Current holder of the title itself, fiddler Ruairidh MacMillan was the most glaring omission, being otherwise engaged in Austria, although his predecessor, Ewan Robertson’s explanation that the team had chucked him off the ferry after their gig on Jura had a certain cruel humour. Meanwhile, Gaelic singer Kenneth Nicolson was apparently stuck on Tiree.
The competition, by its very nature, is likely to throw together six individuals whose specialisms don’t necessarily converge in any kind of natural band line-up.
However the five young men left to fly to flag, boasting two fiddlers, a piper and two guitarists, as well as showcasing their individual talents in a concert party format of mixed quality and including two unaccompanied Gaelic songs from previous winner Catriona Watt, showed definite promise as an ensemble.
Lorne MacDougall’s opening solo spot on Highland pipes provided a very able overture, showing deft fingering and considerable melodic momentum, and his bolstering on smallpipes of fiddlers Jack Smedley and Daniel Thorpe’s march and reel set was later reciprocated by some lovely long bowed fiddling behind his sensitive tin whistle playing.
In MacMillan’s absence, Thorpe assumed an authoritative role, contributing some fine, slippery fiddling on a pair of rugged tunes with Cape Breton connections, and while Robertson was largely employed as an accompanist, his singing of O Gin I Were a Baron’s Heir was a sweet companion to fellow guitarist, Adam Holmes’ raw, very individual reading of Ae Fond Kiss.
Star rating: ***
