By Alexis Rudderham
I arrived a little early on the night of the 17th, so I decided to walk around and take a look at the transformation that had taken place in the cafeteria. The tables had been moved, a stage and lights were put up and a huge dance floor was there for those with jelly feet. . . or so we thought.
The Bumblebees, a Celtic band from Ireland, opened the show. This all female band showed great personality as their Irish music took over the room. A bunch of tourists from Ontario were up dancing having the time of their lives when asked to sit down (not by the band). “The people in the back can’t see.” So they sat down and listened as the Bumblebees set was interrupted three times by fire alarms ringing throughout the campus. The band chose to ignore the sound and led us right into the next set of performers.
The words Ciamar A Tha Thu rang through the room as Slainte Mhath broke into their first song. Every song after, the youth sitting in the front got more and more fidgety until they could take it no longer. Up on two feet and dancing was the popular response to this hyper energetic band from North Sydney. Surprised and happy that the crowd was not just there to see Ashley, I too joined in on the wonderful tradition of step dancing. At this point a lot of people were leaving saying that they could not see over the dancers.
The only rebuttal I have to offer to the fuming men and women who stormed out that evening is to have read the poster better. “CELTIC STOMP”.
As it was becoming more and more obvious that there was a problem with the layout of the concert, a guy with a big, burly beard walked out on the stage, sat his stuffed tiger down and began to play the keyboard. Not long after, the whole band joined Ashley on stage as he performed his second show of the Celtic Colours Festival. The audience was filled with many younger children, four of whom walked away with bows. Ashley’s well-known music kept us entertained as this portion of the festival came to an end.
Thig crìoch ant’s agoghal, ach mairidh ceòlagos gaol. An end will come to the world but music and love will endure.
