Gig review: Guidewires / Anarkali

Published on Sunday 24 January 2010 22:22

STRATHCLYDE SUITE, ROYAL CONCERT HALL, GLASGOW ****

YOU have to wonder about a band who decide to release a live album as their debut offering. Case in point: Ireland's Guidewires. So polished and measured is their live performance, you only have to close your eyes and you'd swear you were listening to them on the latest hi-tech stereo.

This hairy bunch from the Emerald Isle aren't exactly a visual treat, either (no offence, boys), hence the emphasis here is on sound rather than jumping around like, say, those loonies, The Treacherous Orchestra for example. But that's not to say Karol Lynch (bouzouki), Tola Custy (fiddle), Padraig Rynne (concertina), Paul McSherry (guitar) and Breton flautist Sylvain Barou don't indulge in a bit of craic, either – they do.

With tunes given such quirky titles as Everyone Fancies Helen Mirren and The Recession Jig, this superb quintet might not take themselves too seriously, however, their music most certainly is. From Ireland to the Middle East with a whistle stop towards Breton, Guidewires sound like a modern day Bothy Band. Musical error, you suspect, might be treated harshly backstage afterward; however, rarely, if ever, did a note slip or slide anywhere than its designated target. Top stuff in other words.

Support act, Anarkali, meanwhile, set the evening's Irish-themed tone with a solid, unflashy instrumental showing. The Glasgow-based band (named after a southside Indian restaurant) may have received the loudest cheers of the night, however, it wouldn't kill them to at least pretend they were enjoying themselves once in a while.