Ranking amongst the best Scotland has to offer in folk-rock, The Picts come to the Fringe with a concert show that moves and excites in equal measure. The performance was made up of music from both of The Picts’ first two albums, lead singer Douglas McQueen Hunter’s solo album and covers of some classic Scottish folk songs.
As a largely instrumental group, The Picts gel extremely well together and their playing has the polish that only comes from gig experience and confidence. They have the gift that all good bands have to stir the emotion in their audience. Their jigs are sprightly and make listeners want to get up and dance, whilst their ballads, in the classical sense, are wistful and transport the audience back to the time and place of their setting. They use a wide variety of classic folk instruments with the majority of their songs strongly led by drums and imperious accordion-playing that that gives the music an unmistakably powerful and stirring feel.
Mixed in amongst The Picts’ classic pieces were songs from McQueen Hunter’s solo title. These, whilst definitively different from the overall band’s sound, stand up capably on their own. They have more of a folk-rock feel than straight-up folk and contain the vocals of McQueen that drip with melancholy. He also applies this emotive voice to the classic Scottish folk songs that the band covers. A song that fit particularly well was the Robbie Burns song ‘Ye banks and Breas’ that was quite simply stunning.
This is a folk lover’s delight as The Picts showcase not only their own extensive skill and experience but also manage to bring the beauty of Scotland to the stage, not something easily done.
