Life has been very busy over the past few weeks but here is the
review of the Duncan and Ivan gig at Ballachulish. We arrived in the
hall at 7.10 and were told we should just move in as this was the
third time we had been there in just over a week. The organiser was a
wee bit anxious as it was fairly quiet and he was hoping people
thought it was 8pm and not 7.30 the gig started. There is a pub about
2mins away from this venue and people (including bands etc) sometimes
go in there and forget the time indeed some artists (no names
mentioned) sometimes find there way over there at the interval!!!
Anyway I was too busy talking to notice the time we had managed to
get seats in the front row despite some of them being reserved.
Noticed Ivan and Duncan standing at the back of the hall chatting to
people and soon they were introduced and walked down the hall onto
the platform that had been built in front of the stage (was at a gig
there a few weeks ago where there was a stepdancer and he had to jump
down off the platform and push it together again in the middle of his
dance)Having the platform is good as it brings the audience closer to
the performers.
Duncan said good evening and it was nice to be back in Ballachulish
then he added that they were just boys the last time they were there
and he didn't know why it had been so long Ivan said that the last
time they were there they had slept on the floor in the hall and it
was very hard so that might have had something to do with it. Duncan
then said it was the 5th night of their world tour and they would
start with the Rose of St. Magnus which Ivan had written to
commemorate the opening of a window in Orkney to which Ivan added it
was a warm day!! This was followed by the Piper and the Shrew. The
Viking Bride which Ivan said was a happy song even though it had sad
words and said that for the people who liked singing the chorus it
was tough as this song didn't have one. He also told a joke?

A dog walks into B&Q and asks if they have any jobs going,
The assistant looks at the dog and suggests it tries the pet shop,
The dog replies "What would the pet shop be wanting with a kitchen
fitter"

Lady Ramsay was next and it was really great to hear it played live.
Duncan said it was written for Para Handy's girlfriend in the t.v.
series. then Rolling home which did have a difficult chorus which
Ivan ran through then encouraged audience participation getting the
audience to sing it on their own near the end and being very nice
saying it was lovely. Then they played Leaving Stoer and a set which
I managed to recognise as one of the new sets Duncan is playing with
Wolfstone not bad considering I haven't heard the Wolfstone version
yet!! This was followed by Anada Pa Gael the lullaby written on
bagpipes and Ivan sang Red Rose which was lovely. I thought I had
heard it before and realised I had heard Red Rose on Muck---sounds
like another song. The Rizla set brought the first half to a close.
Poor Ivan and Duncan must have been really hot as the headed outside
for a walk at the interval and when they came back on for the second
hald had grass all over their boots and a cup of ribena or
blackcurrent to keep the cool!!!
The second half started with The Grey Funnel Line then a set of jigs.
Next were two of my favourites Song For Yesterday and The Gentle
Light That Wakes me. Duncan said the title was a lie as Phil
Cunningham who wrote it hadn't been to bed when he did and then
proceeded to waken everyone up to record it before he forgot it.
There was another fast set. For those of you who have the Long
December Nights d.v.d. you might remember the bit where Ivan says
Duncan can play the fast tunes faster if he wants to go somewhere
after the gig well it was a bit like that with Duncan starting to
play the fast sets before the applause from the previous tune had
died down and it wasn't even near closing time!!! and then the lovely
I Will Be There. Ivan said that they had had two requests but only
one of then was physically possible!! The audience were very slow and
he had to repeat it. He then played the other one whcih was the
lovely El Catallo Blanco. Then into Clueless which was the start of
the last set. They went off stage and were soon back on with Duncan
saying they had nowhere to go anyway and played Bonnie at Morn and
another fast set. It really was a fantastic night of music with a
very appreciative audience letting the last notes die away before
clapping . The non verbal communication between Duncan and Ivan is
great to watch with the nods and smiles seeming to mean play that
over again or time to move on to the next tune or to stop and the
enjoyment shown by the pair and the appreciaton of each other is
great.