Everyone else has had their say about the sad story of the now-closed Exeter Hall, so I felt I may as well add my bit as well. The X had many faults, but in my opinion it had become the most pleasant place to listen to live music in the city. If the refurbishment had given it a slightly over-genteel ambience, it was at least clean and you could get a seat. Parking was good and you didn’t need to brave the drunken yobs on Cornmarket Street when the gig finished.

      Musically, I heard some excellent bands there. Looking back over my reviews, I’ve enjoyed quality sets from Stornoway, Raggasaurus, Santa Dog, Wire Jesus, The Clochards and The Shaker Heights among many others, although Alison could perhaps have been slightly less dependent on old favourites and tried to attract an even wider pool of talent. This may be unfair, as I don’t know how hard she worked to do this.

       Alison’s manner wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but in my experience, she was tough but fair, removing people who had had too much to drink or that were behaving obnoxiously, in order to preserve a decent atmosphere for the rest. Her habit of introducing the acts bugged some people, but I rather liked it; it provided at least the impression of  an Event rather than a run-of-the-mill gig.

In the end, it seems as if the Exeter Hall closed because the numbers didn’t add up, and Alison compounded that problem by fighting a hopeless battle with the PRS. But the verdict on her tenure on the X must be that she worked like hell to promote local music, and for that she deserves every honour.

By Colin MacKinnon