When the first thing you see upon entering a venue is “Warning risk of high noise levels,” you know you’re not going to some prissy sit-down concert. It was standing room only at the Oran Mor for Tarras and Manran, and it was loud. Very loud. Did I mention it was loud? As a wise [...]
Archive for January, 2012
Celtic Connections 2012 – Tarras and Manran
Posted in Reviews, tagged Celtic Connections 2012, Manran, Tarras on January 31, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Celtic Connections 2012 – Breabach and Corquièu
Posted in Reviews, tagged breabach, Celtic Connections 2012, corquieu on January 29, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Corquieu’s set started gloriously with a high energy song that churned into driving tunes and kept building until Gema Garcia gave the audience a brief rest with another song, and then onto more burning fast tunes! The wonderfully complex tunes were really a delight to the ear. Daniel Álvarez’s flute-playing was spectacular. Time and again, [...]
Oak and Thorn by Colleen 1/29/12
Posted in Playlists on January 29, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
artist-song-recording-label 9:00 Kim Robertson-I Vow to Thee my Country-Highland Heart-Gourd Music Mairi Mac Innes-Fear a Bhata-This Feeling Inside-Green Trax Franco Morone-Jig on Planxty Irwin-The Road to Lisdoonvarn-Acoustic Records 9:15 Cherish the Ladies-My Own Native Land-The Backdoor-Green Linnit Duncan Chisholm-Farewell to Uist-Farrar Cara Dillon-Blue Mountain River-Cara Dillon- Rough Trade Jerry Holland-Andy Dejarlis-The Fiddlesticks Collection-Green Linnet 9:30 [...]
Celtic Connections 2012 – Solo Cissokho and Fidil with Fatoumata Diawara and Michael McGoldrick
Posted in Reviews, tagged Celtic Connections 2012, donald shaw, Fatoumata Diawara, Fidil, Gerry O’Connor, Michael McGoldrick, Solo Cissokho, Tony Byrne on January 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The warmth and bright colors of Africa swept through snowy Glasgow in a gust of beautiful music, delighting a standing-room-only crowd at the lovely St Andrews in the Square. This Celtic Connections experiment with mingling musicians from different traditions was a magnificent success. Combine the Pride of Manchester’s Michael McGoldrick, Capercaillie’s (and Celtic Connections’s artistic [...]
Celtic Connections 2012 – Gaelic Song Circle with Gillebride MacIllemhaoil, Norrie MacIver and Alasdair Whyte
Posted in Reviews, tagged Alasdair Whyte, Celtic Connections 2012, Gillebride MacIllemhaoil, Norrie MacIver on January 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Pick how you want to celebrate Burns Night: eating haggis or listening to a trio of Gaelic singers from the Islands. The full house at the Rennie MacIntosh-designed Glasgow Art Club didn’t seem to be missing their traditional Burns Suppers, when the first performer of the night, Lewis-born Norrie MacIver, stepped onto the stage. Two [...]
Celtic Connections 2012 – At First Light and JAADU
Posted in Reviews, tagged At First Light. Jaadu, Celtic Connections 2012 on January 24, 2012 | 1 Comment »
This show featured two wildly different kinds of music, with no discernible connection, at the elegant Grand Hall. First up was the new Irish supergroup At First Light, a six-piece band band that grew from the collaboration of John McSherry and Donal O’Connor. Their initial album, Tripswitch, caught attention for its distinctly original arrangements and [...]
Celtic Connections 2012 – Empreintes and Cruinn
Posted in Reviews, tagged Celtic Connections 2012, Cruinn, Empreintes on January 23, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Partiality alert! This concert had several of my favorite Gaelic singers performing at my very favorite venue, St. Andrew’s in the Square, and a superstar Breton group. If you want the short version of this review, it can be summed up in one word: GREAT! Whoever came up with the idea of combining the talents [...]
Oak and Thorn 1/22/12 by Colleen
Posted in Playlists on January 22, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
artist-song-recording-label 9:00 Rory Cambell-Tangsdale-The Piper’s Whim-Lochshore Cara Dillon-Donald of Glencoe-Cara Dillon-Rough Trade John Williams-The Humors of Kilcloger-Steam-Green Linnet 9:15 Kate Rusby-The Duke and the Tinker-Sleepless-Compass Kinnel-Dans Loudeac-Donald’s Dog-Lochshore Poozies-Sorrows Away-Infinite Blue-Compass John Hicks-Em Jigs-Chasing the Bear-Tall Tree Records 9:30 Jim Malcolm Lochs of the Tay-Live in Glenfarg Old Blind Dogs-Portobello-Wherever yet may be-Compass Cara Dillon-Craigie [...]
Celtic Connections 2012 – The Deadly Duos at the National Piping Center
Posted in Reviews, tagged Celtic Connections 2012, Deadly Duos on January 22, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
What this session lacked was someone to manage it. With no one to introduce the artists, fiddler Emma Sweeney and her accompanist Matheu Watson on guitar, plunged into their too-brief set. Sweeney’s passion and energy came out with every note, every sly scrape of emphasis on the strings, and every beautiful flourish. She bent into [...]
Celtic Connections 2012 – Cuairt nan Eilean
Posted in Reviews, tagged Celtic Connections 2012, Cuairt nan Eilean on January 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
This year’s Celtic Connection boasts “2100 Musicians/300 Events/20 Venues/1 Festival.” Trying to decide upon one or two shows a night is enough to make a music lover mad with frustration and anticipation, especially when you are sleep-deprived and jet-lagged. Choosing Cuairt nan Eilean for Friday’s show was an excellent decision. Cuairt nan Eilean (A Tour [...]
