Now in its 20th year, the Dudelange Celtic music festival is ready to kick off this Saturday 11 March with a cracking line-up of bag pipes, banjos, fiddles and squeeze-boxes belting out tunes inspired by the sounds of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and Wales mixed in with influences from as far afield as Mexico. Bringing in bands from far and wide, the team is promising an extravaganza for this anniversary year, preceded by a special night of organ music at St. Martin’s Church.
Seven bands will take to the stage at the Hall Sportif on Saturday night, many of whom have chosen to come back for this intimate music festival that the organisers say they want to keep small and personal.
Master blasters, the Red Hot Chilli Pipers are leading the line-up with their trade mark “bagrock” sound. They do bagpipes with a lot of attitude, winning the BBC talent competition When Will I Be Famous in 2007. Since then, they’ve toured widely across Europe, the United States, Asia and Saudi Arabia, bringing shows hailed for their virtuosity and sheer energy. Among the musicians, Grant Cassidy is an eight-time world champion snare drummer.
Festival organiser, and member of Luxembourg band Dream Catcher, John Rech said the Red Hot Chilli Pipers are truly a band to celebrate.
“They’re one of the most in demand Celtic bands out there, and we’re very happy to welcome them here. Especially as they’ve turned down other offers to come back. They really wanted to be here for the 20th birthday show,” he said.
Also on the line-up, the recently formed Celtic Social Club are an all-star ensemble from Brittany and Scotland with 50,000 seat concerts, two albums and a European tour under their belts, all in just the last two and a half years. They play an energetic synthesis blending trad, rock, reggae, dub and hip-hop that sets out to explode barriers of genre and style.
By contrast, longstanding friends of Zeltik, and one of their favourite bands, The Paperboys have been packing out concerts for more than 25 years thanks to their extraordinary blend of Celtic folk with bluegrass, Mexican, Eastern European, African, zydeco, soul and country influences. Described by The Paperboys themselves as “Guinness with a tequila chaser while listening to an American jukebox,” The Washington Post said the multiple-award-winning group’s music evokes early Elton John and Van Morrison.
Possible giants of the future, Cúig is a young band of five musicians from the North of Ireland already hailed as one of the most promising up and coming artists in Irish music, and the best new band in Irish music for 2016, notwithstanding the fact that not one of them had been born before the first ever outing of Zeltik. They’ve already been playing together for five years, with an original sound and powerful shows that have been thrilling audiences across Europe.
Reviewers have already described their first album as a “genial powerhouse” and “stunning”, from a group that produces “a fresh, unique and vibrant sound that most bands take years to establish, and their individual and collective musicianship belies their years. Talent hanging out of them! A truly brilliant trad band."
From Armagh to Berlin, and Cobblestones whose electric, exuberant style has been getting audiences across Europe to their feet for almost 15 years. Bring your dancing shoes for this party/performance, because you’re definitely going to need them.
It’s hard to imagine two more opposing musical styles than punk and Celtic folk, but one group of French musicians have done it, creating Toxic Frogs, the first female Celtic punk rock group in the world. Their explosive style provoking wildly enthusiastic responses among the crowds. Lively, funny and punchy as you’d expect from a band with such a philosophy, they move from heady riffs to catchy jigs, underpinned by the dynamite rhythms of punk.
Seeing the night out, Luxembourg’s own pipe band fuel their passion for traditional Scottish, Breton and Irish music with finely tuned performances of pipes, percussion and, of course, kilts. They’ll be bringing some of the best-known and loved classics, as well as their own unique scores.
That’s not all there is to it either. At St. Martin’s Church on Friday night, Zeltik Prelude brings together the astonishing creative talents of Juan Ullibarri on whistle, flute, clarinet and small pipe, Idoia Bengoa on bassoon and flute, and Alessandro Urbano on organ playing a selection of popular Irish and Northumbrian reels, tunes, arias and sonatas.
The performance has been carefully coordinated by Alessandro Urbano, an organist who has won acclaim across Europe, winning numerous international competitions, and is currently the head organist of St. Martin’s Church in Dudelange.
Entrance to Zeltik Prelude is free with a ticket for Zeltik.
Tickets for Zeltik are now on sale online for €20 plus taxes from the sources below, or they are €25 at the door.
• www.opderschmelz.lu
• www.luxembourg-ticket.lu
• www.e-ticket.lu
• www.ticket-regional.de
• www.ticketmaster.fr
• www.fnacspectacles.com
For more information, see the website: www.zeltik.lu
Images: Red Hot Chilli Pipers; Celtic Social Club; Cuig; Toxic Frogs
