Gig review: Nordic Tone

Published on Monday 25 January 2010 18:03

NORDIC TONE ***** ROYAL CONCERT HALL, GLASGOW

RESTORING some credibility for fiddle-playing Scandinavians everywhere in the wake of that grinning Norwegian chump winning Eurovision last year, 50-legged international folk collective Nordic Tone delivered a sparkling set in what has to be one of the hidden gems at this year's Celtic Connections.

Comprising 25 easy-on-the-eye young musicians from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Shetland – wielding everything from violins and cello to guitars, accordions, upright bass, autoharp and percussion – the group was brought together through an education project at the 2009 Shetland Folk Festival, under the tutelage of leading professionals from each country.

They played their first show at that festival, and have evidently gone from strength to strength since. This was as much a showcase of fresh and sophisticated playing as it was a fun lesson in the regional nuances of trans-Nordic folk.

From Sweden we got a hilariously misty-eyed old ballad about ladies with dying hearts pining for men on mountaintops. From Denmark there was a swaying schnapps song.

From Finland came some severe-sounding polkas, and one romping a capella number sung by the full group in stirring unison.

Shetland was represented in the form of a breakneck reel, performed "the traditional Shetland way" as one member explained – by "giving it laldy".

The arrangements felt contemporary but wholly respectful of the individual tunes' roots.

Best of all, no-one looked like they enjoyed this show more than Nordic Tone themselves – this was the happiest of performances, from an ensemble who have every reason to be smiling.