The Fathers Of Brazilian Football

John McAlinden is one of the most imaginative, creative, energetic, kind and hardest working people I have had the pleasure of meeting thanks to my love of music. AKA John McMustard and leader of Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5, John and his band bring colour, flair and fun times to festivals, towns and venues all across Scotland and beyond. They have done this for well over a decade and are going stronger than ever.

You could say that Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 are the Brazil of Scottish festival bands! Both play in the same colour with CMD5 t-shirts brightening festivals like the Brazilian national teams glorious yellow strips light up stadiums. Both play to have fun and to make people happy, bringing smiles to faces and gathering support from neutrals. 

I was planning to write quite a few blogs on World Cup singles after writing about JJ Bull's magnificent LCD Soundsystem-esque Very Unofficial Scotland World Cup Song. But there have been so many I just couldn't keep up!  

However, I was determined to write a blog on a song that tells a different story to every other, one that links Scotland with Brazil, ahead of the big game in Miami. The Fathers Of Brazilian Football by Colonel Mustard & the Dijon 5 featuring Samba Ya Bamba is out now. The lead single from a 5 song EP.

The song is about the four Scottish men that brought football to Brazil, including the first ball, from Busby to Rio in 1894 courtesy of Thomas Donohoe! It's a remarkable story, now captured in song. A full documentary should follow with the good Colonel heading to Brazil! 

The Fathers of Brazilian Football were;

• Thomas Donohoe from Busby in 1894 got his wife Elizabeth to bring the 1st footballl to Bangu, Rio where a game took place between the textile factory workers.
• Charles Miller - His Dad from Fairlie, in 1894 took the rule book and 2 footballs to Sao Paulo and established the amateur game.
• Archie McLean from Paisley,alongside Bill Hopkins from Portsmouth, brought the short passing game, called tabelinha. Tabelinha in the chorus means little chart and is the short passing game that Archie McLean (the first Brazilian football star) from Paisley taught the Brazilians in Sao Paolo and it is played to this day.
• Jock Hamilton from Ayr brought structure to the amateurs through his coaching.

Why the hell couldn't Archie stay in Scotland and teach us this style of football?!

The ambition of John and his band on a DIY budget is exceptional, I find it incredibly inspiring. The video for the single was filmed at West of Scotland Cricket Ground - the home of the first international match in 1872 between Scotland and England. Scotland's only world cup winner Rose Riley features! Additional scenes were filmed at Glasgow Central Station, Hampden Park with Vanilla J from the Tartan Army and Springburn Park Synthetic Pitch.

Samba drums usher the song in, the infectious beat is then aided by the introduction of horns. Are you in?! John then tells the story through song - it is original, fun and very much Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 - unique, colourful and positive. Whistles, percussion, a breakdown, a build up, a Brazilian feel but with a distinctively Scottish accent. The hook obrigado, obrigado, play the game is infectious. Maybe one day we will get the Tartan Army and Brazil supporters chanting the chorus!

Check the brilliantly vibrant video below and then read on for an amazing interview with John. His passion for his band, friends, fans and football shines through. I greatly appreciate his time in answering my questions during an exceptionally busy time. 

Interview with John McAlinden (AKA The Colonel)

When and how did you come up with the idea for the song? 

My sister Nicola reminded me about Malcolm McLean that used to play in SambaYaBamba , his Granda was Archie McLean whose nickname in Brazil was little deer , because of how nimble and quick he was. He went over with the textile industry in Paisley and was one of the first stars of Brazilian football, playing for the Scottish Wanderers and Sao Paulo State , the highest honour at the time in Brazil. 

Archie and his friend from Southampton Bill Hopkins introduced the Brazilians to the short passing game they call Tabelinha which means little chart. The Scots took the passing game to England then all over the world. After hearing about Archie , i bought a book from the 90's by Peter Cameron that gave me so much more info and I then started discovering there were other Scottish links to Brazil. Thomas Donohoe an engineer asked his wife Elizabeth to bring the first football from Busby in 1894, they settled with their 2 boys. One of the boys went onto be a star of Brazilian football and is said to have did the first bicycle kick in Brazil before Leonidas Dasilva popularised it throughout the world. Thomas organised a game in Bangu in the suburbs of Rio between workers in the calico factory he worked in.

The person most Brazilians call the father of Brazilian football is Charles Miller. His family were from Fairlie, but he was educated privately in England. He crucially brought the rule book and another 2 footballs and started the amateur league, was a referee, a player and a prominent figure for many years after organising the first official game amongst Railway workers and engineers and then forming the first amateur league.

Jock Hamilton from Ayr, was a coach at Fulham and he went to Brazil and brought structure to the amateurs with the system Ingleza that should actually be called the Scottish system.

How quickly did it come together? Or given the story and everyone involved, did it take a while?

For Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 it was one of the quickest songs we've got together from inception in Feb/March to recording April/May and then releasing in May/June. My Brother in Law and Dijon 5 percussionist Roddy Dickson , also happens to be the mestre in SambaYaBamba , he has been to Brazil many times and played with a couple of the top Samba schools there including Academicos da Rocinha (pronounced Haw-seen-ya). Parading in Carnival and is the Scottish member of Bloco X, who are the best of the best Samba players outside Brazil. As soon as the idea came , I knew it had to be samba and we've been threatening to write a samba song together for years, so worked out well. 

Mikey Grant from the Dijon 5 came up with an amazing tune on the keyboard, Roddy sambafied it and I put the lyrics together, blending the football and textile imagery in it. It was hard squeezing 4 men into 2 verses , but we managed to do that and tell some of the main points of the story in as short and succinct way as possible. The Dijon 5 then added their individual stamps with horns, bass , guitar and vocals and for the EP version thats out now , we've included an instrumental, DJ 5 has done a house carnival remix and we bumped into an amazing Brazilian musician May Terra who has translated and sings on the Brazilian version 'Os Pais do Futebol Brasileiro'. Her vocals blow mine out the water. This is my favourite version.

What is your first memory of watching Brazil at a World Cup? Do you have a favourite Brazilian player? 

I have a vague memory of watching Socrates with my Dad when i was around 3 or 4 at the Spain 1982 world cup and that memory being there because my Dad was pointing him out and talking about him , but so young its all very vague and more of an awareness. Mexico 1986 was the first real World Cup I remember. 

Even though he was before my time Pele is probably my favourite Brazilian player, just from watching all the footage and watching Escape To Victory on repeat , the Colonel Mustard video 'Gay Icon' was our homage to that. In the 80s round about this time , playing football on the red ash pitch at St Barbaras in Muirhead , you used to baggsy what player you wanted to be and everyone would baggsy Maradona or Pele , a testament to his legacy. 

At school you knew , even if you hadn't heard him or seen them that Jimi Hendrix was the greatest guitarist of all time and Pele the greatest footballer, but I love the Pele quote that blows that out the water. "To be the best footballer of all time , you have to be the best in every position". 

My favourite Brazilian footballer of my time was Ronaldinho, who i believe is coming out of retirement after 11 years to join a Serie C side(oh he does like to be beside the C side) the style, flair, control and of course the goals, on his debut for Barcelona and of course against England. Just utter class. Unbridled talent. It's who Messi learned his trade from and its between him, Messi or Maradonna for most naturally gifted footballer of all time. They can see things instinctively that others don't. 

In terms of goalscoring machines though Ronaldo Nazario (R9) takes some beating. Watching him age 17 at the 1994 world cup and I was travelling in Australia in 2002 when he was in a front 3 with Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. Scoring twice in the final. My son Charlie was asking to get the haircut, which may be the worst of all time , but is testament to his legend in the playgrounds of the modern era. That whole team with Roberto Carlos and Cafu. They were on another level.

You must be pleased by the reaction to the single. What has been your highlight to date? 

Aye its been amazing. Getting a wee early play from Michelle McManus on one of her last few shows on BBC Radio Scotland started the momentum building nicely , then playing it with SambaYaBamba at Julie McNeill and Campbell Ramage 'We Are Scottish Football' book launch at West Scotland Cricket ground, then filming with the West Park United 2014 team at Springburn Park was cool, my sons team that I was coaching. 

Playing a pop up show with SambaYaBamba and getting to do keepie uppies in Central Station and Ending up on Reporting Scotland. Meeting lots of the Brazilian community in Scotland there and when we were doing a food tasting challenge for Beths and Brownings the Bakers. Its been a great adventure and for all the down sides of streaming(mainly financially), watching our Brazilian Fanbase growing on all the streaming and social media platforms and the nice comments about the song from the Brazilian community have meant the most. Seeing tartan army pals like Murray from the Clutha and the Scottish Football Forum podcast spreading the word to the Tartan Army has been great and theyve done us so proud. 

The icing on the cake though was today's (Monday 22nd) filming at Glebe Primary in Irvine for STV for the news on Wednesday , the day of the big game. We had members of the Dijon 5, SambaYaBamba and SYB Youth band and hundreds of kids and teachers all singing and dancing. You can't beat that feeling of connection with an audience and the excitement and spontaneity that music and football can create.

Have you seen the Kevin Bridges show on the iPlayer where he goes out to Brazil? 

I thought the Kevin Bridges documentary was amazing, he is the Scottish everyman in so many ways and obviously the most relatable, funniest guy in Scotland. It had me in tears , had me laughing , i learned a few things. The scenes with Cafu and John McGinn were so good and in the favelas and going to the games were great. The quote that maybe went under some peoples radars was "Football without cans is nothing" the most clever writing and play on Jock Steins "football without fans is nothing" quote. 

I love the fact they included some stuff about Thomas Donohoe. In a near perfect documentary my only criticism would have been , that they could have got an interview from Bangu A.C, as they have a museum there and some experts and maybe some stuff about Sao Paulo and Archie McLean and Jock Hamilton. If they do a follow up that would be great obviously with our song on the soundtrack.

Do you think we'll go through? 

I think we will go through. Even if Brazil beat us with a low goal difference we can still qualify, but if the boys play at their best, we're more than capable of getting a result.

What are CMD5 plans for the rest of 2026? 

Writing and recording more music as we're on a roll and all these gigs and festivals-

Sat 27th June 7.30pm Kilmarnock Fair Festival

17th-19th July Sat afternoon Back Doune The Rabbit Hole

Fri 31st July Belladrum Tartan Heart

Sun 2nd Aug - Fringe by the Sea North Berwick

Sun 9th Aug Party at The Palace

Fri 28th Aug - Caledonian Uni 150 year anniversary gig

3rd -5th September - Lindisfarne Festival

Sun 27th September Dumbarton Rocks

Sat 24th Oct Biggar Little Festival

Sun 29th Nov 12.00 Winterstorm, Troon Concert Hall

Lastly - who do you think will win the 2026 World Cup? 

The Netherlands

Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 at Oran Mor

The January Blues can hit pretty hard. What better way to banish them then to dance, sing, laugh and smile with the party machine that is Colonel Mustard and the Dijon Five?

I've caught CMD5 a number of times over the years, but the last time was pre-pandemic at a Celtic Connections show at the Old Fruitmarket back in January 2020.

3-years on and CMD5 are as bright, colourful and inventive as ever. I had so much fun that I never counted how many people were in the band. I'm guessing 10; 3 in the horn section, drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, effects/samples plus the effervescent Fathom and the good Colonel John McMustard leading the band and crowd through a 80 minutes of partying.

Colonel Mustard and the Dijon Five win friends and hearts wherever and whenever they play. They have built a huge community from wowing people at festivals, leading to huge shows at the Barrowland and the Academy in Glasgow ... alongside trips to Korea.

Their infectious energy transfers to the audience. The cost of living crisis, the climate crisis, the energy crisis ... the Tories ... for 80-minutes yesterday afternoon people forgot about their worries.

Everyone was happy, everyone was smiling, no-one in Oran Mor was sad anymore.

And that is the beauty of Colonel Mustard, that is the power of music. What was extra special was that this was a matinee show, so it was a real family affair. The four of us went and I would love to see more matinee/family friendly shows across the city in the future.

Photo by Colin Bilby, Phoenix Independent Photography

CMD5 have built quite a selection of crowd pleasers over their 2 albums. Taking in disco, funk, pop, reggae, ska and adding a dash of Screamadelica and a sprinkling of humour while appreciating the importance of audience engagement and participation. 

We crossed The road (not quite as easy as it is in a festival field, had a dance off (2 kids won inflatable trophies), batted balloons around the room, sang the praises of ginger girls, aaaarrrrggghhhhed as pirates and rrrrrroooooaaaaarrrred as dinosaurs, danced like no-one was watching, bounced like bouncy balls, had a house music rave (This Is Your House was a real favourite) and unified as one to preach peace, love and mustard.

The Colonel parted the crow like the Red Sea to let people dance down the middle

during (and for a) Dance Off

The imagination of John McMustard to write the songs, develop the concept of CMD5 and their Yellow Movement, include humour with reflection and politics, while creating a party vibe is pretty incredible. And it's ambitious. It can't be easy to keep a 10-piece band on the go! But everyone has fun and fun can keep many things going and make everything easier.

I would heartily recommend seeing CMD5 live if you can. Keep an eye on their socials for festival announcements and a Christmas show - they hinted about that on stage. Hopefully there will be a matinee show.

Colonel Mustard podcast

Earlier on this week I had the pleasure of spending some time in the company of the 2 front men from Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 - a band who have snowballed in the last few years, winning friends and fans wherever and whenever they play, selling out the Barrowland Ballroom and the ABC - unsigned and self managed.

John McMustard (McAlinden) and David Blair have had a ball and their good vibes and fun times have transferred to their audience. People dance, people smile, people have a great time and leave wanting to tell others to go and see them next time they play.

The band have just released the single Cross The Road b/w Freedom for the Children digitally (8th May) and on ltd yellow 7-inch vinyl via their website and Love Music in Glasgow.

They then play the Academy on Saturday 13th May with support from friends Dead Man Fall and Esperanza. It's been an amazing journey for them - get along to see them if you can, it will be amazing.

Check out this special podcast with tunes from Colonel Mustard themselves, 2 of their favourite bands from in and around Glasgow and an all-time fave in the shape of Primal Scream.

It's a fascinating discussion taking in all night acoustic jam sessions in disused mental hospitals, nursery rhymes, hymns, Screamadelica, Primal Scream's rider, festivals, South Korea, going from pubs to the Academy, running a 13 piece band, the yellow movement, Eddy Grant I Don't Wanna Dance and Adam Ant's Prince Charming, the 6th Dijon, writing with a 4-year old, the second album, dreams of playing the Hydro and much, much more....

Cross The Road - Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5
Bang The Drum - Dead Man Fall
Movin' On Up - Primal Scream
Freedom for the Children - Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5
Galactic Radio - The Mickey 9's

Seoul - the Colonel Mustard Diaries

Colonel Mustard and The Dijon 5 have had an exceptional 2016. Their yellow movement philosophy is growing all the time, so are their live crowds. They are set to play a sold out ABC on 23rd December for their Yellow Xmas Party. Shame the Barrowland was already booked! 

One of many highlights for the band was an incredible trip to Seoul in Korea in October. Colonel John McMustard himself was kind enough to email me to see if I would be interested in publishing his tour diary. I was, and after reading it I certainly was!

For me this is a fantastic insight into how hard this band works, how seriously they take it, but also how much they place a huge emphasis on fun - for them, their fans, or to whoever comes to see them, wherever they play. They are a breath of fresh air - enjoy.

Colonel Mustard and The Dijon 5 
Seoul tour diary by Colonel John Thomas McMustard 

Myself and the Dijancer did a project on the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games when we were at Primary School and my Uncle Joe is the only guy I know that has been to North and South Korea, but I have to admit that I never thought about going to Korea and probably had a lot of unfounded ideas of what Korea and Seoul were like. 

What I discovered was a friendly , forward thinking country , embracing music and culture from all over the world with its own technology, music and ways of thinking truly, creating a Korean Wave of culture that is one of the best kept secrets in Asia. The people aren't frightened of their nuclear neighbour , I think there's a feeling that they are Brothers that will be united again one day, regardless of this the people in Seoul are just to busy enjoying life in a truly 24 hour city, that never sleeps, parties hard , and one at the cutting edge of technology , music and design. Seoul well and truly has soul. I'd like to think we got offered this trip as we bet Korean band  Dead Buttons at Table football in Liverpool, the truth is Dalse the mainman for Zandari was one of the 50 people there to see us open the mainstage at Soundcity, a wee lesson in always doing your best and performing to your optimum no matter how small the crowd, you never know who is watching you. 

day 1 - we touched down in Seoul, after an epic journey, I can sleep anywhere but some of the guys had no sleep, including big Moags our drummer who also has a hernia to contend with, the big man can be grumpy at the best of times; during the flight he apparently considered sleeping in the aisle of the plane, he was in that much pain. That's dedication for you and the big mans bravery sums up how much we wanted to perform in Korea. 

We got the train to Hongdae University to stay at the Pencil guesthouse which would be our home for the next few days. The reconnaissance party which had set off a full 24 hours earlier only got there 4 hours ahead of us after a delay in Amsterdam due to a dodgy landing, they looked comparatively fresh considering this. KLM had even tweeted the Dijancer, their apologies. I like big businesses using our pseudonyms. There's not enough of that in the world. We adjourned to the rooftop garden had a carryout and made plans to wear our kilts and go to the ZandariFesta opening party. Big Moags wasn't happy about kilting it on the first night, but the true Scotsman relief he would have got must have been a relief after 15 hours of economy class confinement. We turned up at the opening party and turned a few heads , it was a free bar and we watched some cracking Korean acts knock it out the Ji Sung Park. 

We went to a cracking rock club after and watched more Korean bands, it was the first time I'd seen synchronised dance moves to a rock band and I knew immediately we had a good chance of getting our crowd participation across when we played. We walked home through the Hongdae area which I believe is mainly under 30's, people were out in parks drinking, young lovers kissing and holding hands, a lovely vibe , where you can even sit outside a 7/11 and have a drink, probably keeps the under 16's away from asking you to buy them a carryout. People were in restaurants eating Korean barbecues or as the the Koreans call them barbecues, to all times in the morning or night. We were still all on Greenwich Mean Time so the 24 hour culture meant we didn't look out of place stoating about eating loads of street food. The food was out of this world , tasty , spicy and delicious. Our usually reserved trumpet player Kirstin Badges was the most Rock N Roll that night, enjoying all the delights Seoul had to offer and needing put to bed the earliest at 6am. This is a city for insomniacs. Time for 4 hours sleep. 

Day 2 - the next day we got up and most of us went a dos. We explored the area and went to club Steelface to watch a cracking Slovenian band I Wear Experiment followed by lovely experimental Korean outfit Ahndayoung, we again adjourned to the rooftop gardens, where we made fast friends with She Drew The Gun, mainly based in Liverpool, worthy winners of Glastonbury emerging talent competition. I'm looking forward to seeing them play my hometown of Glasgow on Thu 27th Oct in the Hug and Pint and they were kind enough to come to our showcase gig in the MUV hall that night. 

We all then went a trek across to the Kangol store where artists could get a free pair of trainers. I should have asked for a Reni hat, because as I suspected they don't do size 11's in Korea. I just picked my partner Donnas size instead. You can't laugh at a free present. I bought my son John a DC comic in Korean and went for my first Korean barbecue with a friend of a friend Eddie from Helensborough who can speak the language , but didn't know how to interpret Cross The Road, I sacked him as my translator but rehired him as my spirit guide as he dispelled a lot of myths and generally made me feel more comfortable about my attempts to use the language and not offend people. 

I changed into my mustard suit and headed back to club MUV , enroute we watched one of the best Rock N Roll bands about Wasted Johnnys, Anji their Korean lead singer personifies rock n roll, with a carefree, lack of confinement , bags of confidence and great stage presence. A lot for us to live up to. where we we were due to play our showcase. Before we played the excellent band Rock N Roll Radio had a massive crowd , who all seemed to disappear as soon as they finished. It's that horrible feeling you get when its your party and you're frightened no one will show up. We needn't have worried, by the time we took to the stage we had a big crowd , which seemed to get bigger, people just like to hang about outside until they hear something they like. 

The gig was great. The crowd went mental , despite the language barrier , our friend Marks local girlfriend translated Cross The Road for us and they crossed the road. The question everyone back home asked me before I went- aye , but do you think you'll be able to get them to cross the road? They did that and more , with spontaneous chanting and dancing. Dance Off was the song that brought it alive. That's the song where the audience become the stars and despite some trepidation, Anji from wasted Johnnys started getting down and one by one everyone had their moment on the dance floor, by the time it was finished the crowd were rabid. 

13 of us had travelled to Korea and our onstage party carried down and back up onto the stage all night, with a cosmopolitan mix of people and some of the Koreans even borrowing our discoball helmets. We had stage invaders , people of all nationalities high 5ing to the beat. It was beautiful and everything we had set out to do. We walked off stage buzzing. We then went to support our friends Sugarmen from Liverpool at the British Night as well as She Drew The Gun , Coquin Migale and I Set The Sea On Fire , all really varied bands , but all dynamite and doing what they do in a fresh way. 

We met Jenny from Sol Flare and her friend Anis who had been at our gig and hit it off with them , just on a flying visit they were cramming as much Korean culture as they could including going to a dog cafe , where you get to pet loads of dogs whilst having a cup of tea. The Dijon 5 by this time were well on our way and headed to the after ,after party in our favourite Korean pub Strange Fruit was something else. Dave Pichilingi Liverpool Soundcity mainman played one of the best DJ sets of all time. I got a little carried away when he played the Doors and Colin our keyboard player and Inflatable Ginger Party Vortex walked through the door I threw myself off of the table like my ICW brother DCT the international sex hero and ironically accidentally body slammed Colin through the front door, completely breaking it off its hinges. Colin was absolutely fine , jubilant, the door on the other hand was a write off. I've since apologised to the club owner and offered to pay for it.   Luckily he is a fan of the mustard and is even talking about putting the door up on his wall with a plaque. It was a wild night, to say the least. 

We also discovered the Korean national drink Soju, which has a similarity to vodka , but with a Buckfast type buzz, our mate Mark refused to drink it that night as he was due to meet his potential in laws 2 days later, this gives you an idea of the strength and potential for wildness the Soju brings to the party. Dave played a 6 hour set of tune after tune, from the Beastie Boys to the Happy Mondays. It was glorious! 

We've asked Dave to come up to Glasgow on the 23rd December for our ABC gig and spin a few tunes.  Some of the guys went to a local park where folk were still out jamming and enjoying themselves , with some hiphop artists doing their thing, the stamina the Koreans have, put some hardened Glasgow party people to shame. It was an 8am bedtime that morning, the door was smashed, we were all smashed, but we planned to do some sightseeing the same/next day. Some of the guys attempted to get a taxi to the Jimjilbang an amazing communal Korean Sauna that is the ultimate in relaxation and destressing, most Koreans go once a month, at this time in the morning no taxi was stopping for any yellow clad Dijoners.

Day 3- I got up feeling highly rough dragged myself out the digs. It was the first and only day of rain, but it was a welcome part of my hangover cure. We went to Dongdaemun palace , which was nice and peaceful , but not very action packed. We reenacted singing in the rain and did some filming for our song Cross The Road. I was getting some right funny looks with my discoball helmet on, we went to the City Hall where we looked at some amazing building designs and were treated to a choir singing. 

We all met back up and we discovered Full Fathom Five one of our singers had some bad bites and taken a reaction to the same and went between a couple of hospitals. The staff there had never seen anything like it. She was well looked after and the fire brigade even at one point took her to a hospital as they could see she was to weak to travel. True international chivalry. We were meant to take it easy as we had more sightseeing to do and then we were playing the closing party the next day. 

We went to French night and seen a dynamite 2 piece band called KO KO MO, as we are the Dijon 5 we even got invited back to the French after party, we walked there with Danish journalist Mika who had a massive knowledge of Scottish bands and was amazed that I'd played football with Stuart from Belle and Sebastian. When we got to the bar the Stone Roses were blasting from the speakers , we made friends with a couple of folk. The band J and The 9's and Frank from Ooberfuse, we attempted to get an early night , getting up the road at 4am, but found the rest of the band partying hard in Vanilla Johnson our trombone players room. The Soju was flowing. Another 7am bedtime, it was to late to trick our minds into changing time zones. 

Day 4- up again. Honey Grain went down to check out the Korean Hendrix with a Keytar Blue Turtle Land, who were by all accounts sensational. A few of us including DJ5 and Bobby Snoobin decided to climb to the top of the Seoul Tower, climbing up a big hill when you're hungover is always a guaranteed cure! Chinley Biggins and Jurassic Ant had made it to the Jimjilbang and got a cracking massage of an old boy and spent the day trying out all the different saunas and ways of relaxing. Definitely something I want to try next time I'm over. 

We all got kilted up again for our final gig. The kings of Korean indie Crying Nut played before us, again big shoes to fill, one of the tightest bands I've ever seen. We looked out into an even bigger crowd than first time, playing the closing party to  all our new friends were there, along with loads of new Korean fans and people from all over the world was incredible. The noise levels nearly topped our biggest festival gig at Belladrum this year. The crowd gave the Peace, Love and Mustard signs and danced themselves into ecstasy. We all came off stage speechless at the reaction we'd got, just making noises to each other. Shaking our heads in disbelief, if the first gig was an achievement, the second gig was Dijon triumph. We had a set list , but from the word go we knew we had to go all out high energy and the crowd responded with a symbiosis that we probably thought we would only get from a Scottish crowd, they even chanted us on for an encore, which we're not massively into , but it felt right that night. Only one song to finish on after the Golden Girls theme died down. The International Sex Hero Is Coming To The Rescue. I thought we'd depleted all our energy , but I've never jumped as high in all my life. 

Cue After party 2 at strange fruit, broken door and a warm welcome. Dave got some DJing going and was amazing, but with a drum kit set up, drummer after drummer ruined his vibe, and then a bass a guitar and a Keytar arrived and it was time for a different vibe, all the international bands wanted to jam with each other, our own Badges McNair played trumpet, improvising and riffing with a saxophonist from Europe while a drummer from Madsgascar layered down a beat and 2 Koreans got their funky keyboards playing. I'd tried to get big Moags up to drum along to Daves set as he knows they songs off by heart, so when I got the peer pressure to sing I had to step up. We've got a PFunk inspired new song There's Nothing Funkier Than Funk. I even got a singsong going. It was an awe inspiring jam to be involved with and it didn't end there, members of other bands passed instruments about and kept the party going well into the next day. It was the epitome of what music should always be about , people coming together and speaking that international language to each other. No differences , just a coming together to make something good. We can't thank Dalse , Patrick and all the Zandari Festa people enough. We've all came back slightly different , in a good way. Seoul we'll be back, but forget gangham style , Hongdae is the way!

Day 5- time to go home. Moags and fathom got a cuddle from some Raccoons in a Racoon cafe. No Cyril Sneer  in sight. Me inflatable and Dj5 headed down to the river, took in some history and chilled, even getting a wee ukelele jam. Homeward bound. 13 burst Dijoners. Mortimer Chester Winthorpe the 3rd Marquis of Denmark has already sourced some Soju in the SeeWoo at Possil. My cousins research is 2nd to none. We did a lot of filming , so keep your eyes peeled for a mini Dijon in Seoul documentary.