Enter the Haggis, done entered Madison and rocked the Brink tonight. This was a fantastic show. Celt-inflected rock, folk rock, even a tinge of metal, it was all there, and it was all fun. This was the best touring band I’ve seen in years. The energy: palpable. The creativity: likewise.
My favorite song was something of an epic poem about the lead guitarist’s grampa whose farm got overrun by a pipeline co. Gramps took ’em to court….30 years later made it to the Supreme Court of Canada, and…WON! The song was almost Knopflerian in its guitar rock grandiosity and portentousness of story. There were plenty of lighter songs as well, but they kept it all well mixed so that nobody got bored. Yes, Jeff (of The Motor Primitives), there were plenty of key changes throughout the show.
The Pints opened, and they too rocked, but in a much folkier trad-Celt way.
Ed Feeney (bassist extraordinaire, formerly of that 80s thrash/punk band, The Appliances SFB; currently of The Motor Primitives, Reptile Palace Orchestra, & more) had been bugging me for years to go see these guys. He was dead on about how great their sound is. Oh, and he’s in love with their bassist: he thinks the dude is the best thing since sliced bread!
I got a kick out of the bagpipes, of course. Thankfully, the guy knew how to keep it dialed back so we didn’t get our eardrums screeched out!
The guitarist was virtuosic on that Gibson; he knew how to coax a tuneful growl out of it. But his real talent was in weaving that individual talent into the band’s sound (i.e., no prima donna here!).
Sound guy had them dialed in perfectly.
The room was full….
Everyone was there, including famous personages…
The kids….
The old hippies…
A bassist of fame, air bassing to his favorite bassist….
And the eastside party impresario, there to sample the Haggis…..
I saw Bob Queen smile during the encore. Really. I did. He smiled. Thus, expect to see ETH at any one of the following: Waterfront Fest, Orton Park Fest, Willy St. Fest, or (possibly, but unlikely) Fete de Marquette (wrong ethnicity, doncha know!).
And they rocked….
