Reviews
HCF – Friday
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Friday 17th July 2009, Big Blue Tent
Accordions are officially cool. You can't but say otherwise after witnessing Friday night's gig at the main stage of the 14th Hebridean Celtic Festival. With a line up consisting of Scotland's Box Club and Ireland's legendary Sharon Shannon as well as The (accordionless) Ploughboys from Australia, I was in need of throat spray the next day after my rather voluminous vocal applause. Apologies now to anyone I partially deafened in the process.
As a first time visitor to Stornoway and a music lover more accustomed to Festivals with smaller, more intimate venues, I was intrigued to witness the scale of the Big Blue Tent. Well, the opening band of the night simply owned its massive stage (and were certainly most responsible for my post-gig hoarseness). Box Club had the unenviable task of beginning their set to a virtual vacuum of a venue but such is the draw of their music that the crowds from outside quickly appeared, in droves, to the front of the stage. After Gary Innes shouted, "let's get this party started", I simply couldn't remove the grin off my face ...and I wasn't alone. Their performance was first class – both for their stage presence and sheer musical talent and accomplishment. It was impressive to learn that the majority of their music is self-penned, either by Mairearead Green, Angus Lyon, John Sommerville or Gary Innes - and boy are their tunes capable of getting the crowd jumping. Their penultimate set, Double Sandel, was dedicated to the percussion section of the band with the bursting energy of Martin O'Neil on drums along with the funky grooves of Michael Bryan on Guitar and Duncan Lyall on his rather sexy electric bass. Met with thunderous applause, their set then ended with the fabulous tunes Crazy Street and The First Rule of Box Club (which is to tell everyone else about Box Club!) Well I'm telling you now, this band are rockin' and I hope Festival's will be seeing much more of them in the near future.
Next up were a band I'd never heard of before – The Ploughboys from Melbourne featuring the melodic vocals of Damien Howard (and an "interesting" collection of outfits, particularly the waistcoat modelled by the band's fiddler!) At the beginning of their Celtic-Rock/Nu-Folk/Country-tinged set, I was unsure of what the audience reaction would be – that was until about three songs in when a solo section by the 17 year old drummer stirred the audience into a bopping frenzy. Festival favourites in Australia, they were clearly comfortable with and suited the big stage setting. Mary Black fans in the audience learned that her critically acclaimed release "Full Tide" features a song co-written by Damien and his brother Shane Howard – St Kilda Again. Indeed, the band's performance of this song was probably my personal highlight of their set. For the wider crowd though it was obvious that they LOVED the rendition of the traditional Irish/Australian ballad "The Wild Colonial Boy" and the opportunity to sing along to "Out Of My Hands". The audience demanded an encore and they finished their set with a lively set of traditional tunes. I wasn't quite sure of the point of them inviting the Irish dancer to join them on stage but I'm sure the un-mic'd footwork was impressive for those at the barriers. Damien thanked The Festival organisers for taking a leap of faith in booking them and he was right to do so. The organisers clearly know their crowd's taste.
The headline act of the gig was the Sharon Shannon Big Band and it was phenomenal to see so many talented and prestigious Irish musicians on stage at one time. The big band sound was great but for me, the music was at its most powerful when the focus was on only one or two of the musicians at a time. Early in the set, Sharon demonstrated her absolute mastery of the accordion accompanied only by multi-instrumentalist Tim Edey on guitar. Playing to absolute perfection, the power of this performance was breathtaking. Tim Edey was also partially responsible for the biggest cheer of the night with his blistering duo with Gerry (banjo) O'Connor, and again when fiddler Dezi Donnelly was in the spotlight. With the rest of the stage blackened out, I convinced myself that the smoke I could see streaming through the single white strobe light was predominantly from the fiddle strings. The performance was outstanding. And never before have I witnessed such a talented travelling crew, members of whom intermittently joined the 8-piece band to add their contribution to the genre-defying set. Audiences clearly loved the massive variations in the band's repertoire but I was particularly surprised and impressed by the African rhythms and jazz-tinged sound. The moment all fans were waiting for happened during the band's well-earned encore. The Galway Girl sent both hands and cheers soaring to fill the marquee on what was the perfect ending to the gig and the ideal warm up for the riotous Festival Club.
An Lanntair 7.30pm – Karen Matheson Band
Reading about Karen Matheson in the HebCelt brochure, you might have asked yourself what Sean Connery has got to do with it. He and Karen both rank as Scottish National treasures, and the Friday evening gig at An Lanntair was the first one to sell out – proving that plenty of people were stunned to find her on their doorstep.
I couldn't help noticing that Karen is very conscious of her image and presentation – appearing in angelic white at the centre of a darkened stage. But she diffused any audience preconceptions of "the throat surely touched by the hand of God" (Connery's words) by paying an early tribute to the original Gaelic supergroup Na h'Oganaich who had a huge influence on popular Gaelic music. "We stole all our ideas from them'" Karen confessed.
So – throat from God, ideas from the 70s, what kind of concert were we going to get? In fact, her programme divided into three genres, well-paced and interleaved. There were Gaelic songs like Chi Mi Bhuam, sung in a traditional, piano-accompanied recital style which wouldn't have been out of place at the Mod. By contrast, the puirt a beul sets were funked up, some with steel guitar, to a degree that might have made purists wince.
Karen was ably accompanied by Donald Shaw on keyboards, James Grant on guitar and vocals and Ewan Vernal on bass. Another one of those unsung background musicians, Anna Massie, had dashed to the gig from the end of Taransay Fiddle Week, where she was a tutor, to provide the mandolin and guitar that made the band complete.
But where God and the angel in white came into it was in the anthemic ballads of Karen's own repertoire, some written for her by guitarist James Grant. The Speed of Love, I See the Good in You and There's Always Sunday – beautiful, soaring songs where Karen's range and depth really let rip.
She ended her main set with At the End of the Night, and whatever it is that her voice holds, several people had to pull out handkerchiefs. Something in that song, and in her voice, resonates with emotions we all hold deep inside – and isn't that what excellent music should do, from time to time?
Standing ovation, encore and happy faces all round.
An Lanntair, 3pm - Norrie Maciver & Sineag Macintyre
One of HebCelt's declared intentions is to give stage space to young and developing musicians, especially those who started off in the islands. In this, HebCelt is part of a nurturing infrastructure that includes the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music (in Plockton) and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow. You start off studying music in Lewis, move on to Plockton, go to Glasgow and graduate, and at every stage you get a chance to perform back home.
We are seeing the results. On Friday afternoon the auditorium at An Lanntair was full (once the latecomers and Norwegian dancers had settled in) for a performance that featured the talents of three such nurtured talents.
Norrie MacIver has something of a fan club in Lewis – people, especially young female people, who adore his brand of country rock and his own band, Bodega. But Norrie's got another side – or two, to be precise. He's a Gaelic singer, and he's a fixer and facilitator, helping to build the careers of numerous other musicians.
Carloway lad Norrie has just completed his BA in Scottish Music at RSAMD and Uist lass Sineag MacIntyre is already an honours graduate. They shared the stage with Back-boy (that's in Lewis) James Mackenzie, still at Glasgow, a piper and whistle-player of great accomplishment. In her introduction Anna Murray reminded herself not to call him "Wee James" any more. He's grown up a lot.
Sineag's Gaelic singing is pure, strong and polished, and she also has that confidence on stage that makes a performer a pleasure to watch, and the harmonies between them, especially on their Puirt a Beul sets, were rich and full.
I enjoyed Norrie's composition The Hero of the Gorbals – the true story of a Glasgow boxer, Norrie completed it for a composition project. But the story I most enjoyed was James'. He played us three of his own tunes, two of which he hasn't got around to thinking of titles for. The third was Smelling Fresh, composed upon the return of a pair of kilt socks he had sent home for his mother to wash. You see, you can set up all the infrastructure you want, but musicians will still get inspiration from their Mum.
Grateful thanks to reviewers Annie Delin, Mhari Pottinger and Douglas Coulter
