November Club Night Report

November Club Night  Monday 21 November 2011

The Highland Cub once again had a very large crowd in the hall for the November meeting.

First up was Michael Macmillan, fresh from his recent starring role at Highland Showtime in Eden Court Theatre in Inverness. Michael was in great form and had Jacquie Macdonald on keyboards and Bob Wares on the drums.

Hamish Macdougall was to follow and Jacquie retained the seat at the keyboards. Calum Mackaskill joined in with the guitar and Jock Sephen took custody of the drum stool.

Nichol Mackay with his 5 row button box then took to the stage and was accompanied by Colin Donaldson on second box, Jacquie Macdonald on keyboards and Bob Wares on the drums. Nichol has very recently released a CD and it is available now from all good record shops and is a splendid addition to any record collection.

Club Chairman Fraser Maclean has the box with him every club night but rarely gets the chance to play it. He did on this occasion and had backing from Jacquie on keyboards and Mike Smith on the drums.Mike can't manage in too often and it was a pleasure to have him on stage.

Another welcome return to the stage this time in the shape of Colin Donaldson. Colin has had a busy summer season and Monday nights were otherwise engaged. Coln had Jacquie on keyboards and Bob Wares on the drums.

Colin has also just very recently released a CD and it too is a classic. Great stuff from a very talented musician.

Time for the guest artistes now and Neil Caul did the honours with a 5 piece band. Neil is as steady as a rock and his timing is impeccable. His many years of experience with some of the leading lights in the dance band world was obvious for all to see. He was backed by some very able musicians with Nicol McLaren on second box, Alastair McGirr on keyboards, Jane Davidson on fiddle and David Bell on drums.

Graham Wilson opened he second half with Jacquie Macdonald at the keyboards and Bob Wares on the drums. Graham has hundreds of tunes in his repertoire and several are of the singalong variety, and tonight was no exception. Great stuff Graham thank you.

Megan Meikle took to the stage and had the current guest artiste of the year, Roya Maclean on keyboards. Roya is Megan's teacher and Megan is making serious progress and is fast becoming a very accomplished player indeed.

Roya remained on keyboards and fiddler Lisa Moyes took to the stage. Lisa is another very accomplished young player and certainly knows how to handle a fiddle. A beautiful sound from these 2 young ladies which was very well received by the audience.

Back to the guest artistes to bring the evening to a close, and Neil Caul and his Scottish Dance Band were once again in top form. Solo fiddle and piano spots in amongst the very best of traditional dance music, all played to the right tempo made for a fantastic night's entertainment.

Once again another great evening at the Highland Accordion and Fiddle Club.