festival retrospective

Celtic Connections 2004 – Lighting up the skies

14th January – 1st February 2004

By 2004 we were settled into the second decade of the festival. Our commitment to keep Celtic culture thriving was just as strong. One new project was a special theatre production, Red Clydeside, which chronicled the immense social upheaval that rocked Glasgow during World War I.

The festival got off to a fiery start as a public procession of torchbearers made their way from George Square and along Buchanan Street accompanied by fire-eaters, street performers and the rousing sounds of massed pipe bands.

Artists appearing at the festival in 2004 included

Joan Baez
Bert Jansch and Bernard Butler
Afro Celts
Lloyd Cole
Alan Stivell
Susana Seivane
Mariza
Altan and The Riverdance Flying Squad
Bagad Kemper
Capercaillie
Dick Gaughan
Michael Marra and Liz Lochhead
Jackie Leven and Ian Rankin
Ale Möller's World Heritage Orchestra
Esbjörn Svensson Trio

What the critics said...

Music Hall reopened its doors for the festival

The four storey Britannia Panoptican Music Hall in Glasgow's East End which had been closed for 65 years reopened its doors as a Celtic Connections' venue in 2004. The Hall which saw greats including Stan Laurel and Cary Grant take to the stage was given special permission by the city council to reopen for a one off gig by fiddler Gillian Frame.

First and Last

Harvest

Donald Shaw's 'Harvest' opened the 2004 festival. The 'Harvest' project was a one-off commission for the festival. Donald's aim was to celebrate the abundance of youthful talent in Scottish traditional music, while encouraging Scotland's emerging musicians to explore the traditions of Brittany, Asturias and Galica. The result was a concert-length spectacle. It featured some 20 major-name artists from around the Celtic world, alongside nearly 80 young musicians aged 13-18 drawn from the many traditional music education initiatives which have flourished throughout Scotland in recent years.

Last

Firm festival favourites, La Bottine Sourainte, performed the final concert at the 2004 festival. Appearing in Glasgow's legendary Barrowlands their dazzling musicianship, incendiary dancefloor energy and enormous joie de vivre satisfied the faithful and won them a fair few more Glaswegian fans.

Celtic Connections 2011

Thursday 13th - Sunday 30th January

Box Office : 0141 353 8000

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