It’s that time of year again, when we play the Celtic Connection game.
Your task is to figure out what each performer’s link is with the heritage of Scotland and beyond. Previously, acts such as They Might Be Giants, Emmylou Harris and Carlos Núñez have stumped us and even themselves by pitching up in Glasgow in January and, to be fair, diversified and added to the lineup of what might otherwise be a folk and trad-heavy event.
On the opening weekend though, Edinburgh (check) act waverley. offer many options for purists, patriots and pedants alike. Named either after a Walter Scott novel, a station, or an iconic paddle steamer (ticks all round), the quintet seem a good fit, their back catalogue showing a good talent for strident, nay, anthemic rock alongside considered songwriting.
And while not being phased by their four-guitar setup being interrupted by bass problems, co-vocalist Donnie Campbell struggles to fill the technical hiatus, stating “we’re not as good as this as Katie”. That’s support Katie Mackie, whose breezy set was punctuated by her self-confessedly “talking too much”. The Aberdonian singer-songwriter’s presumably more acoustic stylings were bolstered by a full band, giving her songs an almost Fleetwood Mac-esque fullness.
That contrasted with a sparser and more, by her own admission, “melancholy” track, ‘Heavy’, before the non-heiress to the ice cream empire closed with a “silly cover” of country standard ‘Plastic Jesus’, which would indeed have made her dad proud.
Technical gremlins expunged, waverley. (spellcheck-bothering lowercase case and full stop both band’s own) continue, contrasting the likes of monster rock tune ‘How It Starts’ with the delicate ‘Corner’, about its songwriter Ewan Malloch’s bonding with his much younger sister.
The band are self-effacing throughout, and yes, the between-song patter is not as polished as their musicianship – “It’s better to start the song in tune than finish in tune” laughs Campbell, but had anyone noticed aside from the band? Tracks from last year’s mini-album ‘It Makes An Emptiness Of A Crowded Place’ build and fall, speed up and slow down, as the band plough a rich seam of pop-folk and post-rock. Malloch takes on the majority of lead vocals, his powerful delivery occasionally recalling Paul Buchanan, while Campbell echoes both Roddy Frame in the quieter passages while there’s a hint of peak James ‘Glasvegas’ Alan in his more impassioned moments.
And, a treat for those aforementioned traditionalists in a Gaelic-language song, ‘Cadel’ (hopefully) – as the band suggest, since it’s Celtic Connections, their pronunciation (and my spelling) had better be correct. And there’s more – a “Celtic surprise” in Holli Scott, who joins the band to add soaring fiddle which, happily, doesn’t really temper the head of steam that the show has worked up, with new track ‘Nettle’ complete with thunderous drumming boding very well for the future.
The final few numbers in an exhilarating set are something of a rush, ‘Not Hoping’ contrasting with breakup song ‘Sleepwalked’ which offers a brief pause for breath before the massive, Biffy-sized ‘Rest And Be Thankful’, Leo Bacica’s effect-heavy guitar sound in particular standing out, as if the Devil himself had got Martin Hannett in to produce.
Actually, given that it’s Mogwai album release week, with their Satanically-themed ‘The Bad Fire’ out on Friday, if that’s not enough of a Celtic connection for you then I don’t know what could be. Certainly waverley. are worthy bill-toppers for any festival, anywhere.
Also chief newshound at Jockrock
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