Natalie Merchant - Celtic Connections

The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, the grandest of Celtic Connections venues was the setting for 10,000 Maniacs singer Natalie Merchant.

A low key appearance saw Natalie Merchant perform with a backing of 2 acoustic guitarists and a cellist. Things started ok, but I got the impression it would take a few songs for her and the band to warm up and get into things. This didn’t happen.

The 2 guitarists failed to boost the sound enough, and it seemed to me they were unsure of the songs, as a number of obvious mistakes were made, and at a few points Natalie stopped the song in order to whisper what I assume were the words to one of her band.

This stopping of songs became more and more an irritation. She did it frequently. Stopping to speed things up, stopping to burst out laughing and stopping to ask the audience what the words were to her own songs were.

Now, every performer makes mistakes and forgets the words occasionally however it was the manner in which these mistake were attempted to be correct which ruined the show. This constant stopping prevented any mood from being created with her obvious talent and superb singing. The band also seemed hesitant in their playing so never really got into it.

She even admitted before a few songs that the songs were unrehearsed and she hoped they would get through it. I hoped they did too, but they didn’t.

When Irish group Lunasa appeared to play backing for a couple of poem songs to be released on her new album the sound was instantly lifted. Fine musicians that they are - Lunasa new the songs, even if Natalie didn’t.

By the end of the show I began to cringe, none more so when Natalie got a member of the audience to come up and sing with her, whilst the girl in the crowd did an excellent impromptu job, I was really hoping to hear Natalie perform a full song on her own without interruption!! Aaarrgh. Especially after paying £20 for a ticket.

Maybe next time don’t make the mistakes so obvious, it is hard not to notice mistakes when they are highlighted in such a way, or maybe nextime rehersals would avoid this completely and we can hear the superb songs that Natalie Merchant has to offer.

Texas Songwriters Night - Celtic Connections

 I managed to scoop up the very last ticket just over a week ago for this night, and I am glad I got it.

They are used to doing things big in Texas but it's a rare opportunity to have an evening with big hitting lyrical songwriters in Glasgow - Tom Russell, Kimmie Rhodes, Slaid Cleaves & Sam Baker

The format for the evening meant they all took it in turn to share their stories and songs with a captivated audience.

Tom Russell kicked things off with his strong stage presence and style which would draw obvious comparisons with Johnny Cash.He featured a few new songs, one being 'Roll The Credits' written for the rolling of the credits in a movie.  Next in the running order, Kimmie Rhodes who had Beth Neilson Chapman join her for a few songs, a highlight of which was the Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris hit ‘Love and Happiness’ ( which Kimmie Rhodes co wrote with Emmylou).

This was my first opportunity to see Slaid Cleaves play live – I’ve been a fan of his for sometime and by the sounds of the crowd he had a few more in the audience. He performed a fantastic quirky song called 'Horses & divorces', and finished off with belting out ‘One Good Year’ on his old Gibson guitar.

Sam baker is a frequent visitor to Glasgow and I always like his humour and his stories. He has previously mentioned the story of how he was caught in a bomb blast on a train in South America years ago which he was lucky to survive but resulted in him sustaining severe injuries to his hands. It was only last night that I realised he was a right handed guitarist who had to re learn the guitar left handed because of this, which shows his utter dedication and passion for music. His vocal delivery is very unique and make his lyrics all the more poignant.

The night was topped of by an encore of Townes Van Zandt songs – another great Texas songwriter.

A thoroughly enjoyable night, and a spellbound audience listened to every lyric sang.

A possible regular format for future Celtic Connections shows? I hope so.