reviews
Purbeck 2012
“A thousand people jigging to ceilidh electronica! Monstrously awesome
- a festival highlight.”
Paul Burke, Purbeck Folk Festival director
festivalsforall.com
“Monster Ceilidh Band produced yet another great set [at Bearded Theory 2012]. [They] must be one of the most consistent festival bands around. Evolving all the time, they’ve ramped up the D&B and electronica recently to great effect. Chatting afterwards they said they are really looking forwards to hitting the Glade audience with the new material. Do go and see these guys anywhere – and take yer dancing shoes.”
Read the article here
Bearded Theory 2012
“In 5 years of putting this dance tent on, I have NEVER had a Sunday afternoon like the Monsters brought!!! The place was jumping!!!PHIL MELLERSH – Festival Organiser
Songlines Review
It’s alive! A Frankensteinian assemblage of two halves ****
With lots of funk and zing to move all butts to the floor, the Monster Ceilidh Band remind us that while the word that means dance is internationalised, it still predominantly conjures up Scotland, Ireland and Celtic countries. So it’s a pleasant surprise that they hail from Newcastle, as their brand of music, which induces the skipping, jumping and dancing that has kept thousands warm throughout winter over the centuries, is a real tonic for innovative energy.
The musical references of the acoustic-based disc one trace intense developments in traditional music close to home, a la Kathryn Tickell, and most closely approach the beautifully wiry melodic sound of Finnish radicals Maria Kalaniemi, JPP and other Sibelius academy alumni whose 90s re-thinking and sound has touched the European world music scene over the last 20 years.
The musicianship and arrangements of this gender-balanced foursome is simply stunning, with oodles of contemporary classical and jazz sensibility adding terrific bite to everything they touch: there’s a wonderful atmospheric nuance notable in pieces like ‘Gastown’ and the Kalaniemi-influenced ‘Vralkada’. The highly energised second CD here, ‘Monsters vs The Touch’, has drum ‘n’ bass producer Joseph underpinning pieces with dynamic, quirky edges. Potentially a success of monstrous proportions then.
Bournemouth Folk Festival
The biggest crowd pleaser of the event however, was without a doubt the Monster Ceilidh Band and the explosion of energy that came with them. With their Ceilidh jigs and stage presence they transformed the audience into dancers, as energetic and excited as a bunch of 5 year olds who have just been told their moving to Disneyland. It was one of the most beautifully orchestrated shambles I have ever seen. It was almost too easy to become distracted from the music by the near anarchic dancing of the folk loving horde. Memorising the back and fourths, crossovers and turns that were being instructed from the stage was a visibly difficult assignment for those who’d had more than a few pints of ale. But the band kept the dance under control and played with such technical flair that it was impossible not to enjoy the talented foursome’s compositions. They displayed all the finest attributes of folk and jig music during the great dance workshop and after, moved onto their electronic set. The set began with an industrial buzz that filled the room and when the music kicked in, it became a rowdy and modern adaptation of their ceilidh play list. The broad compilation of musical genres that featured throughout the set even stepped into the realms of drum & bass for what the band believe to be the world’s first cross over ceilidh track.
Malaysia’s leading men’s mag chooses the Monsters as Editor’s Pick
‘New Man’, Malaysia’s answer to ‘Esquire’, reviewed the Monster Ceilidh Band after their storming show at the Rainforest World Music Festival earlier this year. You can read the article HERE
US Magazine ‘Driftwood’ reviews our album alongside Ry Cooder and The Chieftains!
Read the review HERE