A review of The Winter Tradition, Ketimine Deco and Shutter at Hootananny, Inverness on the 16th of June, 2013.
Following on from the first half of the evening , Edinburgh based The Winter Tradition took to the stage. Although positioned between two columns of speakers their set was opened beautifully with the gentle ‘Florence’ and followed by the title track from their album ‘Gradients.’ This sees the band changing between softer moments to a heavier middle section. Lead singer, Ewan Simpson’s vocals were delightful during the softer moments drawing the crowds attention to the lyrics. ‘Departures’ and ‘Firelight’ were then unleashed, both songs which really command attention as they fall firmly into the alternative rock category. Full review of their gig can be found here.
The fifth band of the night, and the first of the acts which had specially reformed for this night, were Ketimine Deco who came onto the stage to the sound of “Minnie the Moocher” before an already packed Mad Hatters. Although I am too young to remember them in their heyday, it was obvious from the start why Ketimine Deco had been given this opportunity to celebrate this anniversary. They had a strong start with their song, “Berlin”, and continuing with other tracks from their history, with lead vocals being shared between Jason Martin on bass, and Ross McEwen on guitar, backed up by Ruaridh Duncan and Russell Montgomery on guitar and drums respectively. This was the loudest that I’ve heard Mad Hatters and with the shouts of “You’ve still got it” from members of the crowd it was clear that they had put on a good show, not just to a newbie, but to those reminiscing previous performances.
Shutter, the final band of the night, are an instrumental rock band, who captured the attention of Inverness in a way never seen before or since, for a band of their type. I mean, just how many bands get to soundtrack the Bonfire Night fireworks display? Having been on hiatus since 2011, Shutter returned to play a 40 (ish) minute set of material from their 2010 album “Pillars”. With most following along to the bass-lines, from James Roberts and drums from brother Will, we were left to simply enjoy the melodic and powerful guitars provided by Matt Campbell and Pete Macdonald, familiar faces now with The Little Mill of Happiness. This is a band for real music fans, and for veterans of the venue they were a great way to end this birthday party and weekend celebration of Hootananny. Here’s to the next ten years!
See more of pictures from Hoots 10th year celebrations.
