Concert Reviews

Battlefield Band
Swallow Hill Music Association, Denver, CO
November 20, 1999

Ah, it was a combination in the brewing. For nearly three decades Scotland's Battlefield Band has been doing battle as one of Celtic music's most electrifying live bands. Denver's Swallow Hill Music Association recently celebrated two decades as one of the best music schools and concert venues in the country. They're known for their appreciative audiences. The stage was set when Battlefield Band practically swallowed the Hill with one spectacular show.
While founding member Alan Reid calmly played keyboards, John McCusker graced whistles, cittern, accordion, and fiddle. Mike Katz, looking like a mad scientist, replete with a "ZZ Top" beard, played brilliant, rousing pipes that never drowned out the softest parts. Additionally, Katz handled a versatile assortment of flutes and whistles. Guitarist Davy Steele proved to be a sensitive, stirring vocalist on songs about an obsolete breed of work horses, "Last Trip Home," as well as "Norland Wind" (with lyrics by Scottish poet Violet Jacob).
McCusker's "Leaving Friday Harbor" was one of the evening's highlights, a captivating composition spotlighting his fiddling genius, while the melody washed over and over like the waves that were part of the inspiration.
If there was a tender, poignant moment, it usually didn't last long. Time and time again, the band whipped the audience into a delirious frenzy, something that became more insatiable with each additional whipping.
And the humor, ah yass, they wouldn't be Scotsmen without it. There were jokes unsuitable for print (but worthy of repeating) and the obligatory digs at Englishmen. They comically rocked the house on one of the 60s' worst pop songs, "Proud Mary," and even dedicated a reel to Minnesota governor Jessie Ventura, whom Steele jokingly referred to as "an obscure American politician who's aspiring to be something or other."
As the evening began to wind down, the group attempted to end with a set of tunes that started out fast, only to get faster. Several encores and standing ovations later, they graciously invited the evening's opener, the Boulder trio Siucra, to play a few tunes, including the classic "Wild Mountain Thyme." When things finally returned to normal, the Battlefield Band left the lasting impression of what it was like to smell the air as a Scotsman, even if you've never crossed your legs in a kilt.
— Dan Willging (Denver, CO)