With yet another instalment of Scottish traditional music, RANT brought their lively fiddle quartet tunes to an even livelier audience at The Traverse. Comprised of Bethany Reid, Anna Massie, Lauren MacColl, and Gillian Frame, RANT are a powerhouse of a band, bringing an energy to their music that finds your toe tapping involuntarily.
Having attended many a music night at The Traverse, never have I seen an audience in such high spirits as I did at RANT. Starting off as a rather coy but enamoured crowd, after Anna Massie came to introduce the next tune, the audience were soon whooping, clapping and stamping. It is quite a skill to evoke that kind of energy from an audience—especially given that the demographic of most of The Traverse’s music nights are of an older, very well-mannered generation.
But with Massie’s comedian-like anecdotes and humorous quips, RANT had no trouble putting the audience at ease and bringing out their wild side. As well as being a band comprised of comedians, their fiddle playing was not too shabby either. Tackling flurrying, fiddly passages with ease and incorporating a myriad of sonic, percussive techniques on the fiddles, RANT are as skilled technically as they are expressionally.
Describing themselves as a “chamber-folk quartet,” this is a perfectly fitting title, with RANT bringing a hint of classical flair to their music. They use close harmonies, pedalled root notes, glissandos, and the like. RANT’s expertise knows no bounds—offering both luxuriously drawn-out passages and aggressively attacking reels. They played with rhythm and tonality throughout, and every time the rhythm syncopated, the crowd were in awe.
The two hours of music flew by as RANT managed to capture and engage the audience’s attention with their range of tunes, the majority of which appear on their most recent album Spin, released in early 2024. This is an album of RANT’s favourite classic traditional tunes, which they have rearranged to make their own—including one of my favourites, The Big Reel of Ballynacally—a piece RANT has managed to completely reinvent while still maintaining the song’s integrity and joyous nature.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a gig at The Traverse without Soundhouse’s co-founder Douglas Robertson cheering the band on from the sidelines. Robertson sure knows how to programme a lineup—RANT were pure Scottish excellence. With two remaining tour dates in Cumbernauld on the 26th of June and New Galloway on the 28th, this is a band you do not want to miss.
Reviewer: Jessie Martin
Reviewed: 22nd June 2025
North West End UK Rating: