Blazin' Fiddles at The Dukes, Lancaster

I imagine I won't be the first reviewer to describe how Blazin' Fiddles set alight a venue, which is exactly what they did at the Dukes Theatre in Lancaster last night. It is all too easy to use such expressions and describe their performance as illuminating a dull foggy evening but that is because they are a very entertaining and talented bunch of musicians.

Since releasing their latest album, Six, last year there has been a significant line-up change. Gone are fiddlers Allan Henderson and Iain MacFarlane and in have come Rua MacMillan and Kristan Harvey to join founder member Bruce MacGregor and Jenna Reid. The four fiddlers are backed by Angus Lyon on piano with Anna Massie on guitar and occasional fiddle. Both Rua and Kristan have won the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year in recent years so there was no doubting the calibre of these new recruits.

Not having seen the Blazers, as I believe they are known, before I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I am a bit wary of bands with more than a couple of fiddlers as it brings back memories from childhood of watching a fiddle orchestra which I found to be rather overwhelming, and not in a good way. But I needn't have worried. They started their set with all six members on stage but we were soon to discover that their concerts are as much a showcase for the individual musicians as it is for the band as a whole. So the first half featured solo spots by the two new members, with Bruce and Jenna showing off their talents after the break.

Needless to say there were a number of selections from the new album, the highlights for me being 'The Diplodocus' and 'Bulgarian'. But it was not just fireworks on the fingerboards. Anna regaled us with stories from earlier on this, their short spring tour telling us how the title of another number from Six, 'The Shoemaker', is her favourite word when spoken in a Geordie accent and how she was far from happy after losing money in an arcade at Llandudno earlier that day. Bruce also gave us a long but interesting introduction to his solo piece and Rua wasn't shy at joining in with the onstage banter.

One bit of unforeseen drama occurred at the start of one of the pieces in the second half. A string broke on Anna's guitar and I for one was impressed with the speed in which she replaced it and carried on playing. As someone who takes a good five minutes to change a string I was amazed to watch her grab what looked like a set of new strings, select the right one and get it fitted and in tune in what seemed like a matter of seconds. If I'd had a stopwatch I'm sure she would have been a contender for the Guinness Book of Records.

Following the band, as I do, on Twitter I can see that they are a happy crew with one of them tweeting photos of a game of Buckaroo before their sound-check at The Dukes. And they certainly looked like they were enjoying themselves on stage. I'm sure I wasn't the only one of the near-capacity Lancaster crowd who went home with a smile on their face and a spring in their step.

Colin Bertram

13/03/2014