Celtic Connections

Across The Borderline, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow

Jonathan Geddes

Four stars

Timing is everything in comedy, and there was some particularly dark humour at work here. A concert celebrating cross-border relationships, anchored and organised by the band Calexico, occurring on the same day as America inaugurated a President who literally wants to build a wall there. Therefore there was a perma-tanned shape lurking over this night, succinctly summed up by ill singer Katell Keineg with “Trump and bronchitis – it’s been a s*** day”.

Those in attendance, of course, were hardly likely to need any persuasion as to the benefits of cross-border collaboration, and thus any positive mention of immigration or negative jabs at The Donald (and there were a few) was wildly cheered over a sprawling show that welcomed on several guests to join Calexico for bite-sized three song sets.

That meant the tone could flip from Juan Cirerol’s enthusiastic vintage rock n’ roll to the more haunting tones of Keineg, who performed an affecting Gulf of Araby. Not all worked quite as well as hoped, with Pieta Brown’s tunes too languid for their positioning in the second half, albeit with a fine vocal.

It was the final two guests who lifted matters the most. Guatemalan singer Gaby Moreno’s Fronteras was joyously uplifting, while Camilo Lara, of Mexrrissey, strode on, whipped the crowd up and then played a couple of Mariachi infused club bangers in El Jefe and Es-Toy that were wildly danceable. That paved the way for an encore that continued the good vibes, including a messy, rollicking finale of Guero Canelo.

It was a celebratory end that provided both relief from those outside factors and also exemplified the togetherness that culture so often benefits from. That’s no mean feat.