By, Maggie Peknic
On February 20th, Scottish band Talisk took the main stage at the City Winery located on 25 11th Ave, Manhattan as part of their Back in America Tour. The trio consists of Mohsen Amini, Graham Armstrong, and Benedict Morris. But their electronic Celt-wave sound would make one think there must be more than just three people in this band.
Frontrunner and concertina player Mohsen Amini credits the band’s competitive nature for their big sound. “As we did more festivals, we wanted to try and match the bands that were going on ahead of us,” Amini stated. “We always tried to figure out how we can make our sound as big as the biggest headliners on stage. It turns out, you just need to get loads and loads and loads of pedals.”
The pedals lead to a fusion of EDM and traditional Celtic folk music, a combination my friend and I have dubbed Celt-wave and heard in only a few other bands, such as MOXIE and Hò-rò.
Despite this fusion, Talisk’s roots lie in folk music. The band originated as an acoustic three-piece comprised of the guitar, fiddle, and concertina, which is similar to an accordion. The pedals simply accentuate these instrument’s sounds, allowing for electronic echoes and a layering of sounds to be produced.
This layering of sounds has led fans to ask the trio if there are backing tracks when they perform. Amini states all of Talisk’s music is performed live. Playing live is an essential part of Celtic folk music. One can see the tradition of playing live through the various sessions taking place in New York City pubs. Some Irish pubs, such as Grace’s and Paddy Reilly’s, host weekly sessions where any musician versed in Celtic folk music can join in and play live with other musicians. Not only do the sessions create a sense of community, but Amini also notes that playing live makes the music feel “more authentic and more real.”
Talisk brings this sense of community so often found at sessions to their concerts. “You don’t expect to sit down for too long, because you’re gonna be up dancing, having a good time,” Amini said. “We feed off the crowd, and the crowd feeds off us.” Amini went on to describe audiences where the energy was electric. From crowd surfing to knocking the power out, Talisk engages with the crowd and makes them part of the show. It’s just one feature of many that sets Talisk apart from your typical Celtic folk band.
Talisk brought that same energy to the City Winery in Manhattan on Monday, February 20th. Sitting in the crowd, I admit, I was skeptical of just how energetic Talisk would get the crowd going, especially at the City Winery. The venue doubles as a restaurant with multiple tables filling the space in front of the stage. While some concertgoers may arrive early to eat dinner, late-comers, like myself, find themselves ordering dinner as the band takes the stage. It becomes a bit difficult to clap and dance while eating your meal. But Talisk seemed to be aware of this aspect. They waited around 30 minutes before they got the show truly going.
Talisk performs at the City Winery on February 20th, 2023.
I’ve attended concerts at the City Winery before. Most notably, I went to Celtic folk fiddler player Eileen Ivers’s concert last October. While Ivers plays some fantastic fiddle playing, the room remained seated the whole time save for the final song. The City Winery’s atmosphere poses a difficult challenge to getting a hyped-up crowd with its cold, rainy day atmosphere and restaurant setting. But unlike Ivers, Talisk worked around this.
Mohsen told the crowd to stand. They stood. He told them to clap. They clapped. With a simple command, he had the crowd going. It was incredible to watch that kind of stage presence manifest in such a void stage, where the trio simply sat on chairs playing their instruments and tapping the pedals at their feet. Their stories of crowd surfing and knocking out the power no longer seemed like folk legend. I believed it.
I can only imagine what their home concerts are like where they perform on a bigger stage with lighting effects mimicking a rave. While these lighting effects are not seen on their American tour dates, Talisk hopes to add them soon. Talisk plan to bring their Celt-wave sound back to America this summer.
