Heb Celtic Preview

2 Jul 2004 in Festival, Music, Outer Hebrides

Banishing the Sunless Summer Blues

PETER URPETH looks forward to another mass outbreak of Celtic music in the big tent at Lews Castle as the HEBRIDEAN CELTIC FESTIVAL gets underway.

IT IS WITHOUT doubt the most enjoyable week in the Hebridean calendar. A week in which the Isle of Lewis comes alive, as only it can. And this year, with a bigger tent, holding up to 5,000 festival goers, the frustrating sell outs of previous years are a thing of the past. But, with possibly the most populist programme to date, the Heb Celtic Festival may require every inch of its new canvas to accommodate a new cohort of recruits, as new audiences are attracted to sample its delights.

Chief among equals at this year’s event are Ireland’s folk-country-rock-pop legends, The Saw Doctors. Many on the island will recall the night, a few years back now, that this band played the Coll Sports Centre, and many will also recall being squeezed onto a perch on the sand dunes that ring the venue in order to catch the band. Many Lewis folk feel a special affinity for their music. Maybe it’s the imagery, the Green and Red of Mayo, the new songs of younger exiles, that resonate so deeply in the psyche of the place, or maybe it’s just the sheer accessibility of their music.

Either way their music features sentiments and emotions drawn from the same deep well as the music of the islands, and blends it with a pure dram of Irish party ebullience. Cracking stuff. But that night in Coll was truly mad and memorable and without doubt the crush for tickets will be every bit as great at this gig, their first return visit, as it was on that night.

The Doctors share a billing with the inimitable Peatbog Faeries, and if that isn’t strong programming for you then you’ve never recovered from the 1st Isle of Wight Festival. Kick off your clogs and enjoy rev’d roots and global dance floor sounds from one of the best around.

Also from the Gaelic stratosphere come Capercaille. Their more cool and mellow ambience – or chill-out mood, which might be more appropriate in the worst summer on record in the islands – will bring a fitting close to events on Thursday. The Caper’s music suits the bigger venues well, and with the organizers promising much from a new sound system, this gig could be a sonic sensation. Saturday is reserved for Kila’s folk fusions and the Session A9 crew, a great last chance for a jig.

“It’s good to see, too, that new bands are getting a chance this year with a performance by the much garlanded band Teine”

A final note – festivals need traditions, and one that this writer wholly endorses is that of singer and clarsach player Maggie Macinnes kicking off events with her band. When I asked festival supreme Caroline MacLennan if the return of Maggie Macinnes to open the gig was more by luck than design, she gave something of a blank look in reply. Maggie starts the Festival because, to quote Caroline, “the music is what I think of as perfection.”

It’s difficult to disagree. Two years ago, this writer penned that Maggie must be considered the best performer in Gaelic music, and it’s a claim I stick by. Maggie is capable of creating a sound of heart-melting beauty and of mesmeric intensity, but if you haven’t got a ticket for this one, you’ll have to take my word for it as the opening gig in town hall is a sold out.

It’s good to see, too, that new bands are getting a chance this year with a performance by the much garlanded band Teine. Teine are a group of four young singers and musicians based in Lewis. For all those who haven’t heard band member Catriona Watt singing a traditional song, make sure you get a ticket to the next Teine gig as her vocals are a rare treat.

Peter Urpeth will be reporting from the Hebridean Celtic Festival in the coming days. The festival runs from 14-17 July in Stornoway and the Isle of Lewis.