Shooglenifty Rock the Tent

Review of Shooglenifty, Spiegeltent, Saturday 23 August 2008. Did you know that Spiegel means mirror in German? It's like being surrounded by a glitterball. Well sort of. For matching performers and venues, this gig couldn’t have done much better. Both shone and gave you something to fall in love with....

photo from http://flickr.com/photos/chrisnicolson/2218709034/sizes/s/

Sorry, was planning a very jumping-about evening so didn't take the camera - here's the band playing at Celtic Connections instead...

From a rumba that hails from the highlands – to a Macedonian death song, you couldn’t argue that their repertoire wasn’t well travelled. The Spiegeltent, a Belgian native, navigates between the 4 corners of the globe when not in Edinburgh. So chances are it feels pretty at home with the Belgian beer on sale in the Spiegelgarden.

How you could mix hard core dance music with traditional Scottish music is difficult to explain if you’ve never seen Shooglenifty in action. But it’s pretty infectious, judging by the vigorous and enthusiastic dancing that spread through the crowd. Fans and the frankly curious ranged from young to grandparent age rocking out.

Wooden flooring, a tiny stage and mirrored small booths on the outer circumference make the tent friendly but theatrical. Shooglenifty revelled in the lively response from the crowd, telling us that for health and safety reasons it was necessary to stand closer to the stage.

It’s easy to imagine the venue playing to its strengths for performances like Clique, a burlesque show. Or Marlene Dietrich singing ‘falling in love again’ as she did in the 1930s in this very Spiegeltent, the last surviving one of its kind.

If you like the sound of this gig, give these a listen:

• Shooglenifty
• The Chair
• Salsa Celtica
• Peatbog Faeries
• Karine Polwart

• 25 Aug 2008
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