Steeleye Span

13th. December 2004, London Palladium

A review by Barry Howard

"Right then, lets get the gripes out of the way at the beginning.  Given the way that this concert was billed - "Steeleye Span and Friends" "Steeleye will be joined by some very special guests including ...." I'd expected more.  Tim Harries, for me, doesn't constitute "some very special guests". No quibble about the absence of John Kirkpatrick - obviously - and I wish the guy well, he's a smashing bloke.  But I was beginning to wonder what the point of having an artist of the stature of Ralph McTell there was when he jammed in with one number in the first set - but then we had the Streets Of London encore.  Still, I'm not sure that I would have billed him - rather have had him as a surprise and then I wouldn't have been left feeling that they'd missed a trick - I'd have expected them to do more with him.  And the absence of any more "very special guests" left you feeling a little short changed: £28.50 is not cheap for a ticket but you judge whether or not its worth it by the bill.  We didn't get what was billed. 

That being said, did it really matter?  The answer is a resounding NO!  For this was a tremendous gig.  The band were on top form, the selection of material was spot on (in my opinion).  They did use Martin Carthy well, and again I will say that the extra voice is the mix is an essential that they really should consider; Steeleye was always a 5-part harmony and that was part of the richness of their sound.  The addition of the acoustic guitar into the mix brought longings for Tim Hart.  I loved the early stuff from the Tim and Maddy days, the duet version of Cold, Haily, Windy Night with Martin and Rick grinning at each other across the stage and then 3/5th of Steeleye Mark II backed by 3/5th of Steeleye Mark whatever-number-we're up to now recreating that wonderful Martin/Maddy duet on "The Lark In The Morning" - I'd have paid the price just to hear that.  Special mention must be made of what is becoming a staple part of the Steeleye set - the Maddy Prior/Peter Knight duet.  Earlier this year I saw them perform a blinding "Betsy Bell and Mary Gray".  Last night we had "Great Silkie of Sules Skerry" - a truly dramatic performance with stunning fiddle work from Peter. 

The musicianship was up to it's usual incredibly high standard, with Maddy reminding us that she is without a doubt the best interpreter of traditional song in folk-rock bringing out the drama of the songs, Ken Nicol's wonderfully intelligent lead guitar work, Peter Knight's soaring fiddle pyrotechnics all underpinned by the incredible bass of Rick Kemp and the subtle drumming of Liam Genocky.  In the interview section of the new DVD Peter Knight comments that the gigs are the important thing, and if the band delivers in those, then that's ok.  Last night, at the London Palladium, Steeleye Span delivered."

Barry Howard 2004