celtic
connections
listings °
Information
Celtic Connections runs until Sun 31 Jan.
Unless otherwise stated. all concerts are at venues within the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. 2 Sauchiehall Street. Other events take place at The Piping Centre. McPhater Street. Cowcaddens; Alaska, Bath Street; Riverside Club. Clyde Street; and Old Fruitmarltet. Albion Street.
There are record and merchandise stalls and live radio broadcasts from the GRCH. See the Celtic Connections official programme for a full list of talks, workshops and masterclasses, community events. and the Comedy Club.
The Festival Club. with guest appearances by most of the Festival performers. runs from 1 lpm—3am at the Quality Central Hotel. Gordon Street. This year the capacity has been increased, with two stages plus the usual bars. On Mon. Tue. Wed. tickets are free: Thu, Sun. £1.501Fri. Sat. £2.50; Sun 31. £5.
Tickets and information
I Infom‘tation line 141 353 4137.
I Tickets from the GRCH Box Otiice. I Credit card booking and tickets also available from the Ticket Centre. Candleriggs. 141 287 5511.
I Special access information on the Accessibility Hot-line 141 353 4137.
I Danny Kyle's Open Stage lixhibition Ilall. 5pm. Frcc. With (iibb Todd.
I Donal Lunny Band .‘vlain miditorium. 7.30pm. £12.50. £10.50. Support from Bachuc. Thc Quincy Joncs of Irish Music. primc mover in l’lamty. thc Bothy Band and Moving llcarts. here with his top-drawcr ncw band. and guest singcrs. Scc prcvicw. Support from accomplished lidinburgh-bascd folk/tia/zcrs ('orrina Ilcwat. harp and vocals. and Davc Milligan. piano. Dropping the '(‘afc’ from their namc. Bachuc‘s new album is imminent.
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ARLO GUTHRIE: Arlo Guthrie is James Taylor’s replacement this year in the American 70's icon singer/songwriter slot. Son of the more famous Woody (Dylan's early hero and now the subject of Billy Bragg’s last album) his boho credentials are impeccable, and if his celebrated ‘Alice's Restaurant’ certainly caught the tenor of those times, he remains a fine, alert musician and performer who's still, so to speak, on the road. (NC) Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Main Auditorium, Wed 27.
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22 THE “ST 21 Jan 1.1 Feb 1999
I Kepa Junkera and Bumblebees Sunday Times Suite. 8pm. £10. From the Basque country. one of Europe‘s tnost adventurous button accordion players with his eclectic band. Sec Mon 18. Stinging support froin four thoughtful. highly accomplished and wacky women musicians from Ireland. on fiddle. harp. accordion and (Sharon Shannon's sister) mandolin.
I Fred Morrison and Ross Martin Piping Centre. 8pm. £6 (£4). Tradition Bcarcr: Hamish l-Icndcrson. Fiery Scots piping/guitar duo with support frotn the veteran songwriter. collector and academic.
I Shane McGowan and Great Big Sea ()ld Fruitmarkct. 9pm. £15. The brash. pugglcd Poguc with his latest line up. and Newfoundland's chccrful. glossy pubfolk band.
I Festival Club Quality Central Ilotcl. 1 1pm. £1.50.
FRIDAY 22
I Danny Kyle’s Open Stage iixhibition Hall. 5pm. Frcc. With Gibb Todd.
I Sharon Shannon Band Main Auditorium. 7.30pm. £10.50. £8.50. The cclcbratcd young (ialway accordion star with her own band. and support from two of the most tastefully musical accordion playcrs in the world - lingland‘s Karen Twccd accompanied by guitar virtuoso lan Carr. and Finland‘s Maria Kalanicmi and her classical/folk fusion outlit .’\ldarga/. ()nc of the best connections of thc fcstival.
I Celtic Connections Ceilidh Dance Rivcrsidc Club. Spin. £6. l.ast Tram Tac Auchcnshooglc.
I John Wright Band Sunday Times Suitc. Spin. £10. liasy-listcning harmony song and liddlc in thc folkin' country \cin. Acoustic folk/pop support from htisband-and-wifc duo Phil (‘ampbcll and Toni .‘vlaclarlanc.
I Jimmy Crowley Piping ('cntrc. 8pm. £6 (£4). 'l‘radition Bcarcr: Irish singer Rosic Stewart. ('rowlcy is onc of Ireland's (he’s from Cork) grcat pcrl'ormcrs. 'l'raditional songs. sclf pcnncd squibs. storics. lies and humour. plus guitar. bouzouki and moothic accom )animcnt. Very good value.
I Mic ael McGoldrick and Friends ()ld Fruitmarkct. 10pm. £10. lix-Flook. now with ('apcrcaillic and I.unasa. .\lc(ioldrick is a storming performer on thc flutc. uillcan (traditional) pipes and whistle. vcry much in thc lrish stylc. Here he lcads a big band of buddies. including a rock rhythm scction and trumpct. plus l)Jsl In support. (iaclic/Iinglish vocalist Alyth .\lc(’ormack brings sonic friends to hpr showcase songs from her imminent first album.
I Festival Club Quality Central Ilotcl. 1 1pm.
SATURDAY 23
I Bumblebees Sunday Times Suitc. 1pm. £6. A bit at last year‘s CC and at thc ()rkncy Folk Festival. they sing. play harp. liddlcs. banjo. mandolin and accordion. bttt thcsc four buzzing young women based in the west of Ireland don’t sccm to need slccp. Support froin Kick. the latest fusion of young Irish/Scots talent from Iidinburgh's dynamic music
I Ivor Cutler Main Auditorium. 2pm. £7.50. Strange musings at the harmonium from one of Scotlanth grcat ccccntric pcrformcrs. poet of the bizarre and lucidly quirky scptuagcnarian underground cult. A lcgcnd at lunchtime. I Danny Kyle's Open Stage lishibition Hall. 5pm. Free. With (iibb Todd.
I Celtic Connections Ceilidh Dance Rivcrsidc Club. 8pm. £6. l.ast Tram Tac .»\uchcnshooglc.
I Catriona MacDonald And Friends Sunday Times Suitc. 8pm. £10. Thc youthful Shetland littdlcr‘s pals includc liddIcr-in-rcsidcncc to the Festival Alasdair Frascr. guitarist Tony h‘chanus. Shooglcnifty skinstnan Jamcs Mackintosh and comrade bassman
SHARON SHANNON: The say the accordion is the Devil’s instrument of choice. Well, there's a he 1 of a concert coming up when three of the world's greatest box players — all women - get together with their bands on the Celtic Connections sta e. Ireland’s favourite squeeze, Sharon
Shannon, takes the honours,
ut listen to the sensitive musicianship of
Karen Tweed, and especially the wide-open mind of Finland's virtuoso
Maria Kalaniemi. (NC)
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Main Auditorium, Fri 22.
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Conrad lvitsky. Davc .‘vlilligan on piano and Norway‘s Annbjorg Licn on lidtllcs. I Tradition Bearers Piping ('cntrc. Spin. £6 (£4). Irish traditional song from all corners of the island. performed by Len (iraham. Padraigin Ni l7allachain. Rosic Stewart and Jimmy Crowlcy. a guarantee of breadth. dcpth. quality and no lack of hilarity.
I Salsa Celtica and Boogalusa ()ld Fruilmarkct. 9pm. £1 1.50. Warm yoursclf tip in thc cold Fruittnarkct to the hot sounds of the Carribcan and bagpipes now that Iidinburgh's monstrous (‘uban music outlit are getting more ('cltica and incorporating Frascr Fylicld's (Old Blind Dogs) reeds. 'I‘cmpcraturc remains hiin
w hcn Zydeco/Cajun niccts the Blues Brothers in the bold and brassy Boogalusa. I Festival Club Quality Central Hotel. 1 1pm.
I New Voices Sunday Times Suitc. 1pm. £6. (‘auld Blast ()rclicstra. An award-winning intlclinablc amalgamation of music from cvcry idiom. Strong composition. wild improvisation and. with dozens of instruments played by the eight musicians. a unique sound. This is the first performance in central Scotland of Stories and thc Sca‘. commissioned for last year’s Highland Festival
I Irish/Scots Gaelic Concert Piping ('cntrc. -pm. £6 (£4). Padraigin Ni liallachain. lshbcl .\'1ac:\skill and Roisin dc Faoitc. Three wonderful singers perform cvcrything from scan-nos to mouth music.
I Danny Kyle's Open Stage lixhibition Hall. 5pm. Frcc. With (iibb Todd.
I Liam O’Flynn Main .»\uditorium. 7.30pm. £12.50. £10.50. With thc (‘hicftains‘ lidtllcr Scan Keane and little playcr .‘vlatt Molloy. and singer lilcanor Shanlcy. lrcland's leading traditional (uillcan) pipcr with two of his strongest musical associates. gcniuscs in their own right. lix-Dc Dannan singcr Shanlcy is a great pcrformcr. cspccially of her traditional songs.
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I Celtic Connections Ceilidh Dance Riverside Club. 8pm. £6. Last Tram Tae Auchcnshooglc.
I Songhunter Sunday Times Suite. 8pm. £7. Not Jim Hunter’s original project — now on a Cireentrax album — but vocalist Horse MacDonald‘s new search for new songs. here reduced from hundreds to fourteen arranged for a core rock line-up with additional instruments as needed.
I Bachue Piping Centre. 8pm. £6 (£4). Dropping the 'Cafe' from their title. singer/harpist Corrina chat and pianist Dave Milligan. with bass and percussion. perform songs and instrumentals from theirjust-rclcascd second album. Imaginative. impressively played jazz- inllcctcd instrumentals and traditional songs stretched through a soul/blues filter. Support from authentic traditional singer Danny Coupcr.
I Tam White's Celtic Blues Connection and Ruby Turner ()ld Fruitmarket. 9pm. £1 1. A ten piece band explodes behind old gravel pit himself — Scotland's world class blues and soul man here keeping company with the latest chart-topping US blues talent.
I Festival Club Quality Central Hotel. 1 1pm.
MONDAY 25
I Danny Kyle's Open Stage Exhibition Hall. 5 )in. Free. Willi Ciibb Todd. .
I Dub iners and Ronnie Drew Main Auditorium. 7.30pm. £13.50. £1 1.50. Special guest Dolores Keane. Like the Batik ()f Ireland. a symbol and an institution. the Dublincrs defined Irish music for decades. Urban. literate. bawdy. raucous. instruincntally challenged and gloriously vocal. they're here with original member Ronnic Drew. Cclcbratcd vocalist Dolores Kcanc is from one of Ireland‘s great traditional singing families. though she often performs popular. country-tinged. cvcn bland material.
I Macalmans and Elspeth Cowie Sunday Times Suite. 8pm. £10. Beefy harmony and a humour salad from the Big Macs. masters of the good night out.