"Celdonian Brewary - Ceilidh Review"
I've only seen The Cutting Edge once before at the Caledonian Brewery, when I believe they stood in for a cancellation. I'd heard good things about them from ceilidh junkie Mark Baker and was not disappointed when I first heard them. So I was looking forward very much to dancing to The Cutting Edge again at the Brewery. Were they as good as I remembered? Read the review to find out! More...The Cutting Edge are another of the modern rock ceilidh bands. I love this modern ceilidh musical form, as I've said many times. However, it's unfortunate that the majority of the rock ceilidh bands seem not to come from a traditional dance band background. They appear to focus more on their music and its presentation, and less on the important issues of tempo and speed consistency. This means that although their music may sound great and be cool to listen to, it's not always the best to dance to. There's a difference between a concert band and a dance band. Most of the ceilidh rock bands I've encountered haven't managed to bridge this gap.
But The Cutting Edge is the exception to this rule.
Here is a band that sounds fantastic but also plays for the dancers. Almost every dance was played at a very good tempo for dancing. The band is very up-beat with electric guitars and a full drum section. This helped create a superb atmosphere and it was clear that everyone, including the critical Caley Brewery regulars, were really enjoying themselves. The band also threw in a couple of songs. However, unlike the Picts, The Cutting Edge sing those songs to called dances. So it's certainly not a case of everyone sitting and listening to a performance.
I was particularly taken by the beautiful rendition of Wild Mountain Thyme which was truly lovely to waltz to. Indeed, I loved the band so much that I bought their CD :-)
And it's a very surprising CD, too. There's a mix of Scottish and slightly country sounding tracks. I have to admit that I was surprised to hear a singer with a strong American accent. I didn't know we had any transatlantic cousins in the band :-) The CD - titled "Freefall" - is excellent. It's remarkably well produced for what are at first appearance is a live ceilidh band. But they have other musical talents that you don't hear at a ceilidh. This is one very professional album.
Back to the ceilidh, I'm pleased to report that the band started right on time and had a reasonable break. They obviously arrived at the venue early enough to make ready their quite complex set-up in time for the dancing to start at 8pm. Full marks there. So the ceilidh was great and the CD is great. Any room for improvement? Well I suggest that the waltz tempo could do with speeding up a little. One of the waltzes in particular (but only one) was played at Modern Waltz speed and I was amused to watch ceilidh dancers (including some of the regulars) trying desperately to do a Scottish Waltz in slow motion! :-)
As a closing point, there has been much grumbling in the ranks from the ceilidh dance regulars about late starts and long breaks recently, as reported on my website. I'm pleased to report that I have seen several emails sent from regular dancers to the Brewery management complimenting The Cutting Edge, both on their performance and their timekeeping.
So overall I rate this band very highly indeed. If they could just speed up their waltz a little, they'd be about as good as you can get in a rock ceilidh band.
Mike Scott (www.mikescommunity.com)
