The Grit Orchestra

The Royal Concert Hall, 18 January 2025

The first ‘Gig’ of 2025, took me to The Royal Concert Hall on the first weekend of The Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow with a musical performance provided by The Grit Orchestra, led by conductor Greg Lawson.

You may wonder how someone can go to Darren McGarvey, aka Loki, for their last gig of 2024 and be equally happy to kick off the new year with a full orchestra, all 80 of them, performing the work of Martyn Bennett, in particular his album ‘Grit’.

Having stumbled on a documentary about Martyn Bennet, which recognised his failing health several years ago and purchased the album itself, I’d heard and read some very good feedback from the orchestra’s interpretation of his work over the past few years.

There was also a bit of poignancy and even symmetry to this concert. It’s 20 years since Martyn Bennett died and 10 years since the first Grit Orchestra concert. In those 10 years, the reputation of the orchestra’s performance has grown, and it was a sell-out crowd that greeted them all on stage.

The album Grit itself is a mix of World Music, from the Outer Hebrides to the middle east and beyond. What makes the album stand out though, is how Martyn Bennett fused these world sounds with techno and breakbeat. It’s a unique experience.

As a friend of Martyn, Greg Lawson has added a very classical slant on the various songs that made up, not just Grit but other recordings by Martyn and it’s not that easy to get everyone together in a room to rehearse such work.

Between each segment of music, Greg explained how many of the songs were initially conceived and the sometimes near impossible task of putting a gloss on these with the musical ensemble that sat and stood in front of him.

The audience lapped it up from start to finish. The musicians, singers including Karen Matheson, and a special poetry reading by David Hayman all appeared to enjoy themselves too.

Over the years, this goes down as my first orchestral experience. The expectations of more techno and breakbeat throughout the evening were never realistic. It was still enjoyable for all that.

I doubt whether many in the concert hall would have been at some of the 2024 #AtoZMuscialTour gigs. However, that’s the beauty of music. There is something there for everyone if you know where to look and listen.

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