We went to the Open Stage night of the Celtic Connections tonight. They are held every night of the festival and after tonight we may attend all the rest! The performers at the Open Stage are all competing for guaranteed slots in next year's festival, so they are spectacular. You have to apply to even be considered to play. Each night has five acts and the six best out of all the nights go on to the final night of the festival and to next year's festival. You can actually listen to the open stage (from noon - 2pm Michigan time) and parts of this year's festival and previous years as well. Here is the link to listen.
This was the first singer of the night. He had written his own songs and is from Aberdeen. He was very clear and his ballads were lovely. Sadly, we do not know any of the performers' names at the moment as the Celtic Connections website takes down everything that has already happened. If I figure it out, I will let you all know.
This was a great band from the Isle of Mull. The guitar player/vocalist and the drum player were both young boys and the guy playing the double bass/vocalist was the guitar player's dad. They were wonderfully upbeat and we can see them going on and being wonderfully famous one day.
This couple (I think) were from Perth and were a HUGE change from the upbeat band previous. Mike and I were talking later about the hippies that never realised the earlier 60's were gone (seriously.. the hair... the clothes.. the music... it was sad.) We felt like we should have been in some dark and broody coffee house, all dressed in black, with berets on (black of course), Mike with a little goatee, me with short dyed hair, smoking cigarettes and snapping our fingers at the end of every set. All while drinking espresso of course. Needless to say, it wasn't our favorite. Nor anyone else's judging by the talking during the music, the frequent smoke breaks, and the wandering gazes.
These girls were from Edinburgh and were a wonderful bluegrass duo. I am sure that you can tell, they both played the banjo and sang some very nice ballads. At the end they did a great bluegrass rendition of Elvis' That's All Right Mama. It has surprised me how many bluegrass bands are playing in the Celtic Connections festival. But they are all about the roots of music, and bluegrass is part of the roots of music. There are quite a few bluegrass bands from the states playing this year that are supposed to be spectacular, but we decided not to see them as its easier to hear that live in the US than Celtic music is.
This was an amazing five person band, none of who could not have been over 18 years old. The two girls on the end played the fiddle, the girl on the very end also sang. The boy in the center played the guitar, flute, and sang. The boy in the black played the drum thing (Mike says it was called a bodron) and sang. The boy on the end played the flute, piccolo, and some other wind instrument. They were GREAT and hopefully we will see them at the final show of the festival. I have a video of them playing, but have no idea how to upload videos onto blogger (and am not willing to pay to do it.)
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