Concert Reviews
This was the last concert of the 2025 Orkney Folk Festival for me, and, after leaving the packed-out Ferry Inn session with my ears ringing from the sound of some 40+musicians crammed into a small space, I was ready for more a gentler, more relaxed ambiance. I found it at Stromness Parish Church. The […]
This was my second multi-artist concert in Stromness Town Hall, and also a second, and most welcome, encounter with The Maes – of whom, more later. First up was an Orkney/Shetland ensemble, The Skirlies, comprising, on fiddles, sisters Bryony MacGregor and Jennifer Stevenson and Karen Shearer, with Mariann Allan on piano. They evolved out […]
To get to this mid-afternoon gig, I had to say farewell to a great session in the sun-kissed courtyard (yes, one of those strangely Hawaiian days that turn up from time to time in Orkney) of the Ferry Inn. As it turned out, I was right to do so, a) to avoid the well-seared […]
MARGO CILKER A wild swimming session she enjoyed en route to this gig somehow seems appropriate as Margo Cilker has been making waves to win over more and more fans with her music in recent times. In this intimate setting she has us all enthralled with her story telling which is authentic, warming, concise and […]
THE QUIGGS The Nova Scotia Folk Club is generally well-attended. On this occasion it was packed to the gunwales with the normal contingent of members supplemented by other Quiggs fans including a sprinkling of the area’s folk aristocracy. Stephen Quigg has more than paid his dues on the Scottish folk scene. For more than […]
Dervish came on stage to a rapturous reception that never diminished throughout the evening’s entertainment. I use the word ‘entertainment’ advisedly as Cathy Jordan showed herself a mistress of stagecraft with a stream of witty banter that had the auditorium in stitches. Around the banter, there was an alternation of skilfully performed sets of […]
DEAN OWENS Dean Owens believes in is heart that music is all about connections – and this marvellous Celtic Connections’ gig shows he knows how to make that happen with shades of fun and sadness, big sounds and tender interludes and a top-class, wide-ranging career set list. His music is thoughtfully compassionate and impassioned. […]
There was no messing about, no preamble, just straight in with the version of Black Is the Colour that had won her Best Traditional Song at the BBC Folk Awards in 2002. Then she moved seamlessly on to Coming Home and proceeded, with an enchanting blend of story, poetry, and song, to conjure up […]
Even WILLIE WATSON – in brilliant form here – freely admits it feels weird to be touring a solo, self-titled, debut album when he has plenty of lauded, recorded music out there, on his own or with Old Crow Medicine Show. The source of songs on his playlist really is incidental as this […]
ERIC BIBB Grainne Hunt Another wonderful Celtic Connections evening where both support and main act got a rapturous reception from an enthusiastic packed house. Grainne Hunt has been called the hardest working woman in Irish music, and she’s certainly had a busy year that included a showcase at Folk Alliance International before her first […]
