OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 16 February 2012

MICHAEL McGoldrick is an anti-showman.

He walks quietly on stage, sits down and doesn’t speak a word till after several immaculate sets have been delivered, leaving a few brief introductions and some slight banter to John McCusker and John Doyle. Even when he does speak, McGoldrick’s a man of few words and all of them to the point. With this trio, it’s all about the music – nothing flash, no fireworks, just understated, softly spoken brilliance.

MIchael McGoldrick

The trio have started their tour fresh from the annual post-Celtic Connections Transatlantic Sessions tour, so they’re well played-in already; for the first half the tunes and songs pour out, allowing us to marvel at the fineness of their musicianship. The repertoire includes unannounced jigs and reels, old Childe ballads, sea shanties and recent compositions by Fred Morrison, Doyle and McCusker, a lovely mishmash.

They vary their instruments from time to time; McGoldrick bends down frequently to choose a new weapon from his armoury of whistles, flutes and pipes. Lanky, laconic, you wouldn’t pick him out in a crowd as, arguably, the finest flute and whistle player in the world, but when he plays, the quality is tangible. Is there anyone who can bend a note on the Uillean pipes as delicately?

McCusker mostly plays fiddle but he varies it with cittern and, right at the end, whistle. His musical history is as illustrious as McGoldrick’s and as modestly worn, and his beautiful compositions, from ‘Friday Harbour’ to the praiseworthy ‘Under One Sky’ add much to the enchantment of the evening.

This reviewer first noticed John Doyle when he was standing in for Tore Bruvall in String Sisters. For a rhythm guitarist to stand out against five of the feistiest female fiddlers in the business takes some doing. Doyle finds more colour, light and texture in the acoustic guitar than you ever thought possible, and the rhythmic structures, harmonies and varied dynamics are extraordinary. His fingerpicking is a delight, particularly when he sings ‘The Apprentice Boy’, collected by Cathal McConnell.

In the second half, there’s some confusion about tunes and keys. “Hope it’s not too slick for you,” deadpans McCusker, and is rewarded with a warm gust of laughter. Once started, the music remains wonderful, especially in  ‘Liberty’s Sweet Shore’ and in two old tunes when cittern and guitar weave delicate, intricate structures while the flute threads itself around them. All too soon they pull out the stops for a purely stunning final set and two encores. After the applause has died down, “Ooooh, that was beautiful” says someone in the row behind, voicing the general opinion.

The final word should go to Duncan Chisholm who tweeted this morning: “If Carlsberg made trios….”.

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© Jennie Macfie, 2012

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