Talisk, Traverse

One number into the set and we had Mohsen Amini telling us that Glaswegians Talisk are not a band to be quietly listened to, sat passively receiving.  They wanted the audience to join in, clap along, whoop and get up and jig about a bit.  Fortunately they have the music, and in Amini the personality, for that to feel like the natural response.

This tour marks the launch of their second full album (there's an EP as well), now with new guitarist Graeme Armstrong joining Hayley Keenan on fiddle and the bubbling, animated Amini on concertina.  Still young, they already have an impressive array of awards and are building up a strong back catalogue of tunes.  Very much traditional musicians, but with a modern approach to composition and arrangements.  There's plenty sensitivity in their playing on the slower numbers, but it's the energy and pace of the fast stuff that raises the excitement levels and gets the crowd obeying the aforementioned instructions.  The first three sets are enough to get the audience stomping, clapping, crying out and having a bloody good time.

Armstrong is the steady beat of the group.  He may lack the imaginative rhythmic complexity you'll find from the likes of Kris Drever or Jen Butterworth, but his playing solidly underpins the fireworks of the other two, and he has his moments of taking the melodic lead.  Keenan is a big talent and a great visual counterfoil to Amini.  No matter how fast her fingers are leaping across the strings she always looks calm, unruffled, a beatific smile looking back at her audience.  While beside her the concertina player is a passionate bundle of life, a controlled frenzy that leaves him and us breathless.

They play a mix of their own tunes and other modern stuff, with little traditional material, and material from the new album is evidence that their musical thinking has moved on and a wider range of influences are pushing the arrangements into new territory, with plenty of moments of the unexpected.  Criticisms?  Hard to find.  In the high notes of some slower pieces the fiddle and concertina had moments of discordant screeching, but that's about it.

Amini has developed into a natural frontman, with a fund of daft stories and a clear desire to build a relationship with his listeners.  The audience had a singing role on new tune Farewell and he showed hi ability to get everyone on side when teaching us the 'words'  (it was all aaahs!).  And he got his wish, with everyone on their feet for the encore.  Like he said, this isn't music to listen to quietly, and talisk like to share their passion.