Another Celtic Connections gig, this was probably Broken Chanter biggest headline venue to date (excepting festivals etc) – BM had forgotten just what a beautiful venue this former church in Hyndland is. Mercifully with the banks of seating removed, it was a great space, although not exactly full, but thoughtfully with a big metal barrier in case this weekday West End audience was considering rushing the stage, can’t be too careful etc…
Kim Grant aka Raveloe gave us a great opening set including some new material (“new songs and new, new songs”), mainly on acoustic guitar but also one on a wee keyboard. Jason joined her to provide backing vocals on her debut album track ‘A Chair Is Nowhere’ before she closed with the newish ‘Rockface’. As usual the overall feeling of the songs was haunting, mysterious semi-folk with tinges of Americana – the vocals low at times but so expressive… Let’s hope Raveloe does plenty more of this in 2025, that was a good start!
Broken Chanter then came on, around 8.30 or so, and played for well over an hour, the longest set (18 songs) that BM has witnessed from them, but then they now have well over three album’s worth of material to choose between… The line up tonight was David (guitar/lead vocals), Charlotte (bass/backing vocals), Bart (guitar) and relative newcomer Martin (drums, and formerly of BM faves, the departed Pronto Mama).
An opening salvo of current album title track ‘Don’t You Think That Something Needs To Be Done?’ and ‘Knock My Pan In’ set the tone for the evening – angry and a bit browbeaten, despite the relatively genteel surroundings (!).
This was only the second time BM had heard some of these new(ish) album songs live and what really stood out was the guitar playing, David chopping huge Gang of Four meets Afrobeat riffs and runs while Bart laid down a rattling backdrop. Supercharged bass and a riotous clattering racket from the drums also helped make these into the muscular protest songs BM thinks that David intended them to be.
This was emphasised when ‘Cheering In The Distance’ (from album # 2) mutated into a vicious take on Ewan McColl’s ‘The Moving On Song’, a rant against anti-traveller discrimination included on the latest BC EP. We got plenty else as well, including a superb 100 miles an hour version of ‘Wholesale’ and some more subtle moments like ‘Don’t Move To Denmark’ (David and Charlotte duetting).
The ongoing fortunes of Celtic FC provided a slight distraction for Martin while David’s Kid Canaveral back catalogue was revisited only once (‘Low Winter Sun’). The set climaxed with a rousing take on ‘Allow Yourself’, complete with a scorching guitar solo from David, before the main set finished with ‘So Much For The End of History (I’m Still Here)’.
After a brief pause they came back on for an encore of Woody Guthrie’s ‘All You Fascists’ – there was no doubting the intent behind that choice! This is a band at the height of their live powers playing heartfelt songs, whether it was really a Celtic Connection or not!
Photos by Andrew McKenna
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