Nigel’s Shed, Scoraig, 14 September 2003

FIRST OFF, a big thank you to all the musicians for trusting themselves and their equipment to a boat ride over the sea to Scoraig, and a gig in a cow shed. In the darkest corners you could tell you were in a cow shed, but otherwise John McGeoch’s decorations and technical wizardry made it a vibrant, exciting place to be.

And then there was the music; in the days that followed we were shaking our heads in wonder and saying that you couldn’t have found a better, more eclectic line-up in a capital city. I missed the Rough Deal String Band, I’m sorry to say, but then I’d never known a Scoraig gig start on time, either. Reports were good, though.

Rumba Calliente (Salsa Celtica without the Celtica I was told) were just magic. Infectious, loose-but-tight South American rhythms with fantastically vigorous vocals and joyful instrumental breaks. Only time for a short set unfortunately and then it was a change of pace – and some – for Michael Hurley.

A lot of folk were there to dance and never quite made the change of pace, but the Hurley die-hards like myself sat on the cow shed floor at his feet and relished every song, each rooted in old-timey mountain music and coloured by his totally idiosyncratic world view. The man is a one-off, and should be treasured as such. On this night you could feel a ripple of fandom creeping out from the inner circle as people got past the vision of the aged guitar player and tuned in to the mad humour.

And then something completely different. Bajaly Suso from Gambia played the kora and sang to his own playing – an emotive, otherworldly sound. The kora has a huge skin-covered gourd for a soundbox and something like eighteen strings. It stands about the height of a double bass but the player faces the strings and the sound was closer to a harp than anything else I could think of. Though I doubt if anyone knew what he was singing about we were all mesmerised, and he finished his set to huge applause.

Q Magazine ran a list of “happy albums” a while ago, music to make you smile. For me, La Boum! should be top of that list. They play African inspired dance music with strong rhythms, blasts of brass, happy and relaxed vocals and jaw-droppingly good guitar breaks from Tom Salter. Tonight they were on fire and Tom seemed to be putting in extra notes everywhere. See them play if you can.  Everyone in Nigel’s shed that night is still smiling.

© John Davey, 2003