CCA, Glasgow,

November 1^st, 2014

Ceol ‘s Craic – ‘music and banter’ – puts on events to highlight contemporary Gaelic culture, and wants to draw a general audence as well as Gaelic speakers. ‘The circle is unbroken!’ (or, ‘Tha an cearcall neo-bhriste!’) featured a mix of generations and performers, and brought together emerging singers and musicians with established artists a good bit longer in the tooth. That worked fine for the most part – the near capacity, though fluid, audience (in and out of seats at times like a local hall) responded well, and was dished up a lively mix. A fairly impromptu session set from Neil McDiarmid (fiddle), Thomas McCabe (box accordion) and Alistair Cassidy (guitar), relaxed and chirpy at the same time, popped on through jigs, reels and polkas and launched the thing off fine.

Then we had singer Alasdair Whyte, who has a debut album Las from Watercolour Music, working with Margaret Macleod – a key figure with ‘trail-blazers’ Na h-Òganaich from the 70’s on. Alasdair’s voice is rich, true and strong (swallowed just briefly in lower register) and Margaret was on very good form, especially on puirt-à-beul and a contribution later on to that sexy classic ‘My Husband’s Got No Courage in Him’. I missed or didn’t catch some Gaelic titles here, but the blend of Mull marching (and rowing) songs, and tributes to a range of dark haired lads and lasses was delivered with confidence and warmth. Alasdair shared a duet wth Lavinia Blackwall (who featured later with Trembling Bells); Alex Neilson, Ross Wilson and Teddy Balfour backed up well, even the main man of the night parachuted in to the Gaelic choruses, and the first half ended in a rattling ensemble with ‘Canan nan Gaidheal‘.

Mike Heron’s ‘world music’ contribution, right from The Incredible String Band’ and his ground-breaking 1971 album ‘Smiling Men with Bad Reputations’, has lasted and lasted. Here he was in puckish, smiling, focussed and energetic nick: getting in a lot of numbers with little fuss but close attention. The musical connection between him and his daughter Georgia Seddon was a pleasure to follow, and the ‘Trembling Bells’ around – adding Michael Hastings, Simon Shaw, John (‘Frog Pocket’) Wilson to those not tagged before – chimed in entirely as required. We got the whole shebang: ‘This Moment’, Feast of Stephen’ (Georgia subbing for John Cale); ‘Spirit Beautiful’; the long-legged (Arlo, the Carters) ‘Black Jack David’; Robin Williamson’s ‘Cold Day in February’; one of the most beautiful ever short lyrics in the anthem ‘Air’: “You kiss my blood/And my blood kiss me”; then “slithering and squelching on” to ‘A Very Cellular Song’ before two welcome encores – ‘Sleepers, Awake!’ and ‘Log Cabin Home in the Sky’. Wished I’d heard a bit more singing from Georgia; but Lavinia Blackwall is already beautifully in orbit. Mike Heron is, of course, out beyond Arcturus. Drive on Ceol ‘s Craic!

 Reviewer : Mr Scales

Usher Hall

Wed 27th August

The Cowshed, Edinburgh

August 17th

Yesterday Avo I saw a Godfather and God-daughter song-writing team that look set to blow Adele out of the water. All original compositions penned by the brain-child behind the street-review Blog ‘themumble.net,’ Mr Damo Bullen plays Bass, who with drummer, Mr Luke Grifiths, provide a very funky rhythm section. Then along came the very, very cute Al Roberts on rhythm guitar and Roy Saunders on melodica & mandolin completing a sonic template for the amazing voice of Kae-Lei Stowell.

]

A Fourteen year old with an amazingly powerful vocal range that brought tears to my eyes. This always happens when I experience Genius. For a girl to have such realised gift at the age of 14 I am confident in saying that Kae Lei Stowell gave the best vocal performance I have witnessed this Summer season and feel blessed to have been moved by such a fine performance of Rock n Roll.

The Cowshed,in the Cowgate has the perfect dance floor all dusty and strewn with straw. With a band as good as this, I was hooked immediately, and the funky moves began. A new band,original songs and with such an impassioned, evolving soul Diva as Kae Lie Stowell leading the quartet. How could they go wrong. FIVE STARS

Reviewer : Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert

Pleasance Dome

16-24 August

£8.50-£9.50

22.45

O’Neill’s performance was strong and energetic from the start. He erupted onto the stage wielding an electric guitar, a wealth of musical knowledge and a keen sense of humour, all of which he shared forthright and throughout the show with an excited audience. Despite the shows title ‘History of Heavy Metal’, this show is not only for lovers of heavy metal music, but for all. O’Neill is both informative and entertaining in his deliverance, and if his knowledge and his passion does not draw you in his witty jokes and charismatic energy will. When a performer enjoys doing their own show so much its hard not to enjoy it with them and in this case it’s evident how much O’Neill enjoys fusing two of his passions, Heavy Metal Music and its life span and his own art form, stand up comedy.

1

When I said this show was for all I meant it. I went with two of my counterparts who like myself were never big on Heavy Metal, however we left the venue after the performance with a new found understanding, or for want of a better word curiosity, for a music genre and its disciples, a warm feeling as though we’d been welcomed into a new community and sore sides faces from laughing for the best part of an hour. We are all in agreement that for this show Andrew O’Neill with his magnetic enthusiasm, passionate knowledge but mostly his whimsical personality and performance has earned himself all FIVE STARS.

Reviewer : Dermot Nelson

Summerhall

13-24 August

£10-£12

16.00

This is how it should be done.I joined a couple of friends waiting in a Que. The elevator doors opened and we stepped inside and down we went. Imagine being transported back to Andy Warhol’s art factory in 1967.

Only Andy had borrowed a Tardis to travel into the future to persuade Lux Interior, Poison Ivy, Nick Knox and Aphex Twin to collaborate with The Velvet Underground in an immersive cutting edge art project that was multi media and packed to the rim with everything that would captivate and engage my pleasure buttons. The spirit of Andy Warhol was very present. He was smiling. And like me. He, loved it. FIVE STARS

Reviewer : Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert