I’m not sure which was the most unusual sight at last week’s Mollag Ghennal concert, but over a choice between a flying shark and a back line of disco dancing Mollag singers, it was possibly the dancers.
This year’s concert, which took place on Thursday, December 28 at the Peel Masonic Hall, was great mix of excellent musicianship and superb entertainment from both promising and tried-and-tested performers from the island and elsewhere.
First up was ‘Scran’, a seven piece trad group who have emerged from the ‘Bree’ trad workshops.
Their average age is only around 15, but they are blessed with talent, which they displayed with a range of sets and Manx folk tunes. The standout moment for them was a cheerful version of ‘Fairytale Of New York’, sung by Aerin Roberts and Callum Rowe.
Caarjyn Cooidjagh performed next, with a short set of melodic, close harmony singing, and
there was a fine performance from two of the most promising trad musicians on the island, namely Isla Callister-Wafer, who performed a wonderful set of tunes, together with Daniel Quayle on keyboards.
After Isla, there was something of a hastily-formed multi-national supergroup, comprising of David Kilgallon, Jamie Smith and Malcolm Stitt. They also gave the crowd a selection of Manx tunes, and went down a storm. It was a shame that the set was quite short, as the crowd were really starting to warm to them, but to hear three talents like that essentially having a quick jam together was a real delight.
Matt Kelly also played a set of his solo numbers, with his own composition ‘The Shark Song’ being especially well-received.
The evening ended with two madly different acts. ‘Clash Vooar’ (Big Groove) featured a line up of Dave McLean, Danny Kneale and Anglin Buttimore playing straight groove-laden bass, drums and keyboards, with Robert Cain, Breesha Maddrell and Aalin Clague putting some laid-back ambient folk-inspired tunes over the top. The result was very easy-going and equally compelling.
And then came the Manx Pop Project, as presented by the Mollags themselves. Alongside some classic songs, such as ‘Sellafield’, they played pop hits such as ‘Rum and Coca Cola’ (by the Andrews Sisters), ‘Reach Out’ (Four Tops) and ‘That’s the way’ (KC and the Sunshine Band), all transcribed and sung in gaelic. This was all done, complete with singers Julie Matthews and Hilary Gale wowing everyone with their slick, almost rehearsed dance routines.
The night ended with dancing, the Mollags singing ‘Happy’, by Pharrell Williams, and Matt Kelly giving another performance of ‘The Shark Song’ while, from nowhere, a remote controlled helium shark appeared and bobbed around the heads of the audience.