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STEELEYE SPAN - PALACE
THEATRE, REDDITCH, The gig was great. Two halves of Steeleye.
Bliss! The Palace Theatre is quite small so everyone had a good view. The
mix and balance of the instruments was excellent, better even than when I saw
them on Monday at Derby where I thought that Tim's guitar was
slightly too low in the mix. Peter also had his 'Octave' violin
back which was also missing on Monday due to a broken string. The concert started gently with 'Horkstow Grange' beautifully sung with wonderful harmonies and then straight into 'John of Ditchford' one of the great new rockers from 'Bedlam Born'. I think they will still be playing this live for many years to come (like 'Thomas'), as not only is it a great album track but a wonderful 'live' tune too. The fantastic tunes just kept coming, 'Who told The Butcher', 'Bonny Birdie', 'Thomas The Rhymer'....... The songs always take on a special 'magic' live as Steeleye never play them quite the same, always changing little things, keeping them fresh and alive. You will even now hear differences in the songs from the new album 'Bedlam Born'. Dave Mattacks is a great drummer keeping things together with a tight beat and seeming to be enjoying himself immensely. He seems so relaxed while playing, making everything look really easy and effortless; a sure sign of a great musician. It's great seeing Rick Kemp back in Steeleye. As long-time fans of Steeleye will know Rick's playing is legendary and he is still on top form. Another great musician that makes the most complex things look really easy. Tim he a revelation. We all know he is a brilliant bass player and great keyboard player (more of this later) and now a guitar player as well. Is there anything that this man can't play? Tim's playing is different from Bob's in that Bob used to concentrate a lot on licks and fills whereas Tim is more of a rhythmic player keeping a pounding beat through a lot of the new up-tempo tunes and playing some great riffs in songs like 'John of Ditchford'. Also Tim uses a Gibson Les Paul compared to Bob's Fender Stratocaster, and these guitars have very different sounds and characteristics. They are neither better or worse than each other, just different. Tim now sings a lot of the new tunes as well and as taken over Bob's mantle as teller of the 'gory' big ballads. What can we say about Gay. Hasn't she just got a most marvelous voice. 'Beyond The Dreaming Place' just makes you 'melt'. She is a also great 'front' person telling jokes and stories while the guys fiddle about with their instruments between songs. And of course Peter. Who can play violin like Peter? No-one! He is the absolute master of his craft. And now with the 'Octave' I don't think there is any sound that Peter cannot produce with four strings and a bow. Just listen to what he does on the backing to 'Beyond The Dreaming Place'. Only one encore amazingly, as the audience were up for another but they just put the lights on and that was that. It seems that Redditch closes at 9-45. During the 'Hat' song Tim broke a string on his guitar and when they went into 'The Mason's Apron' he just transferred to the keyboards and did an amazing solo on that instead. What a talented guy. In fact there is so much talent up there on stage it is incredible. Each one of those people are at the top of their Art and they are all together in one band. Don't you just feel sorry for the people that only ever listen to a narrow band of 'main-stream' music and miss out on all the really good stuff? Also there was a special treat. Maddy Prior was in the audience. What a perfect night. In fact Richard Hollis
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