Folk Rock Pioneers in
Concert.
Any fan of the band who saw them on the "Babylon" Tour of 2004
will be familiar with the contents of this double CD,
as it consisits largely of the set played at the time. Indeed, as the
sleevenote tells us it is basically a recording of the
concert at the Southampton Guildhall, with a couple of extras from the
winter tour of the same year.
If you hadn't caught up with the band recently, you may be surprised to see
a different line-up, namely no Bob Johnson.
Instead, Ken Nicol is now firmly established as guitarist, singer and
song-writer. For my money, Ken is an excellent replacement for Bob, although
he has a very different style, both musically and by way of stage presence.
Anyway, to the music. There's too much on this double CD to go into great
detail, but the two CD's represent sets
one and two of the concert. We kick off with a faithful rendition of
"King Henry", although I feel Ken's guitar slightly lacks the rocky
"edge " of the original. "Padstow" seems to have been a
rousing favourite of recent years, and this comes next, again with a faithful
treatment, with no surprises.. The next three tracks, "Prince
Charlie", " Four Nights Drunk" and "Who Told The
Butcher" are more interesting, possibly because
I am less familiar with them as songs performed "live". They
sound fresh, with Peter Knight's fiddle giving a very scottish lilt,
then swaying in intoxicated fashion. Peter sings lead on
"Butcher" and plays piano. I especially like Ken's guitar solo here.
"Mantle of Green" is as I remember from the tour, a truly lovely
combination of Maddy's singing, Peter's violin and Ken's
gentle and melodic acoustic guitar. Set One warms up to a climax, through
"Samain", "Long Lankin" and of course "All Around My
Hat"
nicely placed here, instead of as an encore. Rick sings lead on "Samain",
and seems to forget the words at one point.
I like the fact that this minor mistake is left in. It certainly doesn't
detract.
Set two starts with my favourite on the whole album "Tam Lin".
This song shows every member of the band working well. Maddy is at her most
dramatic, as the Fairy Queen, and even sings off key to enhance the effect.
Peter and Ken soar melodically as the drama unfolds
and Rick and Liam can both be heard clearly adding texture and rhythm
behind the tunes. And the tunes keep changing through this
arrangement. There's never a dull moment!
"Go Down" is now a very familiar part of a Steeleye set, this
arrangement stands out for me because of Ken's excellent and sympathetic solo.
just adds something new. The next track, Liam 's drum solo, is fun to
listen to loud, although I often feel "live " drum solo's on a
recording don't have the
same impact listened to at home! This leads straight into "Drink Down
the Moon", one of my favourites. This song seems to
get raunchier through the decades. It has certainly grown up since
"Now We Are Six" gave us the original, although the arrangement is
basically the same.
"Si Beg Si Mohr" is an instrumental, again faithful to the
original, but with even better acoustic guitar, as Ken fills in behind Peter's
melody.
A high-light for me on this set is "Blackleg Miner". This is
another Steeleye standard that seems to have grown up. It not only has
Rick's excellent and funky bass, but Liam fills in at every possible
moment, and Peter and Ken produce some excellent
and very rocky solos. "Sir James the Rose" seems to have found a
new lease of life since it's appearance in revised form on "Present"
about four years ago . In this version there is certainly plenty of life. The
set ends with "Cam Ye" and "Gaudete". No big surprises in
either of these, exept that the band is rocking as much as ever in the
Jacobite romp, and Liam can be heard, I believe taking one of the vocal parts
in the Medieval chant.
Maybe we'll hear more of Mr Genocky's vocal talents?
The extra tracks really are a bonus. I've never heard the band
perform
"London" live, and it's a good rocky revision of the original.
Rick takes lead vocal on this song, and also on the last track "Cold
Haily Night". I actually think Rick gives as good a Carthy impression as
we are likely to get from this lineup. He sings with gusto, and the band
attack this heavy arrangement with conviction, and there's good soloing , and
a crashing crescendo to bring a fitting climax to this very "live "
album.
This album shows the band making the best of their heritage, but also
forging ahead with new material and fresh approaches.
I recommend this to the die-hard fan, but also to anyone who knew the band
in the past, and want to see how they sound now. I don't think you'll be
disappointed.........unless you're hoping for lengthy jigs and reels. But I
feel the generally very rocky approach makes up for that.
Geoff Baker.
2006
