Catrin Finch & Aoife Ni Bhriain - 15 February 2024

A welcome second opportunity to hear this spectacular duo after their gig last year at Acapela prior to recording their album. Catrin does lots of collaborative work and this is an outstanding combo. Aoife is an Irish fiddle player who has a compelling style - with a sort of screechy element like the sound you'd expect in a remote shebeen. She is very very good and the two of them weave patterns of rhythm and melody that you get lost in. They started both halves with a little bit of Bach which melded into their own compositions all of which started with a 'W'. 'Woven' near the end was outstanding incorporating some Irish influences and Welsh ones but actually it was all outstanding. I remember 'Wings', 'Whispers', 'Waggle', 'Wandering', 'Waves' and 'Wish' - all simply outstanding. Luckily we have tickets for a July gig back at the Acapela. I feel privileged.