Spanning the Years
Last week lilachigh went, but this week it was my turn to go and see Steeleye Span on their 40th anniversary tour :) J had very nobly got tickets for us though he doesn't really like folk music and kept muttering things like "I can't believe I'm doing this." I can't believe that Steeleye Span have been going for 40 years but they certainly sang and played with the energy of people a lot younger.
The theatre was full which says quite a bit for their pulling power as it isn't small. The performance was a mix of old and new songs (some of which I didn't know but enjoyed a lot so must look them out). Maddy Prior's voice is still fabulous and if anything I thought her range was greater. She did a wonderful duet with Peter Knight on the fiddle where she went from soft and lilting to raw and harsh almost imitating the sound of the fiddle and her rendition of the Elf Queen's verses in Tam Lin was spine-tingling. The other outstanding thing for me was Peter Knight's fiddle playing (and his very dry humour). The audience was enjoying themselves hugely and it appeared the band was too as at the end they thanked us all for a great evening and appeared to mean it. Even J was won over as though he said he didn't like all of the songs he said he thought the band themselves were "excellent". A terrific evening was had by all and it was nice to do something completely different for a change.
The only downside was, of course, the chatty ladies in front of us and the garrulous guys beside us. People no longer seem to be able to tell the difference between talking through a television programme in their living room and talking through a public performance. At least nobody's mobile phone went off, but it was still annoying!
The theatre was full which says quite a bit for their pulling power as it isn't small. The performance was a mix of old and new songs (some of which I didn't know but enjoyed a lot so must look them out). Maddy Prior's voice is still fabulous and if anything I thought her range was greater. She did a wonderful duet with Peter Knight on the fiddle where she went from soft and lilting to raw and harsh almost imitating the sound of the fiddle and her rendition of the Elf Queen's verses in Tam Lin was spine-tingling. The other outstanding thing for me was Peter Knight's fiddle playing (and his very dry humour). The audience was enjoying themselves hugely and it appeared the band was too as at the end they thanked us all for a great evening and appeared to mean it. Even J was won over as though he said he didn't like all of the songs he said he thought the band themselves were "excellent". A terrific evening was had by all and it was nice to do something completely different for a change.
The only downside was, of course, the chatty ladies in front of us and the garrulous guys beside us. People no longer seem to be able to tell the difference between talking through a television programme in their living room and talking through a public performance. At least nobody's mobile phone went off, but it was still annoying!