I dragged Mrs Ulsterscot along to the Ulster Hall last night to see the mighty Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band perform in a concert styled "Traditional Acoustic".
The first part of the concert was in the hands of Neil Martin and Rod McVey and featured prominently the members of the West Ocean String Quartet.
Brian Kennedy was the surprise guest in that portion of the show and it is fair to say that the various tunes were met with polite applause and general murmurings of approval.
However, after the interval the Hall really came alive when the boys (and girls) of FM took to the boards.
They rattled through the repertoire contained on the RE:Charged cd to rapturous response from the Monday night crowd. It is perhaps true to say that the acoustics in the Ulster Hall are not best suited to the significant volumes that the band generated and for those wanting to really pick up on the finger work, the unusual (but effective) practice of jamming one's fingers into one's ears was the only way forward. For those scratching their heads at this point, the reason is that it cuts out a lot of the extraneous echo and gives you a "purer" sound.
Despite that, Mrs Ulsterscot, who would not profess to be an aficionado pronounced herself well impressed and I went home nursing the warm glow that only the open and notorious display of my culture can engender.
The second half was ably compered by Mark Thompson - blogger of note - and I was particularly gratified to hear the warm cheers when he named Ulster Scots. Could it be that we are all starting to warm up and embrace our identity. One swallow doesn't make a summer - but it was a welcome sight and sound.
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