Here’s one festival act who never fail to cut the mustard with audiences
◆ Colonel Mustard & the Dijon 5 are all set to spice up festival season
The summer music festival scene looms large, and that’s where you will almost certainly find one of the most engaging, entertaining bands to emerge from Scotland… if you’ve never encountered Colonel Mustard & the Dijon 5, you are in for a treat.
An 11-strong ensemble, all dressed in yellow – the happiest of colours – they celebrate the positive and make music fun to listen to and be part of.
I first encountered Colonel Mustard at Butefest in Rothesay pre-covid.
They took to the stage in that midafternoon slot when the crowd’s energy and attention dip – the slot Glastonbury solved by filling it with bona fide legends such as Neil Diamond and Tom Jones – and didn’t so much breathe life into it as give it the most invigorating shake to leave the entire place buzzing. They were first to be asked back the next year, by popular demand.
Imagine a mix of Primal Scream, Dexy’s and the Happy Mondays and you kinda get the picture, but the band has to be seen live to appreciate all it does. “Peace, love and mustard” is its slogan, and, led by the irrepresible John Mcalinden – aka Colonel John Tomas Mustard – its music brims with joy and positivity, with a strong message on mental health.
The song titles and topics may be tongue in cheek, but the band takes what it does seriously, and the result is a live set that makes you smile and dance. Only a Scottish band could sing about gingerhaired girls, and invite them on stage to be part of it rather than the butt of the joke, while Cross The Road has to be the best road safety message since the Green Cross Code man first appeared. It’s the ultimate in audience participation too – the crowd corralled to one side of the field and made to cross safely with a lollipop lady, all the while singing the catchy chorus – and if you hesitate about joining in, the band will happily wait until all stragglers are on board.
And no other Scottish band can claim to have taken their music to festivals in South Korea and one on the very border of North Korea.
Mcalinden is an engaging front man, and the top-notch musicians create a fusion of sound like no other. If you’re at a festival this year and see Colonel Mustard on the bill, do yourself a favour and watch them. You will emerge ten times happier – and you will cross that road!