Tidelines, with support from Riley at The Ironworks, Inverness
Tidelines final gig for 2019 was at Ironworks to a huge and appreciative Highland crowd. They came to inverness full of the festive spirit and determined to love every second of this end of year finale.
Firstly though, was support act for the night, Glasgow based Riley an acoustic driven three piece.
Fronted by 19 year old singer song writer Niamh Dobie, her light beautiful voice was a joy to listen to. Their music was calm but that nearly ran away from them during their version of The Proclaimers ‘I’m gonna be-500 miles’. The crowd of around 600 were ready for a party. Niamh managed to keep the song and crowd under control and delivered a superb acoustic version of a song.
Riley have been supporting various bands and artists throughout the year (Tamzene, Keir Gibson and of course Tidelines) as well as playing Belladrum, Doune The Rabbit Hole and Skye Live festival in their own right. Riley are well worth checking out.
By the time Tidelines came on stage the Ironworks was full to bursting with a crowd that was there to party, and party they did!
Tidelines
With anthemic songs such as ‘The Young and the Restless’ and ‘Fortunes of the Fearless’ whipping a very eager crowd in to a party frenzy very quickly. It was clear very early to see how well this gig was going to go.
I last saw Tidelines a few years back (again at Ironworks) and was wondering if the Celtic-Rock baton from the likes of Runrig and Capercaillie had eventually been passed over to this new younger breed of Celtic/Rock musicians? At that time I thought “not yet”, however last night changed my mind. Of all the bands currently around looking to take the Celtic-Rock crown, I now think the baton has been passed over to Tidelines
What makes Tidelines stand out from the other crown chasers for me is their ability to balance out the Rock and the traditional more equally. In the past these type of bands have sat too strongly for my taste on the traditional side of the fence, Tidelines however have the balance just about spot on. Drummer Gus Munro is more than just a time keeper, he drives the rock side of the music superbly. However, the sound of Ross Wilson on keyboards and Alness based Ali Turner bring an E Street band sound that really brings the rock side more to the front. This creates a much better balance to their sound. Singer and guitar player Robert Robertson really is the perfect front man for Tidelines, his voice is sounds unique and his ability to hold the crowd’s attention is superb.
All in all a superb night had by all and a fitting finale at Ironworks for an extraordinary year for Tidelines. I’m very much looking forward to hearing how they progress through 2020. They have a busy May and June coming up starting at Strathpeffer Pavilion on May 8th and finishing at Kelvingrove bandstand in Glasgow on June 19th.
More pictures of the night can be found here.
