It's a historical fact that St. Andrew's Day is second only to St. Patrick's Day in terms of saints' days renowned for alcohol consumption and good music. I don't know why St. David doesn't get a similar remembrance, but right now that's not an issue. St. Andrew's day 2007 saw Ian Davison and Cruachan come to Greenock and ordered us to embrace our cultural heritage, through some damn fine music.
Cruachan got the liquor flowing with a good humoured set of traditional Scottish songs. Proving that the Scots are among the most influential people in the world, a growling version of Matt McGinn's "Get Up, Get Out" was to be followed by the Burns song, "Dainty Davie". Although reluctant to perform anything but traditional Scottish folk songs, Cruachan brought plenty of colour to the songs, with mandolin, mandola, harmonica and bohdran all featuring during the set. "Fisher's Hornpipe" was sounded as much like the Dubliners as is clinically possible for a Scottish band to do. The audience reaction was indication enough that this band put on a fine show. Sure, they don't play their own material, but when you can make the songs of others sound as good as they do, who's to moan?
Received by as many people as likely he has years to his name, Ian Davison approached the stage. Twenty seconds into "Muttonheid Wearies" and the entire crowd are damn near drowning out Davison with their laughing. To be fair, it was his fault. Ian Davison has a knack for writing songs that, at times, are too clever for their own good. "Hogmanay Party" followed, and again, more through simplicity than anything else, Davison had the crowd in stitches in the form of a scarcely-chorded folk gem. "The Dentist" was a tongue-in-cheek song that everybody could relate to. Even those who never knew his name before "Swally for the Bears" (thankfully, not an ode to Glasgow Rangers) were singing along like age-old groupies, such was the appeal of Davison's musical and lyrical dexterity.
Matters only got worse when Davison spoke of a "London Orgy", but the lyrics were of such subtlety that you could be singing the song to your own grandchild without them being any the wiser. In the most simple of ways, Davison's music struck a bond with his audience. A key factor in this rapport was the importance of the Scots brogue that Davison has given added life to. "Room for us all in the Dance" wound up an expertly-executed set that had the crowd clutching for their inhalers.
Davison's apology for "imposing two songs on us" was largely laughed at. Returning with "My Joy of You", we were almost fooled into thinking Davison had written a fully serious song. In all its minimalist allure, it was nonetheless delivered in a humourous and eloquent manner. Davison bade farewell with "Politeness", a track that owed as much to Rio as to Glasgow. The terrific applause was no less than what was deserved. Davison is a seasoned performer and low-key Scottish folk bard.
The evening was brought to a close with a fiercely patriotic set from Cruachan. Roping in songs of the Jacobites, Burns, Runrig, and a host of others, Cruachan made sure that everybody left with their sense of national identity intact.