Evening News 30/05/06

STEPHEN GRAY

Caledon - The Power and the Passion *** Brunton Theatre

CALEDON have spent the past three years taking Scottish music around the world, finding fans in places as diverse as New York, Japan, Australia and Berlin. They have entertained crowds at Hampden Park, T in the Park and Grand Central Station and sung for the Queen and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Alan Beck, Jamie MacDougall and Ivan Sharpe are three tenors who, with music director Michael Barnett, make up Caledon. On stage, Barnett is the accompanist, and apart from him, his piano, the tenors and their microphones, the stage is empty. As soon as they begin to sing, however, it is clear that nothing more is required: their voices create a beautiful sound which is by turns haunting, thrilling, amusing and uplifting.

Immaculate in kilts with extravagantly fluffy sporrans, Beck, MacDougall and Sharpe also take care of the between-song entertainment, with stories about their short but illustrious career, some background details to introduce the songs and plenty of banter.

Barnett, as the group's music director as well as pianist, has created some memorable arrangements. The show's opener, Highland Cathedral, is an impressive start, but it is topped by the Skye Boat Song, in which Barnett's harmonies allow the singers to shine individually and together. Barnett's version of Loch Lomond is still more powerful, and even the singers seem to need a moment to compose themselves before moving on. The intensity is moderated by lighter songs, however, giving a well-rounded feel to the evening.

The show divides into two. The first half is made up of traditional Scottish music, including everything from The Dark Island to a crowd-pleasing medley from the variety era. The second, while it begins with A Man's A Man For A' That, soon alters the mood dramatically. An eye-hurtingly vivid new costume introduces a high-energy sequence taking in some of our nation's gifts to the world of pop. Songs by artists including the Bay City Rollers, Marmalade, Eurythmics, Wet Wet Wet, Jimmy Somerville and Franz Ferdinand contribute to a medley which culminates in an anarchic combination of several, or possibly all of them, together.

If the singers' first-half performances of the traditional ballads sometimes verge on the melodramatic, the second sees the three send themselves up with self-conscious dance routines. Humour is an important part of the show, and Barnett gets in on the act as well when he "persuades" the singers to let him have a go at the mic. His playing is not necessarily perfect, but it has passion and spirit, and he is an integral part of the group on stage as well as off it.

The sound quality at the start of the show was slightly poor, and it is debatable whether amplification is required at all in a venue the size of the Brunton. However, the first song on the first date of a new tour can be excused the odd hitch, and it is long forgotten by the time the Proclaimers' 500 Miles wraps up the evening.