Capercaille 30/11/13

I have seen Capercaille a lot over the years and they never disappoint. This was the 30 year anniversary tour and those decades of commitment with a relatively stable line-up show in a seamless and tight as a very-tight-thing sound. The tours are becoming more rootsy and most of the songs with vocals were in Gaelic but that doesn't detract as the emotion shines through channelled by Karen Matheson's exquisite voice. The penultimate song of the evening was a tale about a fisherman's wife lamenting her husband's behaviour and it had an amazing effect on me given that I didn't understand a word. As with the last tour the songs with vocals and the tunes get about equal air time and rightly so because the breadth and depth of musicianship is extraordinary. Michael McGoldrick is peerless on 'pipes and whistles' (including flute). Charlie McKerron is a classic fiddle player, solid and passionate in equal measure. Donald Shaw plays a beautiful accordian and a mean keyboards. Manus Lunny is subtle and interesting on guitar and bouzouki. The rhythym section fits perfectly and the whole is sweet as a nut. Apart from the song I mentioned there a couple of 'walking songs' that impressed plus anything that featured Michael or Charlie and in fact the whole gig which was a pretty flawless performance from start to finish. Roll on the next tour.