Support came from duo Peerie Faeries (Alice Dillon and Elliot Parrott), purveyors of olden ballads, with murder and the supernatural featuring heavily. Dillon accompanied their singing on a shruti box (Indian harmonium), her guitar playing being restricted by a recent hand injury. They have pleasant enough voices, singing together, but with little by way of harmonies to add interest. They did try to make their introductions interesting. A decent support act, but thirty minutes felt like long enough.
Whereas I couldn't ever tire of Mairearad Green and Anna Massie. The MC provided a hyperbolic introduction prompting Anna to announce "Better no be shite after that". There was never any danger of such a thing occurring Ms Massie!
Mostly guitar and accordion, with a bit of fiddle from Anna and the rousing sound of the highland bagpipes in Mairearad's hands. Massie does most of the intros, and there are few better, her natural dry wit almost a match for her musicianship. Slow tunes, fast tunes, Massie's accompaniment is fascinating, constantly changing adding depth and counterpoint and imagination as well as rhythm. She sings too, not the greatest of voices but she chooses her songs wisely to match her range.
Green sings a song too, her voice weaker but not without charm. But her playing is sublime, and the pipes provide a stirring end to the evening. This pair have been playing together for so long now their seamlessness is near telepathic. Long may they continue to play together and provide one of the very best live acts on Scotland's folk scene.
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