A fantastically frenetic exhibition of talent
It’s always a good sign when you leave a show searching for the act’s next performance and telling your friends they need this group in their lives. Saturday’s show with Blue Giant Orkestar, the Scottish Balkan-celtic fusion octet, produced this exact effect. The programme description of them being “fuelled by Balkan horos, Serbian brass festivals, Turkish pop songs, Bulgarian accordion fireworks and even a spot of Scottish ceilidh” only tells half the story.
For 90 minutes, the audience in George Square’s Piccolo venue were dropped into a frenetic setlist, taking inspiration from amateur Hungarian castle building, all the way through to an infamous Berlin currywurst. The eight piece band, formed back in 2019 in various Leith kitchens, comprised a Russian concert accordion (a bayan, as I learned), violin, saxaphone, trumpet, trombone, percussion, drums and tuba. Pausing for only the briefest of introductions and well placed anecdotes, we were whirled from song to song at breakneck speed.
Complex layering of instruments could have gone so badly wrong in less-skilled hands, but the infectious rhythms were beautifully complementary throughout. This included two tunes in 13/8 time signature, just to add to the difficulty levels. The duelling instruments of Luisa Brown’s incredible violin skills and Chris Lyon’s Bayan often setting the scene for the other musicians to come in and elevate the tracks with their performances.
Clearly a group that love playing together (I don’t think the grin ever shifted from the face of drummer Alex Palmer), the set list was sympathetically constructed to allow all eight members a solo and to showcase their considerable talents. The furious pace maintained high throughout, with even their slower tracks played with a bewildering level of stamina and enthusiasm easily lasting the full 90 minutes.
Picking a favourite from the setlist would have been too hard, but special mentions for “Giants (Gonna Get You)”, the only song with lyrics (those lyrics being those four words); the tribute to sadly missed Studio 24, titled “Attic of the Gods”; along with “Tangotarodivar” the Hungarian castle ode. The increasingly thunderous applause from the audience, mostly new to Blue Giant Orkestar, grew to epic proportions as we finished with “YLT Polka”, as the breathless conclusion.
Slightly giddy, and with hands sore from clapping, I asked the couple sitting next to me for their review as we were leaving – at least a 4.75, I was told and I absolutely agree. A must-see.
Looking to catch them live? Blue Giant Orkestar are next playing on Friday 26th July at Moonwake’s Lunarpalooza at Leith Shore. Their album “Constellate” is available now on Bandcamp