Ashley won't make the audience feel warm and fuzzy inside with stock compliments like, “This town’s the best town I’ve ever played in.” In fact, this east-coaster poked fun at our local British Columbian politics and called attention to the fact that “such a lively crowd” hardly budged from their seats during his high-energy concert opening. I wholeheartedly agreed with him on that point since his fiddling was certainly deserving of some audience participation and not dancing was an insult to the fiddler.

And what a fiddler he is. Ashley has mastered his instrument with marvelous innovation.

Before the concert I expected his backward violin hold and unconventional technique would have gotten in the way of my appreciation of him as a violinist, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. His musicality, phrasing, and sense of style were phenomenal. He was up and down the neck of his instrument with such fluency as to lead a non-player to think it was incredibly easy.

There’s one word to describe Ashley MacIsaac’s playing: INTENSE. From lilting jigs to hard rock with fiddle solos, his intensity was electrifying. He'll never leap across the stage with enthusiasm and he only grugingly step-danced in the traditonal style, “hobbling and wobbling” as he put it. Even without the typical violinist's stage presence, he does give an electrifying, intense show and his attitude is fun.

Though his sound is rough and harsh, the subtle nuances like grace notes and other embellishments make his interpretation of traditional Celtic songs priceless. I was captured by his aggressive yet nimble bowing and laughed each time another few stands of hair came loose from his bow. He had to stop a few times to yank out the stray hairs from his balding instrument, during which he would babble on about everyday things.

He explained in great detail about his dinner earlier that night at a Chinese restaurant. “I had the ‘Lovers for Two Dinner.’ I was pretty full by the end of it. I don’t know what that has to with the next song.”