Cellar Darling
Venue: Stereo, Glasgow.
Date: 23rd October 2022.
Review By: Ross Bowie
Swiss trio Cellar Darling return to the UK with their blend of progressive folk rock that continues to impress.
Cellar Darling have made quick work of returning to these shores, as the trio played over here just before the world decided that a new plague was in order. The pandemic came just 12 months after the release of The Spell, the bands second album, and put a halt on all momentum they were gaining. While bands scrambled and struggled to keep fans engaged over lockdown, Cellar Darling remained quiet.
In 2021 the band released a new single Dance, which is almost 11 minutes in length but was never attached to a longer release and seemed to fade away without gathering much attention. With only a new single to promote, the set felt familiar but no less impressive.
The band kicked things off with Pain, allowing the hurdy-gurdy to come straight into action, the band are tight and don’t look like they have any cobwebs to dust off. However, there was a clear issue with their in-ear monitors causing the drummer to leave the stage during the outro of the song to fix the issue, this caused the crowd to not know when the song was finished and left an awkward silence ringing round the venue. The issue was quickly fixed, and the band went straight into Death, which shows off just how talented frontwoman Anna Murphy is. In the 7-minute run time she sings flawlessly all while playing the hurdy-gurdy, a piano and even has time for a flute solo before coming back in for another chorus. The talent the band possess is abundantly clear throughout the entire set, as the other musicians give Anna the perfect platform to demonstrate her talents.
The band rely solely on the songs to do the talking as their stage banter is minimal, but when you’re as talented as these musicians, who needs one-liner’s? The only downside to the performance was the lack of new material from their last visit, but the band continue to impress and can hopefully deliver a third album as solid as their live show. 
(4 / 5)
