The Venue, OranMor, 24th June, 2007.

Five tremendously talented women and one great band. If this gig had been repeated the next night we would have gone back for more. Never have I heard such a wide ranging set - lively jigs, haunting ballads, Scottish airs and ceilidh music.

The harmonies are intricate and amazing and the audience are just so lucky that these women found each other because each of this is so talented in their own right. The band grew out of the Scottish harp duo 'Sileas' with Mary McMaster, from Glasgow, and Patsy Seddon, an Edinburgh lass, who met up with singer and guitarist, Sally Barker, when she was working on a solo album. The idea of forming an all women band was born and in 1990 Karen Tweed, the all Ireland accordian champion, joined the band. More recently, the accomplished fiddle player, Eilidh Shaw became one of The Poozies.

All impressive musicians they just relax into the gig and engage the audience from the outset. Sheer ability underpins the ease and humour in their performance. The melodies sound magical and the varied set seems to comprise of their own favourite songs, and in addition to Gaelic tunes, they sang in, what sounded like, perfect Polish and even had people on the floor dancing to a French bourr?e. We were treated to some of their own compositions and laughed at their funny stories.

There was a real joy in this gig, from The Poozies - a not so serious, seriously talented band.

A great finale to the West End Festival, 2007.
Pat Byrne

The Poozies' website