JENNIE MACFIE checks out two contrasting singers from across the Atlantic

kd lang (Jeri Heiden)

2500 SEATS sold out well beforehand for this international star with an astonishing voice – of all the concerts at Celtic Connections, k d lang was surely going to be one of the biggest and most spinetingling of them all, and it was no surprise to see many performers in the audience on Tuesday night, including chanteuse Heather Macleod, fiddler Anna Massie and percussionist James Mackintosh.

To rapturous applause, the lights dimmed and the star appeared. k d lang has often been compared to Elvis, but there was rather a touch of Robin Williams on Tuesday, sartorially speaking – grey twopiece suit and no shoes, just incongrous pink socks. The voice, however, transcended everything. Effortlessly it soared, poured, bent, slid, skated, and dazzled like Torvill and Dean on their way to Olympic gold.

Her own classic “Constant Craving” was given a Sinatra-ish timing makeover to freshen it up, but most of the songs were unfamiliar, coming from the newly released Watershed CD, interspersed with covers of fellow Canucks Neil Young, Jane Siberry and Leonard Cohen – a scorching version of ‘Hallelujah’.

It was the first night of her European tour and lang asked the critics to be kind to her – that shouldn’t be necessary. In truth, there were moments where she seemed surprisingly tentative, and at £30 a head the audience maybe should have expected a bit more preparatory effort.

But no, her adoring fans lapped up everything, old and new, with equal enthusiasm and indulged in some good old fashioned Weegie banter – though the accents gave trouble on both sides. The five piece band were exemplary and the best songs of the night came in the second encore set when they and the star gathered round one microphone to sing in true old-time radio show style, relaxed and perhaps secretly a tad relieved that it was all over.

Where k d lang has always deserved comparisons with the likes of Peggy Lee, Ella, and Sinatra, Texan Michelle Shocked is best known to those who are not fans for a Nineties chart hit, ‘Anchorage’, in which – you may remember – she described herself as “a skateboarding punk rocker”. She’s been through some changes since then and her voice is a revelation; it has developed from pop accented folk to the point where she could give some soul greats a run for their money.

“I wish I could sing like ‘retha Franklin”, breathed Green Gartside – well, Michelle can, and glory be, she does. And she can holler like Otis when the mood takes her. Like lang, Ms Shocked can be described as androgynous, but unlike lang she’s still punk-skinny in black jeans, waistcoat and white tee topped off with a porkpie hat, like Patti Smith guesting with the Specials.

She makes everyone shake hands with their neighbour to break the social ice and explains that we inspire her so she can inspire us to continue to inspire her, and so on. It’s a fair exchange. Scotland has long had an affinity with Southern blues and soul and the audience need very little urging to fulfil Michelle Shocked’s avowed dream of seeing them singing along and waving their arms from the off in an extraordinary amalgam of gospel service and ceilidh dance. She and her excellent band give a nod to Booker T and the MGs and the set finishes with reggae. The standing ovation from a satisfied audience is spontaneous and well deserved.

But that’s not the end of the evening for Michelle, her band and support act Darrell Scott, who later step onto a stage that will also hold Shooglenifty and the Duhks in what turns out to be a bit of a vintage Festival Club night. A real Celtic Connection – enough to leave anyone pondering which clan ought to be proudly laying claim to the Shocked family .

© Jennie Macfie, 2008

Links

• Celtic Connections