After 10 successful editions of the Montelago Celtic Festival, its growing community of lovers of Celtic music will finally have a winter event (or five) to enjoy the poetic and evocative sounds from the fantasy world of elves, fairies, druids and warriors. It's called SNOW.
Snow is a series of five indoor concerts featuring some of most prominent Italian groups from the summer festival, who will share their repertoires in the atmospheric theaters and pubs of Le Marche, and lead us on to the festival of Irish festivals: Saint Patrick.
The schedules:
Saturday, February 16, 21:30 - Teatro Lauro Rossi, Macerata
Ogam (world music), entrance 5 €
Friday, February 22, 23.00 - Geleò Club, Morrovalle (MC)
Electric Mompracem (ethnodance), info: Facebook Geleò
Saturday, March 2, 21:30 - Teatro Comunale, Caldarola (MC)
La Corte di Lunas (medieval rock), entrance 5 €
Friday, March 8, 21.30 - Teatro Alfieri, Montemarciano (AN)
The Storm (high-powered Celtic fusion), entrance 5 €
(Ticket bookings only by phone 389.2765203)
Friday, March 15, 21.30 - Teatro delle Api, Porto Sant'Elpidio (FM)
Mortimer McGrave (Celtic rock), entrance 5 €
For info and ticket reservations: info@montelagocelticfestival.it
Reservations will only be valid with name, address, telephone number and date of the concert
Friday 15 February 2013
Thursday 9 August 2012
Phew! Now THAT was a Celtic festival!
I suspect that some days after the Montelago Celtic Festival started packing up leaving the Colfiorito plain, the dust is still settling. Stardust, that is, for the music and the spirit certainly reached that far.
It must be quite a feeling to walk out on the plain when it's empty and quiet, a place that not long before was heaving to the rhythms of the Montelago community in its annual celebration of camaraderie, release, and - naturally - celtica. What stories those plains could tell ...
But whatever remembrance and imagination can conjure between them from the off-stage happenings, we're really here to discuss just one thing - the music.
Let's start with Friday, and a quote from a previous entry on this blog: "(Mortimer Mc Grave) may just be the roof-raiser of the festival." Prophetic words, it seems (the absent roof notwithstanding), as Maurizio, Luciano and their friends made emphatic statements in several different musical languages for two festival-defining hours. In short, they knocked it out of the park - from the first stirring numbers of their Moving Hearts-inspired band, The Storm, to soirees with the City of Rome Pipe Band and the Cisal Pipers, the beat and the energy fulfilled their promise of a musical earthquake with devastating dance-like effects. The message was simple: "We love this festival!" It showed, and underpinned the achievement of this tenth Celtic year in the Apennines.
It would be an injustice to omit mentions for their Friday partners on stage either side of them - New Road and the Cisal Pipers, accomplished crowd-movers and foot-tapping provokers in their own rights. Same goes for Saturday's opening act, La Corte di Lunas, who threw down the night's gauntlet with a rousing set.
And then came Rare Folk, as rare an act to appear at the festival in all of its ten years. Blending jazz, Celtic, world music, and the booming bass of the bouncing Mufas, the Spaniards from Andalusia pulled in the crowd and never let them go, as their several attempts to leave proved - encore followed encore until time finally caught up and they had to leave. But they stayed around themselves, to dance with the crowd as the following groups lit up the stage.
Another rare treat followed Rare Folk as the enthusiastic crowd experienced "the definitive bagpipe version" of Queen's We Will Rock You, as well as a reggae number in amongst the City of Rome Pipe Band's more typical repertoire. But perhaps the highlight of their set was the stirring rendition of Amazing Grace, sung with depth, beauty, and grace (naturally) by one of the band's two female drummers.
With the rising crescendo of their supporting acts, the Isle of Skye's Peatbog Faeries didn't disappoint with a performance of pure quality and infectious energy, before Folkmondo wrapped up the night's proceedings with a strong set of their own.
It's over now (unfortunately), but that may be just as well, since the body can take only so much stimulus in such a concentrated period of time. Yet again, Montelago has given us something to remember and something to look forward to, and as it has done over the past 10 years, it delivered ... in spades.
Except that now Maurizio, Luciano and the rest of the organizers have raised the bar across the board - from the headliners to the supporting acts, and the magnetic novelty of Mortimer Pub (a big success). Makes one want 2013 to come along as soon as it possibly can.
gach Montelago clocha sneachta!
Monday 6 August 2012
2012 Montelago musical moments
Not all in perfect focus, but you get the idea ....
Click on the photo to enlarge
Mortimer Mc Grave and friends:
New Road:
Rare Folk:
City of Rome Pipe Band:
Peatbog Faeries:
Wednesday 1 August 2012
So ... who else is playing?
We've covered the Peatbog Faeries, the City of Rome Pipe Band, Mortimer Mc Grave, and Rare Folk in previous posts (click on them to read each particular post), so who else makes up the excellent programme of 17 concerts. Here's a run through:
La Corte di Lunas - from Friuli Venezia Giulia, formed in 2005 as a celebration of "joy, music, and fun." Now an 8-piece band with 2 albums under their belts, these days they entertain with a fusion of precious Renaissance melodies, lost stories from far away, and the purest of modern rock. Second Montelago appearance (2010).
At Montelago 2012: Sat 4th main stage @ 21:15.
Web site: http://www.lacortedilunas.it
New Road - a recently-formed band playing classic Irish reels, jigs, hornpipes and other dance music. What sets the band apart amid the landscape of traditional music are their individual technical skills, the energy of their arrangements, and the wealth of experience of the four talented multi-instrumentalists.
At Montelago 2012: Fri 3rd Mortimer Pub @ 16:00; Sat 4th/5th main stage @ 2:45.
Rondeau De Fauvel - recalling the myth of Fauvel, a legendary creature with the appearance of a donkey from a satirical poem of 1316, the 6-piece group from Vicenza paints haunting medieval tunes along with poetry, dance, and magic.
At Montelago 2012: Fri 3rd Mortimer Pub @ 18:30; Sat 4th/5th main stage @ 4:00.
Web site: http://www.rondeaudefauvel.eu
Montelago Celtic Project - returning to the place of their "birth" (2007) and led by the group's founder, multi-instrumentalist Fabio Emidio Zeppilli (composer and arranger of all their music), the marchigiano group's repertoire with its Irish, Scottish, Galician and Basque roots "creates an eclectic blend of energy, releasing emotion and unearthing new feelings".
At Montelago 2012: Fri 3rd Mortimer Pub @ 20:30; Sat 4th Mortimer Pub @ 15:00.
Furor Gallico - named after the description that the ancient Romans gave to the Celtic warriors who
were prepared to die defending their people and
land, the folk metal group from Milan blend metal riffs and growl-and-scream vocals with folk melodies of the violin, flutes, Celtic harp and bouzouki.
Furor Gallico - named after the description that the ancient Romans gave to the Celtic warriors who
were prepared to die defending their people and
land, the folk metal group from Milan blend metal riffs and growl-and-scream vocals with folk melodies of the violin, flutes, Celtic harp and bouzouki.
At Montelago 2012: Fri 3rd/4th main stage @ 1:00.
Web site: http://www.furorgallico.it
Cisalpipers - the six-piece band from Emilia-Romagna synthesizes the sounds of the Emilian bagpipes, Scottish bagpipes, whistles , drums and percussion into a unique style that travels between classical and pop, world music to ethnic, and always with the underlying foundation of tradition. Second Montelago appearance (2009).
At Montelago 2012: Fri 3rd/4th main stage @ 00:00; Sat 4th Mortimer Pub @ 17:00.
Web site: http://www.cisalpipers.net
At Montelago 2012: Fri 3rd main stage @ 21:00; Sat 4th Mortimer Pub @ 11:30.
Folkomondo - formed in 2008, the six-piece band combines songs of the folk tradition with modern rhythms, taking us through the streets of European folk from Ireland to Italy, to Spain, France, Greece, and yet still further, to create something new from old and forgotten roots.
At Montelago 2012: Sat 4th Mortimer Pub @ 20:15.
Monday 30 July 2012
Rare Folk
One of two foreign (i.e. non-Italian) bands appearing at this year's festival, Rare Folk is perhaps flying somewhat below the radar in terms of the relative publicity they've been given, but they may just be the big surprise of this year's festival.Well-known in their native Spain - and even more so in their Andalusian home - but relatively unknown outside of it, they're making just one appearance on their trip to Italy ... at Montelago.
Formed 20 years ago in the Tomares province of Seville, and with 5 albums under their belts, the group's folk label is a very loose one, combining as they do elements of Celtica, rock, jazz, and both Eastern and African rhythms. Indeed, such is the progressive, experimental nature of their "folk" music that the press coined the term "Freestyle Folk." Over time the group has earned its reputation as being among the best exponents of the new Spanish folk music, and is one of the leading bands on the experimental music scene.
Rare Folk's breakthrough album Green in 1998 widened their audience, and since then their special sound has filled stages from Mexico to Ireland, and England to Portugal, sharing billing with artists such as Hevia, Berrogüeto, and the Wolfstones. As part of the festival's Saturday night crescendo, it'll be a performance you don't want to miss as they take the main stage at 22:00.
Rare folk is:
Rubén Díez - flute and low whistle
Mangu Diaz - mandolin, bouzouki, darbuka and programming
Munné Marcos - electric guitar
Oscar Valero (Mufas) - bass
Leslie Jordan - violin
Fernando Reina - drums
Mangu Diaz - mandolin, bouzouki, darbuka and programming
Munné Marcos - electric guitar
Oscar Valero (Mufas) - bass
Leslie Jordan - violin
Fernando Reina - drums
Monday 23 July 2012
Mortimer Mc Grave & Friends
There may be some better-known international names appearing on Saturday night, August 4th, but in these parts, there aren't any many much bigger than Mortimer Mc Grave. One the many projects of organizers Maurizio Serafini and Luciano Monceri, their act of energetic Celtic rock is never the same from one to the next, and the invention and daring have made it one of - if not the most - popular in the region. Appearing in their fourth edition of the festival, it's one they couldn't miss - a tenth anniversary.
So, come Friday night midnight, expect "an earthquake that will shake the Marches and all of central Italy from coast to coast for at least two hours, with devastating effects - you won't be able to stop dancing." Joined by a host of musical friends to commemorate the event, it may just be the roof-raiser of the festival...
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