They may have celebrated that award later. But first they had a tour to finish and an Usher Hall full of fans to hoist out of their seats. Not that this is any great challenge. Half of a small German town seemed to have decanted to Edinburgh to join their Scottish siblings-in-devotion and they had the massed jack-in-the-box routine that Runrig fans perform at gigs down to perfection.
As someone who's admired the band's achievements without growing to especially love their music, I have to say that this was an impressive spectacle. They do a great line in anthemic songs and there's much fist-pumping and almost tribal hand-clapping in accompaniment, but there's plenty of light and shade and varied dynamics, too. From full-on blue-collar rocking, we were taken through passages of reflection, acoustic sequences where guitarist Calum MacDonald and keyboardist Brian Herd strapped on accordions, and a homespun parade where the backline formed a mobile, front-of-stage drum corps.
It's stirring stuff. I could live without their Queenification of Loch Lomond, although their fans possibly couldn't, but songs like Road Trip, accompanied here by a dizzying film, and Alba have an invigorating urgency that's enhanced no end, as much of this two hour-set was, by Calum MacDonald's brilliant repertoire of electric guitar voicings. I didn't leave a complete convert, but I enjoyed watching a model lesson in giving the people what they want.
HHHH
