Mugdock Music Festival 2007

The Festival brought young and old, Indian and Scot, European and African together in a celebration of world, modern, classical, traditional music, and ‘jazzy Afro grooves!’ The festival braved many hazards also fFrom wind, rain, midges, accidents and more ….. so that music from the cool of Norway to the warm breezes of Africa might bring us all together. We had Chinese and Indian dancers, Scottish and Gaelic singers and pipers, Norwegian songs, fiddlers and African drums. The headliners were Karen Matheson (Capercaillie), Caledon the three tenors, and world famous fiddler Ali Bain and Alle Muller.

Friday Concert - June 2007. This evening we had Erne’s Crossborder band, who combine English and Scottish folk and with Harry on tamblas and a cello player who were followed by the local Milngavie pipe band and the Islay choir

Saturday The Courtyard, Peter Donegan’s (son of Lonnie) upbeat skiffle band. The central hub of the festival was the Courtyard stage at the historic visitors Centre which staged a wide variety with colourful dancers, cool classical music, traditional Celtic and atmospheric Jewish wedding music, upbeat Scottish drummers, cheerful Barbershop, children’s choirs and enthusiastic young Indians.

Saturday Afternoon concert. Seylan and Cheyanne, Cheyanne on harp played delicate yet energetic rhythms that were like waterfalls that counterpointed perfectly to Seylan’s deep toned cello melodies. The band Caledon were next and included Alan Beck, Jamie MacDougall and Ivan Sharpe and they belted out Scottish songs, with Burns, traditional and modern tunes.

Saturday Evening Concert was a Night of Contrasts and a classy concert of Scottish traditional music and African rhythms. Fribo from Edinburgh, bean the evening with serene, innovative sounds, and they blend Scandinavian and Scottish music traditions, combined with a positive feel for contemporary sounds and rhythms.

Lovely Gaelic singer Karen Matheson was engaging with a beautiful, natural purity to her  voice, that takes you on a calm breeze. Karen sang Gaelic, Burns and modern songs. She has been hailed as the ‘finest Gaelic singer. She was followed by Diwan and Samba Sene, and their wild, infectious vitality and a chaotic stage presence, both loose and ragged, that added to their laid back yet upbeat feel. Diwan band members play African percussion instruments and are from Senegal, Mali, Colorado and Scotland. Catch them if you can!

Sunday - The Courtyard,  .
The Sighthill Project ,were enchanting and were led by two former RSAMD students. They consisted of asylum seekers and refugees from the likes of Kosovo, Albania, Ski-Lanka and Africa. They played Scottish and Irish traditional music.  They were followed by Two’s Company: a classical trio from Edinburgh, that included violin, piano ,clarinet and cello.  Vivien Scotson provided a contrast as a solo singer songwriter with only her acoustic guitar, her soul-searching voice and her emotive songs. Sunday afternoon concert, was led by accomplished players Ali Bain and Ali Moller on the bandstand stage. Here were two musicians, one the master of traditional Shetland music, the other on mandolin, an accomplished Norwegian musician. Ali Bain’s fiddle music has an unsurpassed clearness and a lyrical beauty.

The new festival included many accomplished, entertaining, diverse and interesting artists, performing both traditional and new music. From the expert and world travelled Ali Bain to enthusiastic young singers. We had two bands bringing together Norwegian and Scottish traditional music. One band, Diwan, that brought artists together from around the globe – from the USA, Mali, Senegal and Scotland. We had the two main stages, the Courtyard and the Walled Garden. The Highlights for me were the energy of Diwan, the beauty of Karen Matheson’s voice, the expert traditional violin of Ali Bain and the innocence and joy of the Sighthill project.

MUGDOCK -  http://pkimage.co.uk/mugdockfestival

Mugdock 2008 -

http://www.musicfootnotes.com/2009/12/mugdock-music-festival-2008.html

Mugdock festival 2009 -

http://www.musicfootnotes.com/2009/12/mugdock-music-festival-2009.html

Patrick Watson King Tuts Glasgow

Patrick Watson @ King Tuts 19^th Sept 2007

Bright Shiny Lights

Indie 4 piece from Montreal played King Tuts - were relaxed and having fun.

Richard Mailey, a fresh-faced young Irish man opened the gig, he has the power in his voice of a young Bruce Springsteen.

The Patrick Watson band offer lots of flowing space and fun theatrical percussion with their music. Patrick, songwriter and piano player and lead vocals puts everything in without doing too much, with the rest of the band bouncing off him. They used anything at hand – a balloon, a jacket over the guitar, effects pedals, more...
To start the set the drummer shook a soft percussion instrument in the space in front of his drum kit. This was not only about the songs or Patrick’s expressive voice, but about the energy of all four.

For the last number Patrick and guitarist took up position in the centre of the audience, and with the guitarist revolving on a small stool they conducted the audience with a ‘Man under the Sea’. For the encore Patrick sang with only piano the quite wonderful ‘the Great Escape'. Fun and engrossing. 

I enjoyed the way this band mixed things up with light fun rhythms, echoing each other…. No rules, no genre - with playful percussion, varied soundscapes and expressive vocals.

Coming out of Montreal’s fervent music scene, the band has a new album out ‘Close to Paradise’ and you sense they come out of a rich heritage of blues, jazz and more and shake it up to make it their own.(Also out of Montreal - Wolf Parade and Arcade Fire. Montreal has a renowned Jazz and Blue festival in July. )

T in the Park Scotland 2006

T in the Park 2006
Apart from the rain, T was awesome fun!  The Chillis were sizzling hot! the Zutons  from Liverpool were exciting; the Kooks look good but were a bit derivative; Guillemots were highly colourful and command the stage; Franz Ferdinand partied like the Beatles; Maximo Park rocked.
Festivals are a wall of sound and a celebration of music, where everything goes and the more outlandish or fancy the better. The best thing is that everyone is there to party and have fun - yes there is drinking, the litter, there is outside toilets (this is something I come back to), but mostly there is good nature friendliness and everyone is happy that they can be there to share with the best in music 2006.
The Kooks. They look cool with floppy hair but lack individuality with their sound. One song is like Bob Marley, the next like Sting, the next like the Kinks.
Maximo Park, They swing and rocked with some strong melodic songs and a memorable performance.
Hot new band from Glasgow the Frettelis were one of the best bands there/ They played the Future Tent and will surely be playing one of the main stages next year.
The top new bands for me were the Guillemots, Maximo Park and the Zutons.  It meant a lot to see the Chillis live as Flea is my son’s hero! He saw them at Murrayfield a few years back and since then has became an amazing bass player through listening to the Chillis over and over and over!
The Chillis headlined and were in a league of their own. Flea’s bass shook the ground with steady rhythms as John Fruciante soared his guitar.  Keidis lept into action around the stage and slid to the mic. His voice while unique, was also the most flexible instrument as it lept around the bass lines in a tight and exacting way. The crowd also leapt and sung, transported to another dimension for this period of time.
One young guy in a wheelchair had managed to get pushed to close to the front. Unfortunately a girl on her mobile ignored him, so he tried to push up on his arms to get a glimpse of his heroes on the stage. Everyone is so excited to see the band perform.
They sang their hits, and some longer set pieces where they get to explore their music more. Flea and Fruciante move close to each other on stage to play tight together.  This band is very much a unit. Their last song, By The Way, really got the crowd pumping, with a hot energy and euphoria. It is easy to see why this band named themselves – the Red Hot Chillis!

Radiohead played Meadowbank stadium August 22nd 2006

Radiohead played Meadowbank stadium August 22nd 2006
Wild, unpredictable as the wind in the trees... their music takes you on a journey across time and space with flurries, storms, hurricanes and gentle breezes. Tom York’s voice blends incoherently with the band and Johnny Greenwood lays into it all, on electric guitar. Some of their lyrics capture essences of the human spirit such as- ‘ Just cos you feel it, doesn't mean it’s there.’
Karma Police; ‘For a minute there I lost myself.’
And Just; ‘You do it to yourself’

They played their first hit Creep as their final song ; ‘I wish I was special, I’m a creep I’m a weirdo.’ Tom at one point says, Radio One used to take risks and now they play Jay-lo.’
Another moment to take away from the gig, Yorke looks straight into the monitors to sing. Several of their songs are atmospheric and catch you in the gut with beats that resonate and vibrate through you. One of their new songs creates that Last Post end of the day broodiness. Possibly my best ever gig and an unforgettable experience.