Review by Jennie Macfie
The Legends’ Fiddle Competition
25 Jan 2011 in Music, Showcase
Strathclyde Suite, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 23 January 2011
ONE WET Monday night in October 2009, five of the greatest Scottish fiddle players who ever set bow to string were briefly reincarnated for the delight and delectation of the assembled pupils, tutors and friends of ‘Blazin’ in Beauly’.
Niel Gow (Iain MacFarlane), William Marshall (Duncan Chisholm), James Scott Skinner (Bruce Macgregor), Captain Simon Fraser (Alasdair Fraser) and the Dundonian who became the ‘Paganini of Gateshead’, James Hill (Greg Lawson) were all competing to win the title of “Greatest Fiddler of All Time”, adjudicated by that Left-handed Living Legend of Lochaber himself, Mr Aonghas Grant.
Blazin' Fiddles supplied most of the legends and the man (and woman) beneath the wigs
The onlie begetter of this nifty idea, Allan Henderson, compered in the guise of broadcaster Robbie Shepherd, while, under the flowing locks of Shetland’s Violet Tulloch, it was just possible to discern Maestro Andy Thorburn. Strong men (and indeed women) wept with laughter and a glorious time was had by all.
But would all this bucolic fun translate to the rather more sedate surroundings of the Royal Concert Hall? Hundreds of folk turned up to find out and didn’t have long to wait. Gales of laughter greeted “Robbie Shepherd”, complete with headset and clipboard, “Violet Tulloch” in twinset and tweeds, and a new addition, Peerie Willie Johnson (Anna Massie). And the Legends were off, straight out of the starting gate, bribing the judge with whisky in larger and larger bottles, forgetting lines, dropping moustaches, ad-libbing outrageously, but still managing to tell their stories and play their music for all they were worth.
As a bonus, “Aly and Phil” (Allan Henderson and Iain MacFarlane) entertained the audience during the judging, only to be interrupted by a late entrant. Shetland ‘schoolgirl’ Jenna Reid flirted her way to victory, charming Aonghas Grant with her arm action “and her leg action, too”.
A madcap miscegenation of The Good Old Days, X Factor and Mastermind, The Legends turned out to be a winner across the board. Encore!
© Jennie Macfie, 2011
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It only took about two minutes of the show for me to say to my companion that I was so glad that I had decided to come to this gig, and it just got better and better! Well done to all concerned for their willingness to be just a bit ridiculous, which took absolutely nothing away from the standard of the playing, and, not least, to Beauly for giving life to the idea!