Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 17 October 2011

“THANK you for being so polite – we’ll do our best to change that” says Chris Stout as he marches on stage with the rest of Fiddlers Bid, Shetland’s unofficial musical ambassadors for the last two decades.

With little more ado they launch into what starts off as a traditional-style tune and develops into a blistering set showing off the stronger, wilder Scandinavian style of fiddle playing which is the essence of the Shetland style and the complex, unashamedly dramatic arrangements that the Bid have made their own. The roar and applause which marks the end starts out at the level many bands are satisfied with at the end of a concert and yes, the audience has already moved well beyond ‘polite’.

Fiddlers Bid

At first glance, you might see a resemblance between Fiddlers Bid and Blazin’ Fiddles, six years their junior, as both have a frontline of strong fiddle players, backed with guitar and keyboards. But the differences are considerable. Fiddlers Bid’s keyboards are under the command of glamorous clarsach virtuoso Catriona McKay who alternates between instruments and, in the second half, causes a harmonium to be carried on and off stage by the devoted Eden Court stagehands.

Their backline includes electric bass, and their style is consistently exuberant, intense, soaring, infused with a quality that must come from living life on the very edge of Europe. There’s none of the lowland sweetness that infuses and softens the Blazers’ repertoire, even in the occasional waltzes which give them a chance to catch their breath.

The Empire concert coincides with fiddler Morris Henderson’s birthday which provides an excuse for much good-humoured teasing and in lieu of a present, he spends most of the evening in the spotlight telling Trowie tales (Trowie are the secretive, musical, ‘little people’ of Shetland) between sets which often contain Trowie tunes, though the repertoire ranges widely.

The second half is opened by Catriona McKay with a set inspired by the fall, and repair, of her clarsach, opening with an appropriately titled Liz Carroll tune, ‘The Top of the Stairs’, and backed by guitarist Fionan de Barra and “Britain’s most northerly bassist”, Jonathan Ritch. It’s always a delight to hear McKay play, one of our best and most original harpists with a rich, wide tonal pallette always at her fingertips, and the audience laps up the lovely subtleties of her playing.

The bright sweep of massed fiddles playing traditional tunes – especially Trowie tunes – is as evocative and irresistible as a pipe band in full swing, and the audience needs no prompting to clap along at all appropriate moments. The night ends on what is billed as, and proves to be, “a mammoth set” which builds to an almost unbearable intensity before settling back into the delicate sweetness of ‘All Dressed in Yellow’, the title track of their last CD. They encore with a set of Shetland reels as fresh and sparkling as though it was the first set of the night. Truly a tour de force.

© Jennie Macfie, 2011

Links

• Fiddlers Bid
• Jennie Macfie