We look at The Screaming Mojos, Calum MacKenzie Jones and more, at The Eight Acres Hotel, Elgin.
I headed to Elgin and The Eight Acres Hotel for the day. I was rather impressed with the room and the set up for the day. The event is in aid of several charities, all close the organisers hearts: Raising funds for Friends of Chernobyl’s Children Moray Group, Logan’s Fund, RAF Benevolent Fund, WAVE Radio and Bootstock.
The day’s music kicked off with Just The Two of Us, 2 young fiddle players who warmed the room and improved as the set went on with tuning and confidence. Gordon James and The Power were up next, my first time seeing them and I was very pleasantly surprised. Great chilled vibe with with the vocal, cajon and bass along with some rowdier numbers. I was particularly impressed with the cajon player.
Next, Sam Caine brought the full package- the talent, the songs and the stage presence with humorous anecdotes between songs, particularly for someone of his young age. Fraser and Rowan rocked the room. Aged 10 and 13 years old, the youngsters on rhythm guitar/vocals and lead guitar joined by a bass player (their guitar teacher) and Calum Jones on drums gave us some rocking covers and the loudest band of the day. Foo Fighters, Franz Ferdinand and Feeder, A full set of bangers, with good feel and every word correct (as much as I know anyway). I think I’ve just witnessed the next generation of Highland rockers in full swing. YES. To my delight because the event was ahead of schedule, the boys were asked to play the whole set again, and they were happy to oblige.
After the sausage and bacon rolls onto FASFA, another first, and I understand they’re in the early days of their band life. A set of fun covers with fiddle and guitars, apt for an afternoon like this. Next up Briony and Erica impressed the crowd with some very competent traditional music on fiddle and piano.
Calum MacKenzie Jones then gave us a full set of his songs, after having already played with Footerin’ Aboot, Fraser and Rowan and hosting the event. I’m a big fan of Calum’s work (check out his tunes here) and have worked extensively with him over the last few years. I might be bias, but I think you should check out his work. After the token raffle, The Screaming Mojos finished the days event with great style with a collection of blues classics and the crowd up on their feet.
It’s worth giving a shout out to Calum Jones and his mum Lorraine who put the whole event together and busied about like bees all day making sure that all the musicians and guests were happy. All of the bands took the time to thank them, and it was clear that Lorraine and Calum are highly respected in the Moray music scene.
Check out our last visit to Elgin to see Edgar Road;
