Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, 17 January 2004

THE DUO OF Duncan Chisholm and Ivan Drever goes back to their Wolfstone days, and has been an occasional diversion for both the fiddler and the singer ever since. Three years ago, they decided to take the gamble of filling the large main auditorium at the Eden Court for an early January concert, and were rewarded with a handsome turn out and a very satisfying concert.

That is now becoming an annual event. In the first year, they recruited a number of guests to fill out the show, but last year went for just the duo. Their performance that night quashed any doubts over the viability of carrying off an unsupported duo performance in this imposing space, and that was the format again this time around.

One of the keys to their success is that they succeed in shrinking the space, giving the occasion a more intimate feel through their playing and banter, which grows increasingly outrageous by the year. Duncan used to outstrip Ivan in the matter of bizarre introductions, but the Orcadian more than held his own here, notably in his wholly fictional scene-setting for the Orkney song ‘The Viking’s Bride’.

The pair have dovetailed beautifully as a musical partnership over the years, and that was much in evidence. Drever’s astute and skilled guitar work provided an ideal complement to Chisholm’s virtuosity on fiddle, both on the haunting slow tunes and skirling breakneck sets of reels. The slower material included a remembrance of the late Johnny Cunningham in a poignant account of Phil Cunningham’s ‘The Gentle Light That Wakes Me’.

Ivan was troubled by an irritating cough, the remnant of a bad cold, but did not allow it to undermine his singing to any notable extent. He introduced one song from Waterfront, his brand new album, in the course of the concert, alongside sing-along selections from the work of Tom Paxton and Ian McGillvrey, and a couple of songs from his own earlier writing.

Despite claiming that neither actually owned one to play it on, the pair have made a DVD currently scheduled for an April release, and concluded proceedings with a song which will be the title track, ‘Long December Evenings’ (it also appears on Ivan’s new disc), and another stirring set of tunes.

© George Mackay, 2004