It wouldn’t have been a surprise to see the walls of Stirling’s Tolbooth shaking on Wednesday night. Even the ghosts of centuries past couldn’t have resisted the pure energy carried in Gnoss’s music on their keenly-awaited return to Stirling.
The four-piece folk band, constructed of Aiden Moodie on guitar and vocals, Graham Rorie on fiddle, mandolin, and electric tenor guitar, Connor Sinclair on flute, whistle, and vocals, and local man Craig Baxter on bodhran and percussion, certainly crafted an atmosphere able to make the most stubborn audience stomp a foot or two on the evening of 30 September.
“One of our favourite venues in Scotland”
Gnoss last played the Tolbooth in May 2025. The venue, small yet mighty, has seen the likes of Jo Whiley and Alan Carr, and is a major hub for culture in Stirling. Once condemned as the worst prison in Scotland, adorned with buried bodies and roadside hangings, the venue now sings with life high in Stirling’s old town.
Adelaide’s, from Gnoss’s 2021 album The Light of The Moon, opened the set. A classic tune from Gnoss, rich with their signature lyrical flute, set the well-filled room up with high expectations for the rest of the set.
Sticking with the older tunes, The River came next. A lyrical masterpiece was performed with pure joy from Orcadian vocalist Aiden Moodie. The two tunes back-to-back revealed the contemporary twist that Gnoss brings to traditional music, as their understately clever composition brings generations together under the same umbrella labelled ‘loving purely good music.’
Of course, the banter of the band can’t be put aside. One of the most refreshing aspects of a Gnoss gig is the chat. Whilst highlighting the half-time merch stand, Graham joked that “If you didn’t have a torso to put a t-shirt on, then you’d definitely have a CD player – and that covers everybody.” They’re fresh, they’re young, they’re cool – trad is certainly not dying with the older generations.
The wittily-named Good Crieff, also from the 2021 album, came next. It must be mentioned, purely for the joy of the pun, despite dismay expressed by the band towards Connor, who composed the piece. At Brig, we’re certainly gnoss above a good pun. Right?
New Music and New Year Excitement for Gnoss
The band announced that in just three short weeks, they would begin recording their fourth studio album. “Well, it doesn’t exist yet,” Aiden told us at the merch stand when we asked if there’s anything they’d like to say about the upcoming release, although there was an air of excitement about the band as they embark on further journeys. Having just returned from a tour of North America, it’s certainly easy to say that big things are on the horizon for this group.
There was also a brief mention of exciting things coming up for Gnoss in the new year, although it was kept under tight wraps (come on, Gnoss, you can tell us, we’re a student paper, we need exclusives!)
We did, however, get a taste of the next album with a tune named after Connor’s rescue Greyhound Guinness (not “hop skip and you have to dance”, thankfully, as an English audience member had suggested before the piece had a name). If this tune was anything to go by, then rest assured that you’ll have the next album on relentless repeat upon its release.
The band wrapped up the 90-minute gig with a massive thank you to Tolbooth for supporting live music in these challenging times, and this is a thank you that we at Brig must echo. Culture in Stirling is thriving thanks to the efforts of Tolbooth and The Albert Halls, and if gigs like this are anything to go by, then we lovers of culture can sleep easy knowing live music has a comfortable home in Stirling.
You can keep an eye on Gnoss’s upcoming gigs here. We, for one, wholeheartedly recommend the experience.
Featured Image Credit: Martha Steventon Photography
Editor-in-Chief | Brig Newspaper | 26/27
Co-editor | BRAW Magazine | 24/25, 25/26
Full Portfolio: https://www.clippings.me/users/alicepollard
