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Wednesday 14 February 2018

Celtic Connections Review - Siobhan Wilson

Photos © Rhiannon Law
I'm on a roll now. The second Celtic Connections concert this year was Siobhan Wilson at the lovely Macintosh church near Partick Thistle's ground in the north west of Glasgow. I decided to forego the beer as Portaloos in February are not an enticing proposition
Support was provided by an acoustic set from Jamie Sutherland who is a member of  the band Broken Records. Some pleasant singer song writer stuff.
Then Siobhan came on with her guitarist Matt and a string quartet as as she would have it a Demi Octet.

Showing no nerves, despite the large (and impeccably well behaved crowd) she flitted from guitar to piano playing her album There Are No Saints (on Song by Toad records) in it's entirety and it order.
It was absolutely mesmerizing. What a voice she has whether singing in English or French. The only track which didn't really work  for me was the"experimental"  instrumental Dystopian Bach.
In the comments section on my previous post JC commented that he tends to avoid the Mackintosh church given its acoustics. I'm happy to report that from our position there was absolutely no issues. Both her voice and the music were crystal clear and you could here a pin drop.
When introducing her band she mentioned that she was at school with the guitarist Matt who mentioned that they were bullied for being different.I take a degree of pleasure in them living the dream and touring the world while the bully's remain in their little local bubble.
She then moved onto some older numbers and to a couple of encores including a version of Richard Thompson's Beeswing

She advised that she was entering the studio the next day to start the recording of her next album. I've already pledged  for my copy via Kickstarter and suggest you do to as she is a true talent.

Siobhan Wilson - Dear God

4 comments:

  1. That is a great album which would have probably made my top ten albums last year if I had bought it earlier.

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  2. I'm tipping it to win the next Scottish Album of the Year. Delighted the gig was so stunning.

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  3. Wow, what a voice! Disappointed it isn't a cover of the XTC song but, damn, she sounds lovely. Another new album to track down.

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  4. Sorry, but a couple of listens doesn't do it for me but I'll have another go in a day or two. I'm commenting here really only to respond to the mention of Richard Thompson's Beeswing. I just love the delicacy of his song and could listen to it all day.

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