Sisters
Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Festival Theatre

Kate and Anna McGarrigle first gained attention as songwriters in the early Seventies when Maria Muldaur recorded Kate’s “The Work Song”, and Linda Ronstadt used-Anna’s “Heart like a Wheel” as the title song for her 1974 album.

The McGarrigles began recording their own material in 1975, rapidly gaining attention for their fetchingly artless vocals and whimsical arrangements. On this tour, eleven years later, the McGarrigles are still being whimsical and fetchingly artless and it mostly works.

Their Sunday night concert in the Festival Theatre was late starting due to something called technical problems but when the band filed on stage there was still a hum coming out of the right speaker bank loud enough to entice humpback whales into shallow waters. It is simply not good enough to have poor sound systems at venues like the Festival Theatre and it certainly doesn’t help a group like the McGarrigles to deliver their delicate brand of country/pop/blues/cajun/music hall/ballad to the faithful.

The band opened with “Dancer with Bruised Knees” featuring some fine violin work from Joel Zifkin and giving us a chance ‘to take a look at the performers. For one thing there was an extra McGarrigle – three for the price of two. Jane, listed as tour manager, seems to be the group minder, providing soothing jokes when things get ragged and adding a strong third’ voice to the occasionally fragile voices of the others.

Her presence anchored the performance which was just as well because Kate’s amateur hour stage manner was threatening to become somewhat arch. “We don’t introduce our songs,” she, said a shade too tartly, “because we already know them.” Things began to settle down with a couple of songs from their early albums – “First Born” and “NaCl” and the McGarrigles stopped rolling their eyes and staring at microphones as if they’d never seen anything like them on their maple syrup farms in Quebec. By the time they got to “Naufragee du Tendre” (Shipwrecked) the band was hitting its straps as well. The rhythm section with Gerry Conway on drums and Pat Donaldson on bass have been associated with the McGarrigles since their second album but their presence is much more evident these days. Former members of Fotheringay – part of the Fairport Convention group of companies – they bring those Fairport signatures, chunky drumming and resonant striding bass lines, to the overall sound.

The McGarrigles played a delightful range of songs including the winsome “Sun, Son (Shining on the Water)” with some spacious synthesiser fills from Anna. They also sang Cajun songs, traditional ballads, songs about airline pilots, oil riggers serenading teenage runaways and songs like “Love is” – “Love is a twelve bar blues / Love is blue suede shoes / Love is a mind confused” which as with so many McGarrigle compositions has a lyric which is too cute for daylight but sung with sparkingly clear country vocals and Sankey hymn. piano chords garnished with Jorn Reissner’s nicely understated guitar lines, is all too appealing to resist.

After interval the speakers were still humming but so was the band. They began with a splendid version of Loudon Wainwright’s “Swimming Song” complete with banjo, mandolin and accordion accompaniment which they followed with some new songs which will have McGarrigle fans rampaging to their sixth album whenever it appears.

By the time they got to “Heart like a Wheel” all three vocals had blended exquisitely. After a spirited version of “Love Over and Over” and an encore by the three sisters singing “Mendocino” with Kate’s lead vocal combining beautifully with the piano, no one needed convincing that the McGarrigles can make their music sound sweet – even if they can hardly be called mcgarrulous with a crowd of folks in front of them.

“Sisters” The Adelaide Review, March, 1986, p.9.