From their debut gig at one of the largest Celtic music festivals anywhere in the world – Brittany’s famed Festival Interceltique de Lorient – the exhilarating, genre-busting Mec Lir have been frenzying festival audiences for a decade, with 2024 being their 10th anniversary! Shetland Folk Festival fans may remember the legendary Festival Club Late by Mec Lir back in 2017 - it was tremendous and we are SO excited to have them back once more.
Mec Lir are well-known for their tight, lightning-fast playing and huge sound, fusing trad with unapologetically electro synths and drums – yet all the while with the fiddle melody at the forefront. The Isle of Man/Glasgow four-piece (now five) have brought their infectiously joyous energy to stages in many corners of the folk sphere; from Cape Breton’s Celtic Colours to the Shetland Folk Festival back in 2017, Denmark’s Tønder Festival to Schots Weekend (Belgium), Speyfest and Killin Music Festival in Scotland, and sell-out, rapturous appearances at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections.
Fronted by virtuoso Manx fiddle player Tomas Callister (Ímar), along with fellow Manx musicians Adam Rhodes on bouzouki (Ímar) and David Kilgallon on keyboard (Neear Nesañ), and expertly grounded by Scotland’s Greg Barry on drums (Elephant Sessions), the group’s second album, Livewire, met critical acclaim upon its 2020 release, and topped the iTunes World Music charts – a feverishly-anticipated follow-up to their groundbreaking debut, Not An EP (2014).
They are now frequently joined by Scottish button accordionist Paddy Callaghan, who features extensively on their latest studio album “Livewire” and we are DELIGHTED to welcome Paddy and Mec Lir back to Shetland once more.
Mec Lir’s live shows are the stuff of legend – and not to be missed!
“Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.” / Bruce MacGregor, BBC Radio Scotland
“perhaps the most energetic album you’ll hear this year” / RnR Magazine
It’s like Earth Wind & Fire in their prime mystically transformed into an instrumental neo-Celtic band
CeltBritFolk
Mec Lir stormed the Fruitmarket with a powerful set delivered with clever arrangements and aggressive energy
Irish Music Magazine
Find out more at meclir.com.
