Review: Red Hot skirl has audience in a whirl
The Chillis had the crowd captivated for the whole gig


By MARTIN LENNON
Red Hot Chilli Pipers *****
Liquid Room
RED Hot by name, red hot by nature. The Chillis took over at the Liquid Room last night and they weren't going to let the crowd go until they were sweaty and exhausted from dancing, cheering and singing their socks off.
Speaking of which, they were obviously starting as they meant to go on, as frontman and piper Stuart Cassels grinned, "You know it's going to be a good gig when my sock falls down on the very first tune".
They strode dramatically on to the strains of Also Sprach Zarathustra, before lunging into Crooked Bridge, black kilts swaying to the beat of, not one, but three world-class drummers. It would be fair to say that it wouldn't matter where the pipers played – they don't seem capable of giving any less than 110 per cent, and the audience knew it.
Jumping and jigging to the fast tunes, or standing wide-eyed, clearly delighted by the slower pieces, the crowd was in the palms of the band's hands from start to finish. With one of the more varied audiences to be seen at this particular venue, the band clearly have a wide appeal, and they achieve that without dumbing down the music, or compromising either tradition. They skirled, they marched and, most importantly, they rocked.
The music was a mixture of traditional and well-known pipe tunes, together with equally famous rock numbers. Gregor James provided a solid rhythm guitar or bass for the most part, but for classics like Deep Purple's Smoke On The Water or the Status Quo anthem, Rockin' All Over The World, his amp was turned up to 11 and he rock-god posed his way around the stage, competing with the three pipers for the most-notes-per-second award.
There were plenty of opportunities for all the members of the band to show off with some crowd-pleasing antics: James and Cassels got into an unusual pipes versus guitar duel, while the three drummers pulled off an amazing drum trio, followed by solo performances, including stick juggling by twice world snare drum champion, Steven Graham.
Newest, youngest and "cutest" member, keyboard player Chris Russell, got to show off some jazz chops at one point and piper Kevin Macdonald earned himself £100 as the crowd's choice in a pipe-off event dubbed Pipe Idol by the band.
Fans of the group were well catered for, as the band rumbled through concert favourites like Highland Cathedral, featuring some of the most beautifully bent notes heard on pipes, Pig Jigs, which would have seen an almighty Strip The Willow danced, if only there were more room, and the almost inevitable 100 Pipers.
Cassels pointed out that Coldplay's Chris Martin must have been a piper, since he wrote such pipe-friendly tunes, before the group launched into an intense version of Clocks.
Closing with a blistering We Will Rock You and an encore of a set of jigs featuring a rampaging Rory McLeod, they left the crowd completely wiped out, but still wishing there was at least another hour and a half to go.

'The Red Hot Chilli Pipers have been taking America by storm this week – to quote the American audiences, they really are awesome.
It was huge fun to see the reaction of New Yorkers when the band gave an impromptu performance in the middle of Times Square today – even the local cops wanted to join in the fun – mind you, they were called Officers McPherson and McFadyen!
They all discovered that the Red Hot Chilli Pipers’ rocking performance is a musical experience like no other, and I’m delighted that the group’s undoubted talent is proving such a popular element of this year’s Scotland Week.
These guys are giving American audiences a whole new slant on Scottish popular culture – and a very positive one at that.
They have global appeal, and having also seen them get a room full of Senators and Congressmen and women on their feet, stamping and clapping along to a performance on Capitol Hill this week, I’m not at all surprised that their album has gone Platinum in double-quick time.

What can I say! Thank you so much. The Red Hot Chilli Pipers were amazing, absolutely amazing. I'm still 'We Will Rock You'ing' this morning in my head. I have never enjoyed a client event so much in my working life!! They just blew everyone away and made it a night none of us will ever forget. I suspect there will be a fair few out buying the CD this weekend, if they don't already have a copy.

Fiona MacKinnon

DESPITE Leon Jackson's non-appearance on the Waverley Stage due to tonsillitis, there were plenty other bands with the X factor performing on all three Street Party stages.

At the Scott Monument Stage, The Red Hot Chili Pipers frontman Stuart Cassells counted down the Bells before unleashing his band's raucous brand of bag-rock upon several thousand revellers. The highlight of their set: a thunderous version of Auld Lang Syne that sounded more like a heavy metal anthem than a Scots traditional.

Barry Gordon

'When the Red Hot Chilli Pipers arrived on stage, I suppose I was gob smacked. To say they played the bagpipes would be a complete understatement. These guys mastered the instruments in a way like no one before. With immense energy they rocked the place. None of your Amazing Grace - just vibrant rock.....'

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