Elephant Sessions at Lemon Tree, Aberdeen

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A review from 5D Music & Theatre writer Maria Robertson.

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AGP Aberdeen organised this amazing night at the Lemon Tree, although it was a shame it clashed with Skipinnish at the Music Hall.  Traditional Scottish bands are getting to be like buses in Aberdeen, none for a while then two come at once!   I did see them last year (http://5d-blog.com/skipinnish-big-top-tent-stirling-august-20th-2022/) so it made the choice a bit easier!

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Support was by Cammy Barnes who is from Fife; he looks and sounds very Scottish but his voice is just right for songs like Tennessee Whiskey, as well as Caledonia, both of which he delighted the audience with.  He also debuted a song he wrote for his daughter, and asked us to video it for him so hopefully she’ll be proud of him in the future.  He certainly did her proud.

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Next up were Elephant Sessions who I had never experienced live before although I had been assured by many people they were well worth seeing.  Still, good things come to those who wait!  They are a truly unique experience from the Highlands, comprised of Euan Smillie (fiddle), Alasdair Taylor (mandolin), Seth Tinsley (bass, synth) and Greg Barry (drums, samples).  Although these are very traditional instruments its a much more modern sound that attacks the crowd!  Songs include Loft Crofter and Is This A Vibe.  They have a dance vibe to them, with lots of strobe lighting, dry ice, hands in the air, jiggling feet and chants of  “here we, here we, here we ****ing go”.  They released a debut album The Elusive Highland Beauty in 2014 “to critical acclaim” and have since produced 3 more albums with the most recent earning Album of the Year at the Scot Trad Music Awards.

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The band are full of energy and obviously love playing together from the looks on their faces as they perform.  They hype up the audience and then feed off their reaction so the resulting atmosphere in the place was electrifying – and hot, so very hot!  Many items of clothing got passed to the front to go on the back of the barrier until the end of their set, you started to wonder if everyone still had clothes on!  I also feared we might all melt, but obviously an open door would spoil the smoky strobe lighting, so we couldn’t have that!  It was a sold out night and the Lemon Tree was packed from wall to wall which was wonderful to see, especially after the last few years when we all got used to being locked in our houses without the joy of live music.

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Elephant Sessions are certainly a band well suited to playing live, it was a very special experience.  I hope they hurry back to Aberdeen, perhaps in a bigger venue next time.  Beach Ballroom bouncy floor would definitely work well!  Haste ye back lads, I’ll try not to fangirl over you quite so much next time but do appreciate my signed set list and photo with the guys!

Further information: https://www.facebook.com/iamcammybarnes/and https://www.elephantsessions.com/

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Maria Robertson is the Chief Music & Theatre Writer for the 5D Pop Culture Website and provides reviews & coverage of local Aberdeen music & theatre gigs. She’s an experienced writer for numerous sources and is a self-confessed live gig addict ever since seeing The Counting Crows at the Barrowlands in 1994.

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