Whirling dervishes and Highland funk fans will get a chance to relive the glory days of Mad Pudding when the much-loved band reunites for the first time in eight years this weekend. Formed by singer-accordionist Amy Stephen and singer-guitarist Andy Hillhouse in 1994, the quintet started with traditional tunes from the U.K. but soon evolved into something unique.

“We were really known as a dance band,” says violinist Cam Wilson. “People would just come to dance: they wouldn’t listen, but they’d helicopter dance, like at the folk festivals and so on, and that was a draw in itself.”

A similarly festive mood should prevail at St. James Hall, where the Puddings will steam things up on Saturday (November 24). Wilson, however, has one worry: stamina. “Going back to those tunes now and trying to play them, my fingers go into traction,” he reports, before reassuring the Straight that he’s really not that worried. Mad Pudding’s fabled energy is coming back, he says, as if it never left.