The Bon Vivant Spiegeltent, Falcon Square, Inverness, 23 July 2007

Julie Fowlis.

PAVILIONS WITH handcrafted interiors of wood, glass and mirrors – Spiegeltents – were once used throughout Europe as travelling dance halls, bars and entertainment salons and, thankfully, several survive.

To pitch one in Falcon Square as the venue for the Festival Club during InvernessFest was a stroke of genius. However, nobody could have predicted the neighbours’ unfriendly behaviour.

Screaming seagulls and revving motorbikes were to be expected, but surely an ASBO is due to M&S for sending in the pneumatic drills to add an intermittent background cacaphony while Julie Fowlis was appearing on Monday night.

Never mind, the unwelcome un-rhythm section failed to spoil the show. For a start, Fowlis’ backing band would have been quite a draw on their own; local fiddle hero Duncan Chisholm with his effortless, understated classy style; bodhranist supremo Martin O’Neill, whose immaculate beats also underpin another Fowlis band, Dochas; the always-in-demand Arisaig guitarist and part-time chainsaw artist Ross Martin (Daimh, Cliar, Harem Scarem), and her husband, Eamon Doorley (Danu) on bouzouki.

Fowlis herself is a multiple award-winner and hotly tipped to be the first Gaelic crossover artist, especially after an appearance on Jools Holland’s “Later”,. Her MySpace site has approving quotes from folk you wouldn’t normally associate with Gaelic song, like Ricky Gervais (‘it’s great, but I have no idea what she is on about’).

Despite all this and a tent packed with fans, Fowlis appeared at first rather tentative and unsure. She mentioned that many friends and family were there to see her, which may have been the cause. She has absolutely no need to worry; her voice is a thing of great beauty with a clear, golden, honeyed warmth which sets it apart from, for example, the silver purity of Karen Matheson.

In addition she is blessed with natural precision, the lyrics being distinct even in the rapid fire of puirt-a-beul, the traditional ‘mouth music’ which some claim as an antecedent of hiphop. But above all, Julie Fowlis is a seriously talented instrumentalist who could lay claim to a place in any band even without that voice.

As venues, Spiegeltents suit the louder, gutsier, more theatrical end of the musical spectrum – Edinburgh’s Famous Spiegeltent typically programmes cabaret crossover acts like Orkestra del Sol. Once she moved on from plaintive North Uist ballads concerning the various plights of lovelorn island maidens and started on the jigs, Julie picked up the whistle and began to relax.

And, as her introductions to the tunes turned to harder topics such as divorce, emigration and – truly Gaelic, this – earthier everyday matters like manure-spreading, seasickness, unclipped toenails and (if I heard aright) shaving chickens, she settled in comfortably to demonstrate just what it takes to fill your mantelpiece with awards. Judging by the cheers at the end of the evening, she’ll be needing a bigger mantelpiece any day now.

© Jennie MacFie, 2007

Links

• Julie Fowlis Official Website
• Julie Fowlis on MySpace