Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, 29 January 2006

Cliar

THE RENOVATION of the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow’s Merchant City provided a stunning venue for Cliar’s performance at Celtic Connections on the final night of the Festival.

Maybe the bulk of festival goers had had too many late nights to turn out in the numbers that the group, who were double billed with Session A9, deserved but it perhaps also had something to do with the fact that the concert was erroneously billed as ‘standing only’. In fact, we were seated at candle lit cabaret-style tables.

Those who did attend were assured of a great night’s entertainment, as we have come to expect from the Gaelic ‘supergroup’. While the stage itself is somewhat smaller in area than the old stage, the actual hall is a fascinating place to visit, and visitors are kept amused before the show commences and at the interval by a large screen showing film of the renovations in progress.

The screen also provides real-time footage of the artists as they play for the benefits of the audience at the back of the venue.

Cliar’s programme largely consisted of the material from their latest album, ‘Grinn, Grinn’, pronounced ‘green’, and meaning ‘handsome or bonny’. The songs are definitely bonny anyway – they could not fail to be so with the clarity of vocals that we know so well from all three singers, Arthur Cormack, Mary Ann Kennedy and Maggie Macdonald.

Songs such as the traditional waulking song version of ‘A Mhic ‘Iain ‘ic Sheumais’ are given the Cliar harmony treatment and had most of the audience at least attempting the tricky vocable line. Love song ‘Gaol nam fear Dubh’ (The love of the black haired man) will probably become the signature song of the album and again enables great audience participation – that’s the thing about Cliar audiences, they want to join in.

One of the best known love songs in the Gaelic tradition is the beautiful ‘Iain Ghlinn Cuaich’ (John of Glen Quoich), and Cliar have reworked the song, using a slightly different melody given to them by Kenna Campbell.

This writer is not ashamed to admit that, as well as she knows the song, the hankie was in definite use for this number. My personal favourite was the classic Donnchadh Ban Mac an t-Saoir classic ‘Si Nighean mo Ghaoil, an Nighean Donn Og’ (the girl of my love is the brown haired girl , a touching ‘flirting song’ from 1750.

Of course, Cliar are never better than when they are delivering sets of puirt a beul (mouth music), and Mary Ann and Maggie delivered some fabulous vocal acrobatics in their a capella set, before they were joined by Arthur for a closing set with instrumental accompaniment.

Cliar’s line up includes the consummate and totally sympathetic musicianship of clarsach and keyboard player Ingrid Henderson, who also usually contributes on vocal harmony lines, with Ross Martin on guitar, now firmly established as a member of the line-up, and newest member Hector Henderson on whistle, flute and pipes. Joined by Mary Ann on clarsach, some fine sets of tunes were delivered with flair and passion.

Cliar have come though their recent transitional phase in terms of line-up with flying colours, and the whole team obviously mesh together well. The only slight downside in the Fruitmarket was that the set allotted to the group was not long enough – both group and audience were just settling in when it was time to finish. Perhaps next year Celtic Connections will give them a very well deserved full slot.

© Fiona MacKenzie, 2006