Celtic Connections Opening Weekend Highlights

Campbell Cameron was in Glasgow to see this year's Celtic Connections get off to a flying start on the festival's opening night at the Royal Concert Hall.

 

Here he tells us all about it: "Donald Shaw the long time Festival Director, founder member of Capercaillie and luminary of Taynuilt welcomed us all and introduced Anna Massie as our MC for the 30th Anniversary evening.

 

By this time all the great and good and many less well known folk heroes had amassed on the stage to form the 'house band' what a band we had! The enormous concert hall stage was full.

 

They kicked up an immediate storm with the opening numbers before bringing on a selection of fine musicians previewing their own gigs over the coming fortnight. The selection at what is the biggest winter music festival in Europe, though modestly branded the UK Premier celebration of Celtic Music must be seen to be believed.

 

Collaborations abound and Kathleen MacInnes teamed up with Liam Ó Maonlaí (of

 

Hothouse Flowers fame) to enthrall us with Puirt a Beul mouth music of a different level – never was the language of the Gael more enthusiastically performed and danced than by the man from the Emerald Isle. Unless you take Peat and Diesel, of course who may have scared the Glasgow audience slightly on arrival with their brand of punk rock Celtic rock. The sell-out crowd warmed immediately! The Trio returned the following night to a sell out crowd. That’s how we do it in the Western Isles!!

 

SWG3 is a bit of a barn of a place but with some clever lighting, dry ice and Project Smok with Talisk for entertainment, we just loved it. I first met the bands at Best of the West in Inveraray ten years ago perhaps and boy have the developed and matured over the years since.

 

The wall of sound may have been invented in the states back in the 60s but it is alive and well here in Glasgow in 2023.

 

The Reformation of the Treacherous Orchestra on Saturday night continued the wall of

 

sound theme. Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton formed the band in 2009 and drew together a collection of very talented musicians numbering 12, to fuse traditional and dance music into tribal anthems. With big and small pipes, drums, fiddles, guitars, and mandolins, they had it all at the Old Fruitmarket. The sell-out crowd bayed for more and were not disappointed.

 

But on the subject of having it all then Roddy Hart’s 10 th Annual Roaming Roots Review is up there contesting the top title with the magical opening concert. Along with his  Lonesome Fire band he added Justin Currie of Del Amitri, Donald Shaw of Capercaillie, as well as Rachel Sermanni, Jill Jackson, Phil Campbell, Louis Abbott, and many more to the broth who treated this more as a big living room concert while relaxing on the on stage couches. We were special friends, all 2000 of us, as they set about performing hits from Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Simon and Garfunkel, and a special tribute to the late Rab Noakes by his long-time collaborator Jill Jackson.

 

Celebrating 30 years, Celtic Connections was in great shape.

 

Caption: Popular Lewis trio Peat and Diesel won the crowd at Celtic Connections this year

 

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