Elephant Sessions on fire the night that the Ironworks ended

The mysterious appearance of the inflatable elephant may not have been expected for the last big night of the Ironworks.

Raising the roof with Elephant Sessions definitely was.

But the emotional heart of this rainy Saturday night came at the centre of the show when up on the big screen at the back of the stage, director Caroline Campbell shared a tearful farewell speech thanking everyone, saying: "This is it, this is where the story of 122b Academy Street comes to an end. So many thank yous, so let me try ..."

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The director, sometimes taking a moment, went on to thank staff, the acts and the audience, and in her thanks she also named last night's headliners Twin Atlantic and Elephant Sessions who were about to play.

"Particularly Elephant Sessions, " she said of the Inverness band. "For me, they are what the Ironworks has been all about, supporting and developing local talent. And it's been a real privilege to be part of their journey."

Then a slide show of bands, local faces and crowds brought a huge cheer, before the screen went dark and the last band to light up that stage began their unstoppable intro with a liberating Eurodance hit, Gala's Freed From Desire, to get everyone in dancing mood.

Then it was straight into latest album title track For The Night with the crowd feeding off the great washes of stage colour and the band's power centre in the middle of the stage, firing out from Euan Smillie's bow and Alasdair Taylor's flying fingers.

Earlier, Project Smok with Dingwall's Ali Levack had looked like the young pretenders to the headliners. The older band's accolades, awards they have attained – and continents they have explored – glittering ahead of Project Smok.

More to follow.

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