Tradfest review: Lankum, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
Lankum, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh ****
Some distracting badinage betwixt band and audience apart, they received an ecstatic reception. One or two items fell flat – a song about church abuses in Ireland proved a dolorous dirge that failed to project, while an instrumental Donegal version of The White Cockade either worked up a hypnotic, drone-heavy groove or simply seemed interminable, depending on your point of view.
Truly memorable, however, were the stirring tramp of Peat Bog Soldiers, an anthem that emerged from Nazi work camps, the powerful reproach of Cold Old Fire, an ebullient rendition of the First World War song, Salonica, and a ribald, tongue-twister of The Irish Jubilee. Peat excelled in What Will We Do? her voice as seasoned and world-and-weather-weary as an old Traveller’s.
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Hide AdA brief but impressive opening set from Brìghde Chaimbeul on small pipes ranged between the swirl and chirrup of the Bulgarian piping that fascinates her, to her native Gaelic repertoire and an unhurried musicality which brought a singing freshness to an old chestnut like Highland Laddie. - Jim Gilchrist