Moray band The Roov enjoy "exceptional" day as they play main stage at Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A MORAY band were in the limelight at Belladrum as they made their main stage festival debut on Friday.
The Roov – who have members from Lossiemouth, Burghead and Elgin – shared the stage with Van Morrison and The Fratellis.
Having played the festival twice before, making the jump to play the main stage was something that guitarist Frankie Ralph described as a landmark moment.
"It was a brilliant weekend from start to finish," he said. "We played the last two festivals at Belladrum and really enjoyed it but this time was exceptional.
"We originally thought we were going to open the main stage but ended up being second on – which didn't put us up or down. We were delighted to be on that stage at any time.
"We played the Seedling Stage in the early afternoon last time so to jump to the main stage was quite something. Everyone had a fantastic time."
The Roov attracted a good crowd, with plenty of friends and family making the relatively short trip through to Beauly to give them their full support.
There were also scores of unknown faces in the crowd – with band members handing out more than 1000 fliers the day prior in a bid to get as many people as possible to their gig.
"We had an exceptional crowd for the time of day," Frankie added.
"It was first thing in the afternoon, at 12.55pm, and if folk have been boozing the night before they might not come that early.
"We took 1500 fliers and we managed to distribute all of them on Thursday. We spent a lot of time annoying folk into coming to see us.
"After a few songs, we asked people who had received a flier the day before and about half the crowd put their hand up – so it was good to see the hard work paid off!"
The Roov consists of Frankie Ralph (Lossiemouth) on vocals and guitar, Lewis Anderson (Lossiemouth) on vocals and keys, Jordan Slater (Burghead) on vocals and bass and Matthew Gault (Elgin) on drums.
The band's debut album is due to be released at the start of 2022, with recording currently ongoing. Their single Talk Is Cheap has already been released.
Before the albums release – but after it is finished being recorded – The Roov are set to go on a Scotland-wide tour, possibly in October or November.
"We have a few more songs to go on the album so we are hoping that's out early next year," Frankie added.
"Once we have finished recording we can focus on live shows and do a tour around Scotland later this year.
"The reaction to our first single wasn't quite as good as we would have liked but that's to do with the fact we haven't done a huge amount over the last two years.
"Recording an album is something we have always wanted to do and a lot of blood, sweat and tears has gone into it."
The Roov are hoping to be back at Belladrum next summer – but will entertain crowds in Aberdeen before then as they play at Tunnels in Aberdeen on August 20, supporting Dancing On Tables and Pages.
To follow the band, check out their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TheRoov. They're also on Spotify.
