Limelight & Accents and Geneseo Campus Activities Board hosted Celtic-influenced band Tartan Terrors on Saturday Oct. 24 in Wadsworth Auditorium. This was the second performance installation in the Limelight & Accents Performing Arts Series.
Tartan Terrors visited Geneseo for a benefit show—all proceeds went to support people with breast cancer. While the show aided an honorable and serious cause, warmth and humor were sprinkled into the show through its tongue-in-cheek title, “Laughter is the Best Medicine.”
Tartan Terrors are currently on tour across North America in a self-proclaimed “Celtic Invasion.” They fuse various genres of music, seamlessly blending both traditional with modern. While the group expertly plays classic, traditional pipes, they also dance and humor the crowd.
The lively performance incorporated a mix of music, dance and comedy. Now Dig This magazine called Tartan Terrors “one act to keep an eye on” and their show was proof of this statement. Their performance on stage was engaging and memorable.
Dressed in green kilts and Halloween shirts, their live instrumentation—which included bagpipes and acoustics backed by a heavy beat—made their performance sound genuine and unique. Tartan Terrors members also dressed in breast cancer awareness shirts, keeping the audience aware of the purpose of the benefit show.
As part of their reputation for blending the old with the new, Tartan Terrors played a mix of traditional folk and modern songs, including Old Crow Medicine Show’s well known “Wagon Wheel,” which received a wild applause from the audience. In addition, Tartan Terrors’ performance of traditional Irish step dancing was one of the most anticipated performances of the night and was another highlight of the show.
The show took a serious turn with a moving and expressive interpretive dance, backed by Kal Hourd’s “When Pink Is Just A Color Again.” This meaningful song revolved around a woman’s battle with breast cancer and was a wonderful way to acknowledge the motivation behind the show. In this dance, the woman portraying a breast cancer patient was dressed in a hospital gown, making the performance even more touching and authentic.
According to Limelight & Accents co-coordinator sophomore Sydney Levine—who coordinated the event alongside co-coordinator junior Molly Caccia—Tartan Terrors “generously donated around $200 to [Geneseo’s] Colleges Against Cancer chapter to show their appreciation for our school and promote a sense of security.”
“This donation came from their sales of CDs and T-shirts as well as a few patrons who donated money to the cause,” Levine added.
As the engaging benefit show came to a close, one of Tartan Terrors’ main dancers reminded the audience that, “We’re all in this together and that’s the most important part of life.” It was a very beautiful comment considering the focus of the benefit show.