This was the Scots/Irish band's first time in Belfast in eight years, since when they've progressed from being a traditional music group to, well, something not at all clear. Capercaillie are like a Gallic Roxy Music - poised, stylish, desperately poptastic and never in too much danger of breaking sweat.
Singer Karen Matheson, with chiselled features, floppy fringe and star swagger carries off the Bryan Ferry role to a T. At one point, Manus Lunny played an effects-laden bouzouki solo - on his own ballad She's Not In Love - which was pure Phil Manzanera. There, however, the comparison ends, for what Capercaillie lack is a consistency of material and a clear personality of their own.
Hybrids of Hebridean mouth music with soft-focus pop arrangements and drum beats borrowed from club culture got the dance floor filled, but then every track in between was either a straight-ish traditional set or an atmospheric ballad. Capercaillie do some things well, and this was certainly a polished performance, but the stop/start nature of the set was odd.
Excellent musicians abide in the group's eight-strong ranks, most notably Manus Lunny, whose songs have generally the greatest depth of character on their albums (only one played tonight) and flautist Michael McGoldrick, but too often these people are just a faceless ingredient in the soft-pop soup.
The festival itself, running for another two weeks, got off to a flying start attendance-wise and there was, contrary to expectations, not a single politician in sight.
