrong, and I’ve spent my entire life, which feels like back against the wall, proving everyone wrong because they don’t think, you know, someone can be capable of doing something that they’ve never done before. Loads of rubbish. I just keep ticking those boxes, and I can’t wait till someone else tells me what else I can’t do. And I’ll just go for it, ain’t it?

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:05:59]:
Yeah. Right. So yeah. Yeah. That’s who you are.

Andy Macdonald [00:06:04]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:06:05]:
So we we some some of what you’re saying there comes across in in the bio that you have as well. You we can sort of see some of the the competitive nature in there, which is

Andy Macdonald [00:06:14]:
That’s it, ain’t it? Never lost it, but I still hold the Scottish high jump record to this day, by the way.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:06:20]:
What what what is what is the record? What’s the height?

Andy Macdonald [00:06:23]:
Oh, six foot eight. It’s, where did I do it? I did it in Granton, Spain at the Scottish Highland Games

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:06:29]:
Yeah.

Andy Macdonald [00:06:29]:
At Grantown in 02/2008. Year before, I did the Scottish long jump, but that got broken in 2017, I think. And, yeah, that was when I was in my heyday at 24 years old. But I was at uni as well. But at summertime, I trained with my dad, and I would train while competing throughout the Highland Games circuit. And I became really, really good. And then, I was gonna look at you know, I got scouted. Next thing you know, I’m at where was Manchester Sale Harriers, Fletch Club.

Andy Macdonald [00:06:56]:
Didn’t last there too long because I just love to socialize. Typical Scott. You know? I wasted a talent. I was the best. I should’ve went to the Commonwealth Olympics with, yeah, with decathlon, or I could’ve picked an event. Is was that not nuts. But I don’t know. I just think there’s a part of me missing that love for working my ass off training every day through blood, sweat, and tears while, you know, footballers are out there getting paid a fortune to be part of the team where you have to be the best individual at your sport in a place with no money.

Andy Macdonald [00:07:30]:
So I was like, that doesn’t sound good to me, to be fair. So, yeah, here I am.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:07:34]:
Here you are. And one one of one of the the major things that you’ve done for this this area is, a few years ago now, you, crazy idea to to organize a festival in Cooper Park in the middle of Elgin. Where where did the idea come from from, McMurray?

Andy Macdonald [00:07:53]:
I am sweating like mad here, you know, running around trying to relax. I I can’t, and I feel like I’m too close to the camera.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:08:04]:
You’re fine. Maybe you’re fine.

Andy Macdonald [00:08:06]:
Being too far to avoid questions I don’t wanna answer.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:08:09]:
Well It’s not really, by the way.

Andy Macdonald [00:08:11]:
I I would rather pretend to pause them. What do what do I do? Hold on. Sorry about this. Let’s get this right. Like, see, it’s proper balanced on, like, a little toy slot machine thing. Here we go. Let’s do it. Right.

Andy Macdonald [00:08:26]:
So I’m sorry. What did you ask?

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:08:30]:
So, yeah, a a few year a few years back, you had the crazy idea of, organizing a music festival in the park in the middle of Elgin, and that became, that was MacMoray Easter Festival, three years ago. Where where did the idea come from?

Andy Macdonald [00:08:46]:
Well, when I went to uni in Preston, I got into promotion and stuff, did house parties first, and then went started doing club promotions, bar promotions, and I got my first venue in 02/2011. And, and a real passion for live music. And I would do events down there, and then it kinda got to the point where I was like, right. I’m going to eventually do a major outdoor festival festival, but where am I gonna do it? So, The Choice of Preston. I even went as far as doing the event plan for Preston and, for Moorpark. And then it was like, do I do it there, or do I do it at Cooper Park in Elgin, my hometown? And I thought, you know what? I’m gonna do it in Elgin. So I did, and that was it. And at the same time, I had planned to move back up here because I’ve been living in England, since I was 18 years old, you know, when I went to university and kinda stayed on.

Andy Macdonald [00:09:40]:
Next thing I’m stuck down there. Every year, I kept saying, I’m moving back home. I’m moving back home. I’m moving back home. And I think I needed, subconsciously, the festival, something that big and outrageous so I’d move back home. So I did. Swin.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:09:57]:
Got it. Got it. Now, I mean, the people when they when they organize festivals, it’s it’s like it’s fairly easy to get lot lots of local managers. Up here, there’s lots of local talent, so you’d have no problem in getting lots of local bands to come along. But you had headlining it, you had the Boontown Rats. How

Andy Macdonald [00:10:15]:
Yeah. I hear one.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:10:17]:
I mean, did you just happen to have Bob Geldof’s number in in your phone? I mean, how how do you track, behind the Van Callum work to somewhere like Elgin?

Andy Macdonald [00:10:27]:
Well, funnily enough, when I started working with artists years before that, I became really with, another Scottish guy. Now I thought he lived in Glasgow, and his name was Colin. And he’s the owner of Rock Artists Management. We used to talk all the time until, one day he looked at the invoice to see my address for Preston. Then he rang me and said, oh, I live in Preston. I went, no. You don’t. He goes, I do.

Andy Macdonald [00:10:47]:
So I met him up shoot away with a beer. Had a few beers. We love we love to drink beer and eat curry on special occasions. And, he he manages Bob Geldof and the BoomTown Rats along with a wide array of artists. He’s got them all. So, and he’s a good friend of mine. So

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:11:03]:
Mhmm.

Andy Macdonald [00:11:04]:
That was my connection to Bob Geldof. And I says, look. It’s my first festival. Will, Bob Geldof be interested in, you know, headlining him with the BoomTown Raps? And then next thing you know, he said, yeah. And I was like, really? Okay. What happened?

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:11:19]:
Hey. Shows if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Andy Macdonald [00:11:23]:
That’s exactly it. Yeah.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:11:25]:
Yeah. Wow. When when you first, when you organized that first one, did did you were you, thinking, you know, this is gonna become a regular fixture, or were you just thinking, right, let’s organize this and then onto something else?

Andy Macdonald [00:11:38]:
It’s really, really hard one to answer. I’m not organized enough to look that far in the future. Never have never will. And I’m not a a cat with nine life. You’d be surprised how many things that I’ve done, which have nothing to do with the other thing. You know, like, from owning the Carlton Hotel to bars to live music to band management to being a professional athlete to winning Scottish athlete of the year to throw in the festivals and events. I’ve just done so much. And I don’t know.

Andy Macdonald [00:12:11]:
I’m I get I get restless. I get excited. I get impulsive, and I don’t know what to do next. And, like, yeah, to me, I’ve done pretty much all I wanted to do and achieved all I wanted to achieve with Murray, which led to, you know, when I was absolutely knackered a few months ago, and I’ve been thinking about it for quite a while, to be fair. And then the weight just lifted off my shoulders when I said this is gonna be my last one. And I felt better for it. So

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:12:41]:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, yeah. So yeah. Yeah. I mean, you’ve you’ve run was it three Easter ones so far, and you did the summer one summer one this year as well as the Easter

Andy Macdonald [00:12:52]:
one? Yeah.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:12:55]:
And, for those who aren’t aware, I mean, the the summer one, again, it was over two days in Cooper Park in Elgin. We had, well, we had, MacCar. We had Acura, Jackson’s. You had, what god. Who was yeah. We had Not enough. Sorry? I said point five times. Status quo.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:13:15]:
All of these coming to I mean, Elgin is 35,000 people in Elgin, and you’ve got, what, 10,000 people each day of MacMoray. That’s that.

Andy Macdonald [00:13:23]:
Yeah. That’s I think I think there’s 19,800 in Elgin population in it.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:13:29]:
It just depends where you where you look, I guess. I was just a figure I picked picked off, off Wikipedia about half an hour ago. You know how they make things up.

Andy Macdonald [00:13:36]:
Oh, yeah. See, I’m pretty sure it’s 20,000 in Elgin and then a hundred thousand in total for the whole whole MacMoray.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:13:45]:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. And you you had 10,000 each day coming in for for for Mount Murray Murray herself. That’s a that’s a huge benefit for the the whole local economy, I would imagine.

Andy Macdonald [00:13:56]:
Yeah. I think yeah. I I I know. I know. Yeah. It’s it’s it’s it’s crazy, and it’s exhausting, but, by god, what a buzz. What an absolute buzz when you see everyone turning up. Oh, I love it.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:14:09]:
Yeah. Yeah. I, once once, yeah, once once, had left stage, everyone was going on going off, I happened to see you just as you were you were leaving your VIP bit, and you you start having a chat with a couple of people. And you could see you were you were you were really buzzing having, organized it all pulled it all off and said, yeah. I must be a

Andy Macdonald [00:14:32]:
Yes. Like oh, that well, that’s the thing. Like, every year, I try and, like, outdo myself. I keep doing it every year, but I need to do something exciting and new. And with the summer, it was like like, this is by far my biggest lineup ever. Like, I grew up obsessed with State’s Court. Playing, like, fake guitars on my tennis racket to rocking all over the world along all this because it was my dad’s favorite band, and I kinda got into that music. And I was obsessed.

Andy Macdonald [00:14:56]:
And I’ve never been to a festival, which is odd. Before until 02/2017, I went to one, which was Download Festival. And the only reason I went well, it was one. My my mate asked me, please, will you come? So I was like, oh, go on in. And, it was because status quo was, on one of the main stages headlining, I think I need to you know, I’ll go and watch status quo. And I just remember watching him watching status quo in front of tens of thousands of people thinking, wow. They are just incredible. And then you fast forward, and it’s like, nah.

Andy Macdonald [00:15:26]:
There’s no have I really and I I didn’t believe it. You know what? Some something so big, and you think, there’s no way. State is core in Elgin. I’ve organized it. They’re gonna be performing, and I’m gonna be watching them. I just didn’t believe it. And it actually happens, like, oh my god. It’s not too good to be true.

Andy Macdonald [00:15:43]:
That is ridiculous. So, yeah, I was I was buzzing.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:15:48]:
I’m I’m not surprised. It was it was a it was a heck of a good, heck of a good, weekend.

Andy Macdonald [00:15:53]:
But It was, wasn’t it? And it it’s so funny. I wish I could enjoy it more than I do, but the see, the anxiety levels are sky high because you’re ready and you’re on high alert for the next problem. Is the meter gonna go off? Is the gust of wind gonna cause some trouble? You do not switch off. And I thought I can’t wait for it to be over, but at the same time, try and enjoy it as much as I can.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:16:16]:
Yeah. So, I mean, people don’t realize how much goes into organizing these things and they run up to it as well as actually being there on the day. And what what what does it take to put something like this on? I mean, what what’s involved in the organization? Do you have a big team? Is it just No.

Andy Macdonald [00:16:34]:
It’s weird. It’s like it’s hard to have like, it it depends, you know, when it comes to the actual running of the event. Like, the event is beginning now. I have a massive team. So I have manage like, I employ managers and staff for every department. You know, the departments are broken down. I got hundreds of staff employed. I got a trustworthy team.

Andy Macdonald [00:16:54]:
But in before that, it’s it’s just me, Angela, a guy called Chris, who’s my tech expert, and Jammy, who’s my host, who’s also the does the accounts and the finance side of things, so tells me when to stop spending or not. So, yeah, that that’s the team, but I find it very difficult to delegate what I know I’m passionate and good at. You know? Like, I make the videos. Like, I make the silly promo videos because I like making them stupid. You know? It’s it’s weird. I think subconsciously, it’s like you look at all these big kind of corporate run festivals and these big, big dogs and everything’s so professional. And it’s almost like I wanna flip that and make it silly, stupid, fun, happy, and just show that that sells better.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:17:43]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Andy Macdonald [00:17:44]:
It’s just I I like it, and I enjoy making the videos. But, see, the plan is, like, as soon as you book an artist, you get sent a booklet, a brochure of every single, you know, list of their demands, which is, like, you know, their technical rider. So every single bit of equipment they need, positions on stage, stage dimensions, what they want as soon as they arrive food wise, hospitality wise, how they like their steak cooked. It better be steak or we’re not performing. The rooms, the accommodation. It is insane. And you have to do this over and over and over with, yeah, with all these bands. But, I I can tell you a bit of a funny story if you want one.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:18:25]:
Go for it. Go for it. I’m getting

Andy Macdonald [00:18:27]:
in trouble, but I I really don’t care. Right. So, I I’m always, I’m always dealing with managers. You know, you deal with agents, then you deal with managers or you deal with the band. And there was this, I think I have boot scouting for girls, obviously, for the Easter. And, it was Angela to begin with. Well, she was actually the one dealing with their tour manager and their staff. One of them was really, really rude and quite aggressive and passive aggressive and explanation marks and all this, and I didn’t like it.

Andy Macdonald [00:18:55]:
But, anyway, they were very, very last minute. So you you know, like, when McMurray’s on, everything sells out months before?

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:19:02]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Andy Macdonald [00:19:02]:
So we have to have these rooms ready for the artists. And, it was quite funny. So we hadn’t heard back from scouting for girls’ mansion for a while, and, we had the rooms at the Sunny Hill Hotel. And, anyway, when, when they got in touch with us, eventually, they were like, right. We don’t wanna stay, you know, we don’t wanna stay in Elgin. That annoyed me. They’re like, we don’t wanna stay in Elgin. I goes, well, sorry, but that’s where your accommodation was.

Andy Macdonald [00:19:29]:
You know? You were quite late getting back to us, and they’re like, we want the the want the, the Marriott Hotel, you know, the Inverness Airport.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:19:35]:
Oh, okay. Yeah.

Andy Macdonald [00:19:35]:
And, so yeah. So, I got Angeles to tell them that it was booked out, and, so no. And we’ve already got you these rooms. So then they run us and called our bluff and said, well, actually, there is rooms. And there’s 12 of us, and I was like, oh. So, me and my mate, Jammy, Jammy, our host, we went online on booking.com, booked out all the rooms at the at the Marriott that we could, and then we told them, no. Try again. They are all booked out, which they were.

Andy Macdonald [00:20:03]:
And then, we used those rooms for other arts and stuck them in the Sun And Hill. So, yeah, they were like, I have to make a little trouble in it.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:20:12]:
Don’t worry. Nobody listens to this anyway. You’ll be fine. So I I was gonna ask. I mean, I presume some bands are easier to work with than others, and some bands sound like some are a a nightmare. Yeah.

Andy Macdonald [00:20:29]:
Some are some are awful to work with. Some are some are really, really difficult, but then we get quite difficult back. You know? I will always fight fire with fire. I don’t believe that the customers are always right when they’re wrong. I don’t believe just because they’re, they’re, banned. They’re they’re above or better than anyone else. And because of that, you know, I I give as good as I can get. I love to fight fire with fire.

Andy Macdonald [00:20:52]:
I don’t like I don’t like anybody thinking they’re above any one of me or my teams. I think they can talk down or the arrogance of some people, and, no, I I don’t tolerate it. I can’t pretend to tolerate it, and I can’t bite my lip. And it sounds really bad to say it, but I’ve always been like that no matter if I’ve thrown a small local gig, throwing a house party, or throwing a festival. I’ve never changed who I am. And, no. I I won’t I won’t accept it. You know? Yeah.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:21:21]:
Yeah. Which which is fair enough because no no but no one band or no one anyone is is bigger than the whole thing when when you when you get right into it.

Andy Macdonald [00:21:31]:
Exactly. And then they they get paid a bomb to come and, you know, perform. So, you know Yeah.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:21:36]:
So like Yeah. But, presumably, not all bands are like that. Presuming some some of the bands are are really nice to work with?

Andy Macdonald [00:21:43]:
Yes. Some bands are absolutely class. To be fair, I’m actually only talking about a very, very small minority over the years. Yeah. Most batch we’ve gotten really, really well with. We’ve got a really good relationship with all agents, band managers, tour managers. You know, it’s quite a good network we’ve got going. And the truth be told, we are really, really easy to work with.

Andy Macdonald [00:22:02]:
And if we are gonna fall out with someone, usually, they’re not well liked in the industry. We just call them out because they’re already, you know, annoying. So, no. Because we work so well with, bands, with agents, with managers, and MacMoray so good with all the, you know, like, all the screaming fans and nutcase McMurrayans. People wanna perform here. So my my job actually becomes a little bit easier every year because I’ve got more and more and more people needing to work with me. Mhmm. You know? So it’s it’s it’s quite cool to kinda make a mark and now start start to become really well renowned and established.

Andy Macdonald [00:22:39]:
It’s quite cool.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:22:41]:
Yeah.

Andy Macdonald [00:22:41]:
It’s, yeah. I’m I’m I’m happy.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:22:44]:
Oh, good. Good. Good. Now I know earlier on, earlier on in in 2024, you you did announce that MacMoray twenty five of Easter is is will be the last one. I’m not gonna ask you whether there be more because I know you’re you’re at the moment, yours you still have no idea what’s going on. But, how did how did that change things for you when when when both in thinking about it and then actually saying, you know, the next one’s gonna be the last one. How how did that change things for you?

Andy Macdonald [00:23:14]:
The problem is I go through so many emotions. It’s ridiculous. Like, everybody that knows me knows I’m extremely impulsive and sensitive. I can’t help it. But, yeah, it had been bought I’ve been beating myself up for months and months and months and months because it had just been slowly tiring me out. I’ve I’ve just been since day one doing this, it’s taken up all my time. And, like, I’ve just been dedicated to McMurray with other things going on in the background. I’ve maybe not shown as much attention as I’d like to, and I’ve certainly not done the I’d like to, and I’ve certainly not done the things I want to either.

Andy Macdonald [00:23:49]:
Mhmm. So, yeah, it’s been tough. But as soon as I said, like, this is gonna be my last one, let’s go out, you know, with a bang, I felt great. And then the next ten minutes later, I felt terrible because people were absolutely, like, like, like, gutted. People like, I didn’t realize the impact it would have, to be honest. And so one minute, I’ve got all these people saying, you know you know, McMurray can’t stop. And and deep down, I was thinking, well, I didn’t really say McMurray’s gonna end. I didn’t really know.

Andy Macdonald [00:24:17]:
I wasn’t in a frame of mind to even answer that, but what I was thinking was it’s gonna be my last. That’s the only thing I was sure about, was it’ll be my last, but it doesn’t mean it’s the last McMurray. And then, honestly, as soon as I announced that, I thought, yep. Way off my shoulders, but, no. I can’t this I was getting hammered left, right, and center from from businesses and and I the opposite happened to what I wanted to. I just wanted to be left alone and just wanted to switch off. And I thought by doing this, I can switch off. And I couldn’t because every Tom, Dick, and Harry, he’s next, you know, messaging me, which I’ve never who people I’ve never met before and never spoke to.

Andy Macdonald [00:24:53]:
And they’re all asking to take over like they can just have it.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:24:57]:
You know?

Andy Macdonald [00:24:57]:
And it was actually Angela that pointed out to me. And it’s actually true when she said it. And I actually read it on a statement she put as well, which was, nobody loves MacMoray as much as I do. Like, nobody. No one will ever be obsessed and love McMurray like I do. Yet some people had the audacity, and I know they meant no harm, but some people had the audacity to turn around and say they’ll take the reins or they’ll take off my hands or they’ll keep it going. So, man, who are you talking to? And what annoyed me the most was I didn’t know these people. And what really wound me up is they soon shut up and stop replying when I asked them what would their favorite McMurray was that they’ve been to because most of them haven’t even been to McMurray yet.

Andy Macdonald [00:25:34]:
They’ll take it on because it’s good for the community or whatever else they want to say. You know? I got dead defensive. It was weird.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:25:41]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Andy Macdonald [00:25:41]:
Really weird. Seems like I wanted to be out. All of a sudden, I found myself actually protecting McMurray because all these sharks are circling.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:25:51]:
Crazy. They’ve seen it’s something that’s something that’s built up, and they’re thinking, right, I can swoop in and make a lot of easy money off this without having How many how many build it in the first place. Yeah.

Andy Macdonald [00:26:01]:
Yeah. It it’s nuts because it sells itself as well. It was the bomb. You know? There’s no point beating around the bush. It’s worth an absolute fortune. Now if I want to put the prices up by a pound, I would make $20 more.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:26:12]:
You know what I mean? It’s not

Andy Macdonald [00:26:14]:
okay. But what I do is, it’s like, no way in hell now a lot of people think, how does he do this? But c two c state is cool. You’re paying more than what you pay to see them plus another seven bands on the same day, which all cost is a bomb. People thinking and see the ticket prices. They did not reflect the sheer, like, value of McMurray. And people thinking, how the hell does he do it? Because he’s clearly not gonna make money. And the truth is, well, yeah, because I’ve already made the money. And with this extra money that we’ve got, I’ve just gone boom and made my dreams come true and tried to do something incredible for Murray.

Andy Macdonald [00:26:53]:
It wasn’t about making money. If it was, I wouldn’t have done it and just kept it all.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:26:57]:
Yeah. I mean, but no which is fair enough. Yeah.

Andy Macdonald [00:27:03]:
Yeah. It is. Like, I I don’t know how my head works, but I think I’ve always been oddly delusional. I’ve always been a little bit delusional, and I’ve always been a little bit overconfident to the point where it’s like, well, I don’t care if I have to lose all my money or go into debt or be really rich because I’ll always fight. And sometimes I like to fight for things. Sometimes I like the challenge of, oh my god. Where am I going next? Or what’s gonna happen? I’m broke. I love it.

Andy Macdonald [00:27:32]:
I have been rich. I’m broke so many times throughout my adulthood. It’s ridiculous, but doesn’t bother me. One thing that I’m happy about is I didn’t get any any hand me downs. I didn’t grow up with money. Nobody helped me. Nobody believed in me. But because of that, I made it.

Andy Macdonald [00:27:51]:
And I’ll make it again, and I’ll make it again, and I’ll lose it again, and I’ll make it again, and I’ll lose it again. I don’t care. It’s it’s the thrill of the chase that makes me buzz. And as long as I’ve got a roof over my head and my family, you know, are safe

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:28:02]:
Yes. That’s what

Andy Macdonald [00:28:03]:
really matters. So I don’t really care. You know? That’s just the way I am, and I I’d love to meet somebody who’s a bit like minded who’d be like, you know what? This is my way of thinking, and I believe them. And I’m like, right. Yeah. Let’s sit down and talk because, you know, there’s there’s that side. And then and then I’m not gonna name them, but there’s been two very, very interested parties. Three.

Andy Macdonald [00:28:24]:
Two and a half interested parties to take over McMurray or who want to take over McMurray. And that will make me loaded, make me absolutely minted, you know, overnight. But, again, it makes me feel just as odd as it does giving it to someone else who just thinks they can have it for nothing. Yeah. I mean, I just I’m so confused. And, you know, Angela, she’s in a she’s in full term now, and I am crapping myself. You know? I’m I’m sweating like mad because I’m busy as hell. I thought I was gonna relax, but I am keeping busy, busy, busy until I see this, you know, my daughter in my hands, and then I realize, right, it is real.

Andy Macdonald [00:28:59]:
And until that minute, I need to keep busy. So, yeah, I will carry on sweat, and I’ll carry on running around. I’ll carry on really silly until I see, yeah, my daughter, I guess.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:29:10]:
Oh, sweet. Sweet. Yeah. So I I know you’re you’re, obviously focusing on your daughter’s coming.

Andy Macdonald [00:29:19]:
Yeah.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:29:20]:
And, you’re also focusing on, McMurray Easter. I’m not put not trying to find out who which bands are in there because, obviously, you can’t give away. If you if you could have your absolute favorite band at at at, appearing at a festival, Money is No Object could be any band from any any time period, so it could be anyone living or dead. Who would be your absolute idea if you go, you know what? This is the one that I want. Who would be your your perfect band?

Andy Macdonald [00:29:54]:
Michael Jackson.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:29:56]:
Oh.

Andy Macdonald [00:29:56]:
I thought he was he’s the he’s been the only one that would really, you know, really do it for me. I think he’s he’s phenomenal. He’s not normal. If there was ever an alien walking amongst us

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:30:08]:
at one point, you know,

Andy Macdonald [00:30:10]:
he’s too good. Yeah. I would say I would say him. Definitely. You know? But as for a life, well, I’ve seen all the ones I wanna do.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:30:18]:
Yeah. You know? It’s not self selfish.

Andy Macdonald [00:30:23]:
It’s like it’s it’s just like, yeah, it’s just watching my bucket list or my wish list, and nobody knows that it’s actually my wish list. Yeah. The the the absolute chaos and mixed performances from going from dance to rock to old school cheese pop. That’s what I love, the chaos.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:30:41]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Andy Macdonald [00:30:41]:
It’s kinda selfish, but, you know, I think Oh,

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:30:44]:
I know. Yeah. Why not? People know all the nonsense. I don’t want you. I guess.

Andy Macdonald [00:30:48]:
Yeah. Players, you’re saying that, though, but Michael Jackson is Jewish, so probably that’s you know, that’ll explain why I got Jackson’s five, I guess. Why I got Yeah. Jackson’s. And then my other one was status quo.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:31:00]:
Mhmm.

Andy Macdonald [00:31:01]:
You know? That they were my two, and they just headlined my, yeah, Andy McDonald’s private event.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:31:11]:
Oh, hey, Andy. It’s it’s been an absolute pleasure. Time is marching on as it always does. For people who wanna find out more, what’s the best place for them to go to find out more?

Andy Macdonald [00:31:24]:
Facebook/MacMoray or YBDMusic.com.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:31:28]:
Brilliant. MacMoray on Facebook or YBDMusic.com. You’ll find out more. You’ll be able to book in. I know you’re just about to head off to announce the first the first actors that’s, that’s gonna be appearing at, at Easter one.

Andy Macdonald [00:31:43]:
Yeah. It’s a funny one.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:31:46]:
Awesome. I I will be I’ll be tuning in to listen to that in fifteen minutes, so, looking forward to that. But, Andy, thank you so much for taking the time out. I know life is amazingly hectic for you. I really appreciate you taking this time out.

Andy Macdonald [00:31:58]:
No. It’s not Of

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:31:59]:
course, really appreciate you putting on MacMoray as well. It’s the best weekend I have had in a very long time, did they?

Andy Macdonald [00:32:07]:
Oh, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:32:09]:
No. No. My pleasure. And thank you, dear listener, dear viewer. Thank you for catching us wherever you’re catching us. Remember, check out, ybdmusic.com. Give us a like, comment, share, subscribe. We’ll catch you in the next one.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:32:23]:
And I’ll leave you with Andy’s favourite quote. Nothing in life worth having comes easy.