Spring weather reminds The Gathering crowd it's a festival first!
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Every year The Gathering comes around a like a little spring ritual of its own – it's possibly the first time in the season that anyone looks out what their own personal festival gear consists of – plastic jacket,weird hat, maybe colourful jumper you can shove in your bag.
And you are going to use it all – as The Gathering seems to hover its date on top of some weird equinox of its own when all weathers are invited.
We certainly got them on Saturday.
From the moment you walked into the Northern Meeting Park just before the grey skies turned to sunshine to the fabulously stirring sound of the City Of Inverness Youth Pipe Band in front of the main stage.
It was a gentler sound from Hannah Rarity and friends including Dingwall's Innes White and fiddle-player Lauren McColl to open the main stage, fast-forwarding us into the evening with the retro feel of the song Neath The Gloamin' Star at E'En.
Then it was fast-forwarding into the present, the song Home beautifully expressing the longing for a home of your own (young people are left struggling for such a simple joy these days). But no less a challenge is also reflected in the wistful lines on matters of the heart that echo back alongside Lauren McColl's fiddle line, to end the song: "I want a place to lay my bed with someone sleeping in my bed."
There was a different mood at the other end of the field in the Tomatin Whisky tent where poet Ceitidh Campbell was looking at wider political issues, reading out her poems in Gaelic and English in a feisty, confident performance. She started sharing her first poem revealing it had been written in Inverness on the Number 3 bus where she had kept her true feelings to herself – "as always I did nothing, staring, straight and polite, swearing silently at the ceiling!"
A defence, in Snowflakes, written for the generation often labelled with the term, from her book What Winter Wants, came next. There was a wry comment on Gaelic names in My Name Is ... "I know my name, spelling it the way I choose." Then Ceitidh delved back into her own family history to write about her minister uncle who welcomed gay couples in Blessings In The Day – "They said it's a sin – the only sin is ignorance..." As well as performing her poems, Ceitidh sang a rousing version of the call to arms to support Gaelic, Canan nan Gaidheal – later Tide Lines' Robbie Robertson would offer the main stage crowd his own heart-stopping version.
The poems were a first for the festival and a great way to start off the second stage, Gaelic primary pupils crowded round listening.
The mix of bands that are weaved in from the heritage of traditional music at The Gathering is like a who's who of the genre, and this year Shooglenifty reminded those old enough as well as those new to the experience of ground-breaking, stand-out tracks such as Venus In Tweeds, good to see the quirky spirit of the band seems to have survived the devastating experience of losing their charismatic late frontman Angus Grant not so long ago.
Talisk were newcomers to the line-up – always great to have new names welcomed into the fold. And Beinn Lee, slightly earlier in the day on the main stage, with their Uist connection and fistful of talents – brought a new energy to the stage. One of the most moving tracks was their version of Runrig's The Story – ’I'm still dreaming of the Hebrides/ The story of the life inside of me...". In the sensitive vocal performance from James Stewart, it was pure gold.
The rainstorm hit when local favourites Ho-Ro hit the stage – I say rainstorm, but try deluge – the only defence was dancing yourself into a frenzy as your clothes soaked through and you got stuck-in, 'helping out' in a singalong/ dancealong from the crowd as Calum Macphail sang his ringing version of Dougie Maclean's Caledonia.
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers may not be to everyone's taste, some who know their music find the spectacle a little cabaret for their liking.
And there's no denying, there's a Brigadoon element to the carefully coordinated outfits, tanned and step-perfect dancers, and super-Highland sound, as they mix genres from rock to soul into their set. For me, you can stick bagpipes into the mix if you like, but it's their singer I'd happily listen to all day every day with his incredible soul voice, particularly tackling a Stevie Wonder classic.
To get the perfect headliner, The Gathering have some secret formula that they have magically evolved from day one – and this year it was lovely to have Tide Lines back and headlining, sharing new songs from latest album An Ocean Of Islands alongside their biggest hits.
It's hard to pick out a favourite when the set begins with These Days and raises its game all the way to the two-song encore. Nice to have a little cover on the way from Tears For Fears, old classics such as Walking On The Waves, and a reminder that as well as an unbeatable voice – Canan nan Gaidhaeal sounds plaintive and heartbreaking in Robbie Robertson's version – he has a sense of occasion and can effortlessly lead to the end of a special night: "You have been singing brilliantly tonight so we'll finish it off with you and we will start with every hand in the air!"
Who's going to argue?
