High energy, unhinged, and musically extravagant, they are a dynamic three piece offering a unique sound with influences from Scottish, Irish, Balkan and gypsy jazz music all delivered with punk abandonment and virtuosic flare. Wrapping pan European traditional acoustic music with infectious grooves, epic, pounding, sing along, punch the air anthems to intricately arranged instrumentals.
Challenging the limitations of what people might expect acoustic instruments to sound like, the use of bowed harmonics between fiddle and bass can be as menacing and eerie as it can be psychedelic and mesmerising. Percussion provided by the front man Langan, whilst singing and driving the rhythm guitar, he somehow co-ordinates the operation of a Cajon and a tambourine with his feet bringing the driving, swinging groove of the rhythm guitar together with his foot percussion resulting in an impressively tight band sound with a tempo that is free to go anywhere. Add scorching hot fiddle lines and a guy thumping the groove out of a double bass. If you’re not dancing like a demented ostrich by the end of their set you get a refund.
The John Langan Band formed in Glasgow in 2008 after John had spent years travelling the globe gathering and writing songs, honing his performance on the streets and searching for the perfect band. Ironically it wasn’t till he came home to Glasgow that he found what he was looking for in Dave Tunstall (double bass/backing vocals) and Alastair Caplin (fiddle/backing vocals). In their first year they won the prestigious Danny Kyle Award at Celtic Connections and have since been unfailingly making crowds dance like maniacs at gigs and festivals all over the UK and Europe. Dave Tunstall is also well known for being a member of Orchestra Elastique and Alastair Caplin also plays alongside Alasdair Roberts.