Wired to the World

Fàilte!

Busy, busy weekend.

So basically participating in the Ceilidh Trail (please see previous posts...) leads on to a lot of other exciting opportunities even months afterwards and this is a prime example.

This all started with the Blas Festival after the summer; we got 2 extra gigs to play as the Ceilidh Trail at both Roy Bridge (again,see previous post: Irish for Elbow) and then in Eden Court in Inverness where we and loooooaads of other people/groups of young folk performed as "Cèol nam Fèis". So not only did everyone have to prepare their own sets to play, but there was extra practice time for everyone to get together and prepare/learn a big finale set in which more than 100 youths were playing together- which is pretty impressive I'd say!

That gig went spiffingly but was a while ago now, so we'll focus on the more recent one methinks. 

We were asked to perform at Celtic Connections in Glasgow! V exciting. Content-wise it was essentially just a repeat of our Inverness concert but this time in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, which I found looked a lot smaller from the stage than seated in the audience surprisingly. An obligatory train session took place on the way down to Glasgow from Fort William of course, then we all got a VERY EARLY NIGHT (pffft) as we were up early in the morning for concert preparations. And when I say early, I mean like 6.00am - not cool. Which was a bit irritating as we didn't actually do much till about half 11... BUT, I suppose there was a nice comfy couch in our dressing room which a sleepy me made good use of...

Despite being a little bit behind time, as that's just how it goes sometimes, the gig went really well! We only really got to do one set each but, hey, I ain't complaining. Then of course the big finale song and some tunes all together at the end. Really good response from the audience and we had a great time playing. Here are a couple of pics (not mine) of our set, more great pictures of the rest of the concert can be found here.

Then we were free to roam the city of our own accord! Fellow band members Eddie and Hannah and myself stayed another night and went to the Wired to the World event that was on in the concert hall. I'll admit, we didn't really read into what the show would consist of, we just knew Treacherous Orchestra were playing. The other acts were fab, especially Michael McGoldrick and co. but also the other two African originated bands, one led by who I swear must be the happiest man on earth with some of the best dance moves. But...

Treacherous Orchestra.

Wow. 

Absolutely incredible. If someone had told me a couple of years ago that I'd be at a gig where someone was head banging playing the accordion or there was a mosh pit to a couple of guys playing the whistle I would have laughed and cringed, but somehow these guys make it seem like the coolest thing on earth. I knew it would be good but this completely exceeded my expectations - definitely very high on my list of best ever gigs. Actually definitely the best trad/Scottish gig I've ever experienced. And that's exactly what it was: a whole experience, not just watching musicians perform. Their digital music is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but there's no way any of it compares to seeing it in a live venue. The guys have so much enthusiasm and energy that they clearly bounce off of each other with when performing and the band as a whole is bursting with character. I'd like to mention my love of the general dress code, and Adam's Sutherland's get-up in particular (which you can go see in videos for yourself). Even sat in the seats high above the rolling sea of sweaty bodies below I left this gig absolutely STOKED.
And on that note I'll leave you to go and investigate this incredible band for yourself, see if they're your kinda thing, and if so, for goodness sake get a ticket to see them live!! 

http://www.treacherousorchestra.com/



I'll be back again soon telling you about what will hopefully be another eventful few days playing at Celtic Connections again this weekend!