Vibrant finale to Celtic festival 18/7/11
By Annie Ferguson
The 16th outing and closing night of the Hebridean Celtic Festival firmly consolidated its place as one of the seminal events in the national festival calendar. Known for providing an eclectic mix of folk inspired music, Saturday night was certainly no exception.
Rachel Sermanni was first to take to the main stage and was greeted by a vast sea of revellers. Her contagious enthusiasm and excitement reverberated throughout the audience that spanned to the far reaches of the tent. It was evident to those present why there is such excitement surrounding this young talent with her superbly executed songs and proficient skills on the guitar.
The penultimate act Kan made an immediate impact. Their original and unique brand of folk produced a wonderfully lyrical and rhythmical set. Drawing upon a love of traditional Celtic music as well as wider reaching international influences the exceptionally talented quartet certainly proved their salt as a tour de force in the folk scene.
The biggest draw of the four day event, KT Tunstall finished the festival and did not disappoint. The Edinburgh singer/songwriter had festival goers surging towards the stage in a desperate bid to get a good view of the Brit Award winning star. A wave of excitement engulfed the crowd in anticipation of her arrival on stage and she was greeted in feverous style.
Despite her fame, KT had an evident affinity with the audience, her down to earth and feisty attitude having all in attendance mesmerized throughout. Mid set, in a nod to the previous nights headline act she dedicated her set to Eddi Reader, whom she spoke of as being a great influence to her.
Performing songs from all three of her studio albums, the range of her impressive catalogue of songs was evident; from the introspective bitter sweet, to toe tapping uplifting numbers to edgy rocky numbers and techno inspired tracks.
Concluding song ‘Suddenly I See’ in particular received a rapturous response, prompting the masses to sing and dance along with abandon. Alas despite vocal pleas from the audience a jam packed weekend schedule precluded any possibility of an encore. KT’s distinctive voice and unique brand of folk inspired rock was the perfect way to wrap up the four day event.
The more intimate Scotland’s Islands’ stage proved as popular as it had on the preceding nights. A major intent in establishing this second stage was to offer a platform to up and coming talent. Rising young folk band RuRa certainly grabbed the opportunity firmly with both hands making quite the impression. Their versatile, dynamic assured performance had the audience spellbound and moving from start to end.
Orkney based duo Saltfishforty brought a vibrant and inclusive atmosphere to the
tent. Their high energy, high impact sound certainly belied the rather modestly
sized line-
In a stroke of fortune the previous night’s wet weather had departed making way for a far warmer and luckily dry evening. That said, unfortunately the midges made a return appearance following Friday’s respite. The tiny swarming flies seem to have become as an immovable part of the festival as the iconic blue tent.
Admittedly an occupational hazard of a Lewisian event, revelling amongst the trees in the beautiful Castle Grounds under the gaze of the splendid Castle building is certainly worth the wrath of the wee blighters. An estimated 4000 revellers were in attendance.
The sterling efforts of the backstage crew, volunteers, organisers and musicians ensured a memorable event for all the right reasons. An overwhelmingly positive verdict saw a number making plans for HebCeltFest 2012 before the evening had even drawn to a conclusion.