Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham

Like a fine whisky, after 26 years on the road together the flavours of Phil and Aly have blended perfectly. They finished each other’s stories without stopping for breath, delivering the punchlines right on cue, and they still sounded like they were having fun, even though they must have told the same ones hundreds of times. Aly’s exquisite fiddle playing was particularly evident in the melting slow airs, such as Herr Roloff’s Farewell and Sheenagh’s Air, as well as his party piece Napoleon’s Retreat, while they both demonstrated their musical versatility with the unusual rhythm of a set of Swedish polskas. You don’t tour this long without out being good at what you do, and these two are still the best.

The Hawth, Crawley, 8 April 2013

Four stars

Jenni Davidson