Bella and the Bear @ Broadcast, 27 Jan
"That was a really bad performance, I’m so sorry," says Lauren Gilmour, one half of Bella and the Bear. "That’s why we don’t take requests!" The duo from Ayr have just finished playing Red Dragon, dedicated to a couple of superfans in the audience celebrating their wedding anniversary. Self-doubt is a plague; Bella and the Bear’s show tonight is mesmerising.
Haunt captivates with its melancholic harmonies, perfectly executed alongside a spoken word voicemail message of ‘Do you miss me? (...) Do you want to come back yet?’ The bluesy folk of Rain has Gilmour and Stuart Ramage exchanging communicative glances, getting their timing spot on. And a cover of Ae Fond Kiss pays timely respect to Robert Burns.
The set list is punctured with thanks from Gilmour, chat with the crowd and perhaps most interestingly, an anecdote citing a writing workshop for ex-prisoners as the inspirational origin for The Beach (their track, not the cult novel).
Given free rein by Celtic Connections, Bella and the Bear invited close friends Tom Vevers and C R P N T R to support. The crowd is full of connections too, from shuffling parents to a group of teenage girls exclaiming that ‘he was really hot the last time I saw him live.’
The acts excelled with an appreciative crowd and community feel; even as an outsider looking in, this is still one of the better ways to spend a Friday night.
Part of Celtic Connections festival 2017