Diwan, a 9 piece Afro/Tijuana/rock band kicked off the evening with a very funky up-tempo number. Comprising of guitars, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, keyboard, bongo and drums they set the tone for later dancing although at this point it was mainly the trumpet player who danced the most. In a fairly short slot, they gave us some reggae sounds and Afro/funk before closing with a protest song for freedom and justice.

Rod Clements, a founder band member of Lindisfarne and later collaborator with Rab Noakes’s Varaflames (desperately looking for the Celtic connection) was second on stage, just a few weeks after a tour of the Highlands. There seems to be some empathy among travelling musicians with people who work away from home or are travelling people. Rod’s first song Working my way back home conveys that feeling whilst displaying his unique finger-picking/slide Dobro guitar style.

His short spell included two songs from his first solo album Stamping Ground, one entitled “Hattie McDaniel at the Oscars– about the first black woman to win an Oscar and her shameful treatment, and Whisky Highway which started slow but developed into a fairly stomping number. He followed that up with Old blue goose (a sign on a house of ill repute in Louisiana) which was a tribute to an old blues man Oscar Woods, details of whom Rod had discovered via the internet . Returning to his solo album, he then performed the title track Stamping ground, but it was probably his old Fog on the Tyne Lindisfarne numbers Train in E major (originally in G major, but none of us is getting any younger) and his final song, Meet me on the corner which were extremely well received.

Juan Martín © Nick White

Juan Martin was introduced as one of the world’s best exponents of the flamenco guitar and picked to play at Picasso’s birthday. He too questioned the Celtic connection but thought that many Galician tunes had been taken to Andalusia by sailors and were converted to flamenco. Nevertheless, the quality of musicianship shone out as he ranged from flamenco, rumba, to a very complex Moorish piece evoking the Alhambra and back to a rumba again. The audience who were obviously more geared up for the following bands really had warmed to Juan and as the announcer tried to call the next act, Juan came back on and dedicated his encore to “the beautiful people of Edinburgh” for their support. He truly seemed surprised and pleased at how well received he was.

Wolfstone

After another long interval, the patience of the younger Fringe dancing set was rewarded with the appearance of the Highland Celtic-rock band Wolfstone fresh from their American tour. They hit the venue like a tornado with their high-energy brand of Celtic rock and in an instant; the area in front of the stage was mobbed with a mass of jigging, weaving and clapping fans. The woolly hatted Duncan bowed his electric fiddle with great dexterity, but didn’t he get hot? The adoring legions of dancers certainly raised the temperature and even those seated showed signs of perspiration. He was ably supported by Stevie Saint’s superb piping and tin whistle and were driven onwards with Stuart’s continually changing guitars and relative new boys, Ross on bass and Alyn on drums. It is difficult to dissect a Wolfstone set. As Stuart explained to us, the Americans tried analysing their songs and came up with interpretations which were never intended, but songs like Black Dog and Crowfeathers (originally on Seven but probably better live on Not enough shouting) were written to be enjoyed – and they were, as the audience roared out their approval and encouragement. This was what their fans had come for. This was what Wolfstone do best. A great time was had by all and the future of Celtic rock is safe in their more than capable hands. Don’t forget your dancing shoes when you next see them!

Donnie Munro

Pausing for breathe, and we needed it, the stage was rearranged for the last act of the Celtic Roots Festival. In a venue more suited to their volume of sound than last year and to an almost capacity crowd, the legendary Donnie Munroe strode imposingly into view. He was greeted by an equally impressive wall of sound as about half of the hall threw themselves forward to the small dance area at the foot of the stage. If one could lay any criticism, the band appeared a little nervous at first and the songs were interspersed with sometimes over elaborate explanations.

But having said that, Donnie’s voice was impeccable and the band warmed to drive the adoring fans to even greater adulation. There were new songs like Winds of our time which narrates a journey of discovery only to find that the answer was back where you started and Fields of the young which was written about a special place where you feel “connected.” Donnie chose his words carefully and it would be interesting to explore his philosophy on this. There were also old songs like the sing-along Harvest Moon and Always the winner (a tribute to the talents of Calum and Rory Macdonald, co-writers of the legendary Runrig). Sadly there was only one Gaelic song (and introduction), Chi Mi’n Geamhradh but it was ecstatically received. Chas Stewart (the lead guitarist) did a very good song from his own repertoire and sounding as good as anything Clapton has done recently.

Even the Scottish World Cup Rugby song Down Under was let loose and gave everyone’s vocal chords an airing. But in the end, there was an extremely poignant moment when Duncan and his electric fiddle from Wolfstone was invited onto the stage to share the encore of We’ll go back by the roses. The crowd were delirious but was this the moment when the king passed on the baton of Celtic roots music to a younger generation? Whether I read too much into it or not, it was a nice touch and well appreciated.

© Julian Davis 24/08/2004. Published on www.edinburghguide.com See also www.arpconcerts.co.uk/sunday.htm

(C) 8 out of 50