Reviews
Artist:Shooglenifty
Venue:Queens Hall
TownEdinburgh
Date:01/11/08
Website:http://www.shoogle.com/
The Queens Hall audience has always been a fickle thing: at times politely appreciative in the face of unfamiliar sights and sounds, at times adoring when welcoming back old favourites, at times staying at home for no apparent reason and at times downright right rude. Just seven days earlier I witnessed a case of the latter and feared that we might see a repeat this evening.
But I hadn’t reckoned on the mystical draw of Angus Grant and the Shoogles. Like a shaman calling his followers, one by one the hesitant crowd fell under the spell and were drawn into the pool of light in front of the stage.
The show kicked off by reminding us exactly where their roots lie, spinning from the high speed reel Charlie and the Professor to the glorious inflections and cadences of the slip jig Glenuig Hall. But it is variety, surprises, and bold expeditions into new lands that the Shoogles have made their trade mark and true to form, we were quickly treated to the Macedonian Death Song soon followed by the Rumba from Lochaber (very different from the Argyll Rumba, we were told, much more sexy).
A broken string on a fiddle is something that rarely happens, but the grizzly Angus made this into a piece of theatre of its own, quietening the (by now entranced) crowd to pin-drop silence while he restrung and tuned. As befits a man whose fiddle sports the revered red tassel that marks the students of his father, the great Aonghas Grant, he tunes his instrument the way real men do, using only a pair of Mark 1 human ears.
Weaving and swaying, his fiddle driving the sound forward Angus led the band from tune to tune, including an intriguing Melbourne/Greek/Forres/Loch Ericht strathspey. The mischievous Luke Plumb was always there alongside on mandolin, one minute weaving round the melody, the next chopping the off-beat while the heavy bass and solid percussion left the crowd in no doubt that this was a night for dancing.
By the time the band had been called back for an encore the hall had settled into a happy chilled slightly hippyish vibe, and the choice of Glenfinnan Dawn could not have suited the mood better. After enjoying a rare second encore the crowd headed into the cool Edinburgh night, still dancing, so strong was the power of the spell cast by the shaman with the red tassel.
Martin Finnigan
Pictures courtsey of Alice Ralph are illustrative not taken at the gig.