Date: 24th February 2007
Venue: Cromarty Hall, St. Margaret's Hope, Orkney
Rory McLeod is one of Orkney’s finest folk musicians and last Saturday, he performed in front of a 70-strong audience at the Cromarty Hall in St. Margaret’s Hope to show them why.
Opening with two harmonica-based tunes, he proceeded to play over 20 songs spread over the past two decades of his career, including Huge Sky, The Wind Is Getting Stronger and Shirley’s Her Name. The moment he entered the candle-lit room, the jokes began with his harmonica impression of a phone ringing and a humorous ‘conversation’ with his mother.
The guitar tunes illustrated anything and everything from political views and travelling to love and family. Every song told a story about Rory’s (or other people’s) lives, adding an element to his songs that you could relate to.
Between songs, Rory continued to entertain the audience by telling rather than singing amusing or contemplative stories about ancient history, war, his family and his past. However sad the story, he managed to bring in one-line laughs with ease, which gave an instantly-liked aura about him.
‘I was thinking of teaching my grandma some of my songs,’ he began during a short break after his performance of Huge Sky, ‘so I could learn them back from her – then I could call my songs traditional.’
It was statements like these that ensured that the audience was never bored. One highlight during the evening was Rory’s use of the spoons – he treated us to several spoon solos, showing everyone just how the spoons should be played!
His guitar work was ever-interesting, and his ability to play the harmonica was enough to make anyone envious of his talent. He even showed off a good whistling talent in various songs, adding some variation to the music.
As the night came to a close, Rory reminded the audience that CDs were on sale in his usual joking manner – ‘if you want a CD… well, Christmas isn’t that far away, is it?’
He ended with a tune on trombone, and yet again made everyone laugh as he pointed it to the floor and emulated a vacuum cleaner.
He told Musicadian afterwards: ‘There were quite a few technical problems, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.’
‘I enjoyed it though, but there were some songs I’d have liked to do that I didn’t have time for.’
Next stop: Australia for various dates in March. You can also catch him all over the UK in May, June and July.