Review by Jennie Macfie
Horndog Brass Band
Old Bridge Inn, Aviemore, 28 April 2012
MOST bands and many music lovers are of the opinion that the Ceilidh Place is unbeatable as a venue for location, food, drink and ambience, with a passionate well-informed choice of music.
IT IS good to report that the Cairngorms is now as well served as Ullapool , thanks to the Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore.
Horndog Brass Band
My reviewing companion says after five minutes, “This place just feels like coming home”, and indeed it does, especially if your home has leather sofas in a sheltered outside smoking area, a carefully crafted menu to die for and a stunning view of the snow-capped Cairngorms, tinged pink by the setting sun. Oh, and it’s dog-friendly, too.
As well as dogowners, foodies and winter sports enthusiasts, the Inn is attracting an impressive list of artists – Frightened Rabbits, Admiral Fallow, Findlay Napier & The Bar-Room Mountaineers have all played here recently while next month includes Roddy Woomble and Paul Heaton from the Beautiful South (not together). Saturday night saw the Horndog Brass Band from Edinburgh adding their irresistibly funky drum ‘n’ brass to the mix, and showing from the first notes why they’re building a powerful reputation on the festival circuit.
Their first notes, incidentally, are an elegant solution to that awkward transition between recorded and live music; the DJ’s final track turns out to be one of theirs, and one by one they simply join in. A few people have been dancing in desultory fashion to the DJs nicely chosen and not at all shabby funk and soul, but the Horndogs live are one long floor-filler. Their arrangements are built on the solid, but unusual, bass of the sousaphone (an instrument beloved by all Orkestra del Sol fans) with a dash of New Orleans here, a bit of reggae there, a nod to James Brown and a relentless tide of funkiness applied to an agreeably eclectic mix of tracks.
This is a band whose order to “Dance!” must be obeyed. Even the most reluctant onlookers cannot resist the Horndog’s commanding version of Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You”, some pogo-ing to within an inch of the low-slung ceiling. Brass with class – bags of it.
© Jennie Macfie, 2012
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