Wow – the opening Bonny Black
Hare shifted the cobwebs & any earwax that might have been
around. This was going to be worth the effort (& cost) of getting 3
family members across from Northern Germany to attend – we had
excellent seats in the 5th row.
Maybe it due to being the final concert on the tour: our impression
was that the band was playing well, Maddy’s voice was good from the
start and this concert was far better than the one we had seen in Oxford
2 years previously (& that wasn’t bad at all…). Nothing lack-lustre
on this night. I estimate that the theatre was probably about 2/3rds
full and it’s a pretty large theatre. The audience were in for a good
time (Rick did say it was brave to stage a concert on a Bank Holiday
weekend) and there were plenty of loud cheers from the back.
I won’t go into details of all the songs – the play set had
varied a bit from earlier in the tour. To pick out just a few: I Live
Not Where I Love (Maddy’s superb voice & Ken’s acoustic
guitar), Who's The Fool Now, Lord Gregory and Ken’s Demon
Of The Well featuring his slide guitar. 30 years ago the two jigs Last
House in Connaught/The Lady Of The House would have had the audience
dancing in the aisles; this time there were plenty of feet moving around
even if the rest of the bodies were wedged firmly in their chairs (Peter
was also sat whilst playing this one).
The first encore was Cam Ye O’er Frae France followed by a
completely re-arranged (rocky) Hard Times of Olde England. For
the second encore they came on wearing safety helmets & of course
the song hat to be Hat. Maddy claimed that we had something to
beat following the Winchester concert so the Oxford contingent didn’t
want to be outdone – even if there were some accents! No Gaudete
this time. A number of not-so-old members of the audience were on their
feet after this waving & cheering & if the band hadn’t
departed so quickly they might have got a standing ovation (why do they
leave so fast?).
If I were to make a suggestion it would be to put Liam’s drum kit
on a slightly raised stand. As it was we could not see him – he was
sat down at the back of the stage & the others were stood up at the
front and thus he was pretty well hidden from sight!
So we all trouped out. Our son Alex (17) would have liked a Steeleye
tour T-shirt but they were sold out. Glum looks. The first attempt to
prise the example that was firmly nailed to a board as an exhibit
failed. A more rigorous attempt was led by Debbie and there were further
attempts using ignition keys to attack the staples until the T-shirt was
off the board & handed to Alex (complete with a number of holes). It
fitted his almost 6 foot frame! It was a kind gesture that he was given
the T-shirt without charge – and on turning round there was Peter to
shake his hand & to tell him not to believe a thing his parents tell
him..….
We also spoke with Ken – mentioning that if he turns up on the
continent with his slide guitar it will get amused looks – its
purple-like colour is a similar shade to that used by Suchard in their
advertisements for “Milka” chocolate. Could feature his guitar
instead of the purple-painted cows (you have to live on the European
mainland to appreciate that…)
Another evening to remember – have to start saving the Euros for
the Christmas tour…....
