On Friday we went to the National Museum for one of their Museum Lates nights, this time associated with the Celts exhibition they have on. Once in there was plenty to see and do, with various artistic endeavours on offer and a selection of Celtic themed groups wandering about and dancing. But the big draw for the crowd was the main stage where, amongst others, Scots Indie band Idlewild were to play an acoustic set.
First up on stage (or rather, in front of it, for there looked to be too many of them to cram on) were the Beltane drummers, battering out a string of beats that fired up the crowd. They were followed by the excellent folk duo Hannah Fisher and Sorren MacLean, then the headliners. But the poor sound system, and high level of background noise, made a nonsense of any idea of this being a musical event (which is why I haven't bothered to attempt a review in my Go Live blog).
Until the finale. Back on came the Beltane crowd and they have no need of sound systems. Plus they come with their own means of drowning out all but the most persistent background sounds.
I thought they'd be on for about ten minutes at most, so I started videoing. And kept going. And going. And going. You can see the result below. Seventeen minutes of joyous banging.
Sadly I only had my phone to hand so the visuals are pretty awful. But the sound is just about good enough to give you something of a feel for the excitement these guys generated. It's a cliche, I know, but there is genuinely something visceral about a performance of this nature. There's no suggestion of civilisation, just a primeval urge linked to heartbeat, a direct connection to being alive. It's hard to imagine any of the drummers suffering from much from stress because this must be one of the greatest outlets ever invented, not to mention the physical workout they must get.
Yes, you had to be there to receive the full impact of the vibrating air that launched itself at your eardrums, and it's far harder to get any sense of involvement when it's a crappy video played over speakers, but stay with it through the first few minutes and see what it does to your body.
You can see the video by clicking on this link.
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