The Pearlfishers arrive on stage tonight to Noel Harrison’s omnipotent version of ‘The Windmills of Your Mind’. David Scott, chief songwriter and leader of The Pearlfishers, announces it as, “a proper song”, before battering into the first of many “proper songs” that we’re treated to this evening. The stage is lit for The Pearlfishers return to Celtic Connections, some eight years since they previously performed at the festival and it’s great to have them back. Accompanied by a 10-piece band including a brass section and a delightful string quartet, David Scott leads them through a blissful set of tender, and sometimes sad, but always optimistic and hopeful songs from his impressive catalogue. “Tonight we’re just going to have a romp”, he says with genuine glee that people are actually here to see his band play. Gems like ‘Flora Belle’ and ‘Todd is God’ sound more expansive than on record with layers of strings and brass elevating each to new heights of fist-in-the-air emotion.
‘Everyday I Read Your Stars’ provides us with all the evidence we need to arrest Mr. Scott for his Beatles infatuation, not only musically do his songs often pay tribute to the Fab Four but his moves with a guitar in tow do also, he just can’t stop shaking his head while he hits those high notes! However we’ll forgive him because the song itself could easily have been written by a Beatle with its jangly chords and cookie lyrics. There are many highlights throughout the set, and Scott provides us with many an anecdote to accompany them, like how he felt, “slightly perverted” at entertaining the notion that his wife might run a post office, documented in ‘Send Me a Letter’, or when introducing the title track of latest offering, ‘Up with the Larks’ asking the audience whether they bought it or not, there’s a middling cheer and Scott turns to the band and says, “that’s another five!”.
The most beautiful moment tonight comes with ‘Blanket of Ribbons’, from The Pearlfishers 1993 debut album, ‘Za Za’s Garden’. Unfamiliar with this song before this evening, it’s a credit to the quality of the song-writing that this arrangement is so striking; you can’t help but get swept up in the soaring strings in the middle section, the band themselves seem to be really enjoying it also.
Cheese ridden ‘Let ‘em in’ McCartney cover aside, The Pearlfishers gallop through a joyous set, ‘We’ll Get By’ is a personal favourite and is received by ripples of whoops and cheers and the wonderful, ‘Stella Painted Joy’ closes the set with gusto. Returning to the stage to perform a majestic version of ‘My Dad the Weatherfan’, the crowd are in genuine awe and the band seem humbled beyond belief, hopefully it won’t be another eight years until they return next time.