Outer Hebrides to the centre of London?

The first of my “lucky dips” of the Somerset House Summer series was Stonoway – the audience waiting for them varied from the very young to middle aged, and was a good indicator of the middle of the road performance they would give. The warm summer evening had a mellow expectant audience awaiting the musicians. Starting slowly – apparently a little overwhelmed by the venue it took time for the quartet to engage the audience. Adding the North Sea Radio Orchestra to the sound was an interesting experiment to add texture and breadth to their sound – but the introduction simply disrupted the little momentum the band had managed to build. They did succeed in building to a crescendo with their with Long Distance Lullaby and Zorbing.   I’d suggest that the open air grandeur didn’t do their sound any favours and they’ll restrict themselves to smaller indoor venues like the one in Eastleigh they referred to playing the previous night – a Georgian courtyard being one step towards the big time for the time being… An enjoyable random way to spend a summer evening in the centre of London – but not quite up to the high level previously attained by performers on this stage…

From Stornoway 2011