ISLAMABAD: Celtic folk rock came to the capital Saturday evening with a live performance by Reely Jiggered.

The Scottish Celtic band is visiting Pakistan for the second time and performed on Burns Night, the annual celebration of Scottish national poet Robert Burns. They performed at the Charity Ball at the British High Commission, which is held every year to honour Robert Burns. The band also performed in Lahore before travelling to Pakistan.

Reely Jiggered is an award-winning Ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) band, inspired by Celtic folk and world music, that has toured around the world. The band consists of two sisters, Alison McNeill on fiddle and vocals and Fiona McNeill on guitar, bodhran and vocals along with Scott McLean on percussion.

Their music is inspired by Robert Burns, and promotes women’s rights, gender equality and other issues.

“Our music transcends barriers. If it wasn’t for our music, we wouldn’t be here and met with people we have met. Our music has taken us places. It’s a great message that music can transcend many boundaries,” Alison McNeill told the press after their performance.

The two songs that the band likes to perform most are Warrior and Searching for You.

“The audience cannot resist dancing to Warrior that has a great rhythm with the wah wah pedal,” Alison McNeill said.

Warrior, as well as other tracks such as Devil’s Awe and Parting Glass, is an upbeat rock-pop number that makes listeners want to dance along. The band ended its performance with a rendition of Dil Dil Pakistan, but with its own spin on it.

Alison McNeill said that the band has a new album coming out which is about nature, love and life.

The name of the band was inspired by two Scottish dances, Fiona McNeill explained.

“We have dances that are called jigs and reels, so we merged the two together to come up with the name Reely Jiggered. It also means dancing till you are very tired because of you have had a great time,” she added.

The trio described their visit to Lahore as an unforgettable experience, in which they visited sites such as the Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosque.

“We loved the architecture and the people have been so friendly towards us and welcoming. We particularly enjoyed the food, spicy compared with mild back home. The reception we got was fantastic and any band would love to perform here,” said one of the band members.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2019