Nothing heats ups a chilly winter night than hot and heavy Celtic music.
So, as expected, the Slice was packed on Friday, Feb. 15 for Edmonton based Celtic Rockers The Derina Harvey Band. I caught the end of their first set and all of their second.
The show was in full swing before they took a break. They had the crowd moving to a variety of Celtic jigs and reels powered by hot fiddle player Jessica Blenis, whose fingers must have been on fire after the show, even after the first set as I arrived in the middle of a blazing set ending fiddle solo.
Lead singer Derina Harvey was an affable and personable presence chatting with the audience in between belting out high energy Celtic anthems like “the Night Old pat Murphy Died” and a new up tempo original “ Up All Night.”
They played a few favourites from their previous two CDs including “Islander” which opened set two and “Rove and Go,” which came a little bit later. And it is always a good day when a band absolutely slays Celtic rock classic and sing along “Heave Away,” as the Derina Harvey Band did.
They showed off their vocal harmonies on a cover of Stan Rogers’ “Barrett’s Privateers.”
Ditto for a wicked cover of the Arrogant Worms’ “Last Saskatchewan Pirate,” which, had the audience singing along in their best pirate impersonations.
They slowed things down a little for “Fisherman’s Blues.”