Runrig on high road to Castle

RUNRIG have been unveiled as the latest act due to perform at Edinburgh Castle this summer. The legendary Scottish band were one of the first to play the Castle when they performed to a sell-out crowd in 1991.

And now the band, who also played the Esplanade in 1993, are set to return as part of a star-studded series of concerts.

The Proclaimers have already sold all 8500 tickets for their performance in July, less than two weeks after tickets went on sale.

And Boyzone tickets are also selling fast, with organisers hopeful of another sell-out gig in the 2008 Castle Concert series.

This will be Runrig's first Capital performance for nearly seven years, with their last Edinburgh gig delighting a packed house at the Usher Hall in 2001. And organisers are confident the band will still be a major draw. Barry Wright, director of organisers Castle Concerts, was "delighted" at the band's Castle return.

"Runrig are a Scottish legend," he said. "Over the years we have taken them from Stirling Castle to the banks of Loch Lomond, from Orkney to Hawick, from Benbecula to Dumfries – there is no part of Scotland Runrig don't reach.

"And now they are playing Edinburgh Castle in what we hope will be yet another special evening for fans."

While they might not have the following they enjoyed in the 1990s, when they were arguably Scotland's biggest band, Runrig are still going strong.

The folk-rock band was founded by brothers Rory and Calum MacDonald and their friend Blair Douglas in 1973 in the Hebrides , and played their first concert in Glasgow's Kelvin Hall.

Lead singer Donnie Munro left in 1997, and keyboard player Pete Wishart left in 2001. The MacDonald brothers still lead the band, performing with guitarist Malcolm Jones, drummer Iain Bayne, guitarist Bruce Guthro and keyboard player Brian Hurren.

Last year saw them celebrate the Highland Year of Culture with Beat The Drum, an all-day festival on the shores of Loch Ness, drawing a crowd of 17,000.

They also teamed up with the Tartan Army to re-record their single Loch Lomond, for Children in Need, a release which broke into the UK Top 10, beating the Spice Girls' official Children in Need song and staying No 1 in the Scottish singles chart for seven weeks.

The band have also just released their 13th studio album Everything You See, which has been a huge chart success in Scandinavia and Germany.

A spokesperson for Historic Scotland said: "With this third announcement for concerts at Edinburgh Castle this summer, we have established a thoroughly entertaining line-up to provide a lively, atmospheric evening."

• Tickets for Runrig go on sale this Friday at 9am.