The Hebridean Celtic Festival 2018, Stornoway, Lewis
Day One: Thursday, July 19
IN true Scottish fashion, the rain poured down as festival goers took shelter inside the auditorium tents, excitedly anticipating the ecletic performances about to take place.
Craig Baxter of Glasgow band TRIP got the audience hyped with his Irish Bodhrán drum drawing in crowds from outside and into the LWP tent.
They played "Eclipse", the first ever set they put together which set a lively atmosphere, giving everyone the perfect excuse to start dancing.
Trail West, a Gaelic folk band from Tiree and South Uist, gave a ground-breaking live performance on the LWP Stage. Iain Spanish and Angus McLeod accompanied the energetic band on stage for a night to remember.
The at first low-spirited crowd, left soaked from the rain outside came alive as the six piece band rocked the whole stadium with, "The Scattermaster".
They brought their performance to a close with sea shanty, "South Australia" a song of a seaship's voyage across the world. This was the band's first time playing HebCelt and hopefully we'll see them back again next year.
Eddi Reader graced the main stage at 8pm. Ever the comedian, she joked and had the whole audience in rapturous applause. It became almost impossible not to join in with her rendition of "Perfect" which had the whole audience singing and cheering along.
The audience were also given an exclusive preview of her new song which is to be released in September 2018 called "Stardust". Eddi said to turn up the vocals and imagine they were in a ballroom in 1952.
Everyone packed into the mainstage like a tin of sardines for a closing performance by Skipinnish. The light inside dimmed and HebCelt 2018 projections highlighted the roof of the auditorium tent as the audience were asked to sing along to "December".
The band sang, "Home On The Sea" written in honour of the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry, as it leaves an island headed home to Lewis and Tiree.
As the incredible first night drew to a close, the audience were asked to light up the arena with their phones and sing their hearts out.
Sophie McLean is a guest of HebCelt 2018 as part of the Year of Young People 2018.
HebCelt takes place from July 18-21
Visit hebceltfest.com
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