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Gavin Morgan
5 May, 2008
THE SHETLAND Folk Festival hit its mid point on Saturday with a
musical tour around the globe featuring an eclectic mix of
international artists.
The Clickimin concert is traditionally the central event of the
festival and the big games hall was close to capacity, though the
large space diluted the intimacy that the festival is famed for.
The talent on display was, as usual, technically excellent, but the
artists had to work much harder to rev up the crowd than they often
have to in the smaller venues.
The gig kicked off with Shetland’s own Hom Bru celebrating their
30th anniversary with a blend of tunes that often touched on isles’
orientated themes such as press ganging and the whaling.
The Shetland creature of mythic folklore was the subject of the very
well received Trowie Song and a funny translation of the isles’
dialect lyrics was given for visitors.
Next up was the Henric Jansberg Band who had kicked up such a storm
in the Mid Yell hall the previous night. But this time nerves seemed
to get the better of fiddle player Henric, who declared himself “a
wreck” as he looked out into the crowd.
Despite this they still impressed with their huge sound, but
struggled to get as much audience participation as they might have
hoped or did in the much smaller Yell hall.
Shetland fiddle player Kevin Henderson joined them for a set that
included the old traditional tune, The Full Rigged Ship.
The night’s most unusual and well received offering came in the form
of the three Mongolians and three Chinese men collectively called
Hangaai.
Most of them were dressed in colourful robes or jackets with one
member wearing a red coat and round glasses which made him look like
John Lennon circa Sgt Pepper. |
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Their rich musical
tapestry had sounds that seemed to emanate from nowhere with
traditional chanting and instruments sometimes producing an
atmosphere reminiscent of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. At the
core of their soulful music was two of the world’s oldest
instruments, the horse head fiddle and the two stringed banjo, as
well as ancient throat singing techniques that have been past down
over 2,000 years.
The exotic nature of the group gripped the crowd and the language
barrier was humorously overcome when the most charismatic member
said “cheers” to the crowd and downed a can of lager.
The fast tempo of their last song had the whole hall clapping and
stamping their feet bringing everything to a rousing crescendo,
rewarded with a standing ovation.
French Canadian four piece Le Vent du Nord was up next with their
“party music” from Quebec and they initially had a good crowd up
dancing.
They had less success with their attempts to get the crowd to sing
along with a “call and response” song, which admittedly was quite
complicated to grasp if you were not French Canadian.
A love song called Rosetta was one of the highlights of their set
with a great fiddle break and a slow piano ending.
Orcadians The Chair brought the music tour nearly full circle and
became one of the few visiting acts to play the festival twice in a
row, last year appearing as Lazy Boy Chair.
Initially the eight piece were also having problems getting the
audience involved and one member jokingly asked if the empty space
at the front of the stage was for a badminton game.
The wall of sound they created was undeniably impressive with one
song containing a bit that sounded like the familiar Mission
Impossible theme tune booming through the hall.
As they launched into a set of jigs more and more dancers filled the
“empty space”, but the tone varied from jumpy to mellow then became
experimental so it was hard for people to keep the dancing vibe,
though most stayed on the floor.
During The Chair’s set the lighting effects impressed immensely as
it had done all night and the technicians behind it were rightly
praised by compere Davie Henderson.
With that the 28th Shetland folk festival revellers headed off for
another long night at the festival club or various parties. |
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