Gig Review: Steeleye Span Coventry 20/12/2009

Steeleye Span played the twenty-ninth night of a thirty date UK tour at Warwick Arts Centre on Sunday and delivered a professional performance of material from throughout their forty year career. The band have survived constant line-up changes, member illnesses and Mike Batt during that time and now feature Maddy Prior (vocals), Rick Kemp (bass/vocals), Peter Knight (fiddle), Ken Nicol (guitar/vocals), and Liam Genockey (drums), with multi-instrumentalist Pete Zorn joining the band on stage having previously filled in for Kemp.

Maddy Prior is undoubtedly the leading lady and although links and vocals were shared and a couple of instrumental tunes included, the band peaks when Prior takes charge. She has enormous stage presence even before she sings and twirls mesmerically in a scarlet gown, but her voice is as commanding and strong as ever, particularly resonant on Child ballad The Great Silkie of Sules Skerry, performed by Prior with Knight's violin as sole accompaniment. Other highlights included opening murder ballad Little Sir Hugh, Genockey's drumming on The Three Sisters and Cold, Haily, Windy Night, sung by Kemp.

There was slightly more of a focus on post-Tim Hart material (though only one track from 2009 offering 'Cogs, Wheels and Lovers') but Hart, who is in poor health, did feature on the interval entertainment, a forthcoming album of nursery rhymes. A couple of songs were less engaging, with Steeleye's distinctive electric folk at times sounding curiously more dated than a few of the ballads. This perhaps contributes to what is at times a slightly surreal atmosphere. An institution, a band almost as old as the university, had rolled onto campus with routine commercial bustle, although the unlikely site of Prior selling raffle tickets during the interval, flanked by two security men, was still unexpected!

This was a seasoned, not seasonal display, with Christmas tracks from 'Winter' and surely a staple encore classic Gaudete omitted in favour of "Unconquered Sun", a winter solstice song targeting the (niche) pagan druid market and an encore comprising a singalong rendition of All Around My Hat and blues-tinged Hard Times of Old England, featuring solos from most of the band. You can't criticise performers for being too well-versed in their songs and it did not feel as though they were going through the motions - but perhaps lacking the emotions you might expect from a 40th anniversary gig. The average audience member definitely remembered the first time around and a 25th anniversary sweater adorned one bearded patron. To borrow an album title - now I would have been six...

Set List

Little Sir Hugh
Cold, Haily, Windy Night
Seagull
Sheep-Crook and Black Dog
Babylon
Bachelor's Hall
I Live Not Where I Love
Si Begh Si Mohr
Gallant Frigate Amphitrite

Interval

All Things Are Quite Silent
Ranzo
The Great Silkie of Sules Skerry - Peter Knight & Maddy Prior
Unconquered Sun
Van Diemen's Land
Peace on the Border
The Three Sisters
Irish fiddle tunes
Bonny Black Hare

Encore
All Around My Hat
Hard Times of Old England

12/12/2009: Christmas Special

RaW Folk's Christmas party was as hip and happening as you'd expect (but with more breadsticks). Tunes ranged from KT Tunstall's kazoo-infected 'Mele Kalikamaka (Christmas in Hawaii)' to Joni Mitchell's sublime, melancholy festive lament 'River' - while Dylan's Christmas selection box was tucked into with glee as this week's Featured Album.

Meanwhile we basked in the glory of Mumford & Sons, whose Little Lion Man achieved sixth in RaW's annual Single of the Year chart countdown on Tuesday, finishing just four votes short of top spot. Many thanks to all for your support - and to everyone who has emailed the show or posted comments here this year. Merry Christmas to all!

Music Played
Artist - Song (Album)

Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (Fleet Foxes)
Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds (Sigh No More)
Waterboys - World Party (Fisherman's Blues)
Maddy Prior & the Carnival Band - The World Turned Upside Down (Hang Up Sorrow and Care)

Featured Album: Bob Dylan - Christmas in the Heart
Bob Dylan - Winter Wonderland

Youngsters - Christmas in Jail (Doo Wop Christmas [various])
Slow Club - Christmas TV (Christmas Thanks for Nothing [EP])

Featured Album: Bob Dylan - Christmas in the Heart
Bob Dylan - Must Be Santa

KT Tunstall - Mele Kalikimaka (Christmas in Hawaii) (A Very KT Christmas)
Steeleye Span - Gaudete (Below the Salt)
Kate Rusby - Sweet Bells (Sweet Bells)
Joni Mitchell - River (Blue)

Featured Album: Bob Dylan - Christmas in the Heart
Bob Dylan - O' Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)

The Unthanks - Tar Barrel in Dale (Lucky Gilchrist [single])

05/12/2009

No session guests this week but a busy show nonetheless, spotlighting a few of the nominees for the forthcoming BBC Folk Awards 2010 - the shortlist for which was announced on Wednesday. In addition, the show spearheaded the "Mumford & Sons for Single of the Year" campaign, imploring listeners to vote for the folk in RaW's annual chart countdown. Last year RaW Folk's listeners backed White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes to the heady heights of number 14, so let's see if we can do even better this year. Head over to radio.warwick.ac.uk/singleoftheyear to vote before 5pm today - and if you need any more convincing, please watch the video below (although beware - it's definitely not the radio edit). Don't forget to tune into Compact Disco on Tuesday from 6-8pm on RaW 1251AM to hear the Top 20 chart countdown live.



Finally, listener Em emailed in asking for views on the news that Dylan's A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall has been adopted as "an unofficial anthem" by the UN ahead of the Copenhagen climate change summit - and wondering how the UN sets about making such a decision. Did they vote on it?! If you have any ideas for alternative anthems, post them here!

Talking of Sir Bob, tune in next week for RaW Folk's first festive December show to hear tracks from his new album Christmas in the Heart - and to get you in the mood, here's the extraordinary video for "Must Be Santa".



Music Played
Artist - Song (Album)

Demon Barbers - The Good Old Days (+24db)
The Darwin Song Project - Kingdom Come (Shrewsbury 2009)
Megson - Follow it On (Smoke of Home)
Show of Hands - Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed (Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed)
The Queensberry Rules - Sinking Town (The Black Dog and Other Stories)
Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds (Sigh No More)
Leddra Chapman - Wrap Me Up (Telling Tales)
Mawkin:Causley - Cutty Wren (The Awkward Recruit)
Kate Rusby - Blooming Heather (Awkward Annie)
Cara Dillon - Spencer the Rover (Hill of Thieves)
Martin Simpson - Duncan and Brady (Prodigal Son)
Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man (Sigh No More)

To view the full list of nominees for February's BBC Folk Awards, click here.