A traditional music festival in Skye, and at a distillery too – what a heavenly combination!
Store No. 2 at Talisker Distillery in Carbost, Isle of Skye, was transformed into a 400-seat venue and rang to the sound on the best of traditional music last Friday and Saturday, as the annual Celtic Chaos festival, run by An Drochaid - the Skye and Lochalsh Music Project – took place. The weekend was a huge success with both nights seeing packed houses and high quality artists on the stage, with a great combination of local and national talent.
A warm Friday night saw the festival kick-off with a showcase of some of finest talent from the Skye & Lochalsh area. Hector Henderson and Andrew MacPherson kicked off the festival with a blazing set on pipes, whistles and drums setting the standard of quality which was maintained for the rest of the night and indeed the whole weekend. Kirsteen Graham acted as Bean an Taighe but is also part of ‘The Graham family’ from Breakish. They lived up to the proclamation on the festival poster “Individually they are great, together they are brilliant!” – and they really were superb. With beautiful arrangements of songs and tunes, they gave a stunning performance, joined by young fiddler Fiona MacAskill from Breakish who, at the tender age of 15, has to be one of the finest fiddle-players of her generation. Còisir Ghàidhlig an t-Sratha (Strath Gaelic Choir) followed and were given a rapturous applause at the end of their performance. The atmosphere in the hall was fabulous, and although Friday night was primarily a showcase of Skye & Lochalsh talent, a very special guest in the form of Ishbel MacAskill, the Gaelic singer from the Island of Lewis took top billing. As she sang, you could have heard a pin drop, with the audience spellbound by her outstanding voice.
A dance followed later in the evening to ‘Harris Tweed Brogues’ which included Hector Henderson and Andrew MacPherson who also appeared in the concert. Although they are usually a concert band, they adapted easily to dancing, and the floor was full of dancers until the wee small hours when it was time to close the doors of the store until Saturday night.
Saturday’s weather was not quite so kind, but the audience, like the rain, flooded into the store in their hundreds to witness a spectacular night of music and song. A warm welcome greeted them, as well as a wee dram of Talisker, and a cosy store due to the heating kindly supplied by local hardware retailer Jans in Portree. Fear an Tighe for the evening was Duncan Ferguson, Headmaster of Plockton High School and Chair of Bòrd na Gàidhlig, who ensured that the concert ran smoothly with his bilingual banter and humorous stories.
From the first minute of the concert, it was obvious that both audience and artists were there to have a great time. Kicking off were ‘Inflatable Haggis’, an up and coming Skye band whose skills belied their young age. They were followed by Dr Angus MacDonald, Iain MacDonald, Rona Lightfoot and Allan Henderson who collaborated for this event giving a spectacular performance including a few sets where they all played pipes. Closing the concert was Gaelic ‘supergroup’ Cliar and they certainly lived up to that title, providing the audience with stunning array of tunes and songs. With the rain dancing on the roof of the store, coupled with a rapturous applause and screams for encores from the audience, Celtic Chaos drew to a perfect close for 2004. Looking forward to 2005 already …. and better weather!
