Seth Lakeman & Friends Review
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Woah two staff Christmas dos mine and K's a winter beer festival at Wetherspoons and Xmas shopping and a few ales = Sunday and I'm still plastered!
Anyway here's me review from Thursday:
Dan Donnelly – Exeter University 14th December 2006
The Belfast born New York living singer, songwriter is Seth Lakeman’s first support act of the evening and is having a few technical difficulties, which eat into the time available for his set. He opens with ‘Love Will Save The Day’ playing to more of a huddle than a crowd and strumming over hi9s trademark loops created by tapping the body of the guitar.
His music seems more full of space than the last time I heard him where he sounded hurried and taught, now he seems more at ease and the tunes have more room to breathe. It’s as though he’s been sober for too long or here practising for ages, the music seems to hold more heartache tonight. As if by way of an explanation he tells us about the next track, ‘Spare Change’ a song about being bored out of your tiny mind.
Next up his rather enjoyable song about a woman smoking, now I still don’t know it’s name but I did know some of the words from having seen Dan four times now. The crowd has filled out to about half full as he asks us if we’d like to her a quiet song, there’s a few muted replies, Dan shrugs at the silent audience, grins and says he’ll play it anyway and if we don’t like it, we can go to the loo.
The song ‘Brooklyn’ is fragile and hushed and suits the quiet auditorium it also attracts many of the drinkers from the downstairs’ bar and come the next song ‘The Beach’ the crowd has doubled and Dan’s playing to a good sized audience. This seems to fill the emptiness in his music and as the last hushed repeated chant of “There is a light the never goes out.” Melts into thunderous applause.
The Irishman seems pleased with both his playing and the crowd’s approval and offers us a new song, we reply now with a fuller voice and ‘Lying in Road’ is presented for us, with ascending scales and a cross between blues and flamenco, Dan’s fingers blur before contracting to a rhythm of a slow moving steam train thundering over the plains replete with Woo Woo noises.
Dan tells us the next song is his last and thanks us for coming, telling us he’ll be flogging stuff in the lobby and hoping we’ll enjoy Seth’s set. It’s now the second time he’s supported him and then comes his best tune ‘Shine’ before a break into Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ to much applause, he leaves us with the words “Folk is the new rock ‘n’ roll” and telling us he’ll be flogging his stuff in the foyer, shortly.
A competent set, but it seemed to take him a while to get up to speed. He seemed more introverted than I’ve seen him previously and the music is more complex and emotional for it. He’s done well as a support act though and the crowd clap along to his final song and are abuzz waiting for the next act. I was certainly surprised to see the bar so deserted after his performance, with everyone having gone upstairs to see him.
Steve Knightly
I’m actually still in the bar waiting for Seth to start when I realise that there’s someone else on stage. I’d assumed the solo guitarist was sound checking but in fact, a rarity for the Great Hall, there is another support act, local artist and one half of West Country favourites Show of Hands.
‘Country Life’ gets a huge reception and he’s playing what looks like a cross between a guitar and a lute. He changes to a proper guitar for the next tune about the local river Dart, called ‘Cool River’ the song is gentle and bubbling and has the whole crowd caught in its currents.
There’s an impressive crowd in the Great Hall now for a new song called ‘Poppy Day’ about the plant which not only brings so much pain but also so much relief and talks of the heroin fields of Afghanistan and the soldiers fighting the Taliban and the poppy farmers, it’s a powerful anti-war and drugs song and ends with an ovation from us.
Steve swaps to a South American Quatro guitar made he quips in nearby Whipton Town for a song about Tom Cobbley, Widdicombe Fair turned into a murder ballad directed by Tarantino. It’s a great tune although I didn’t know its name. Between his songs Steve tunes up and the crowd are hushed, there’s not even a hubbub of chatter, incredible considering such a wide ranging age group including both young trendy people and bearded old folksters.
To break the silence Steve tells us that a year ago he came along to see Seth support The Levellers and now he says looking out at the sea of faces, he’s filling the venue on his own. ‘Roots’ is a great traditional song which name checks nearly every busking track a guitarist has in his repertoire before heading for classic folk guitar and Levellers’-esque pace.
With harmonica donned we get a folk version of Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman No Cry’ with local haunts in Exeter given a name check, the crowd are warmed up nicely for Seth and everything is indeed very alright. Steve’s a fantastic musician and a great warm up act, a terrific surprise and a special treat for the crowd awaiting Seth.
Seth Lakeman – Exeter University 14th December 2006
You could say this is Seth’s biggest local gig, as he returns to Exeter not as a support act but as the main event for tonight in the largest venue in Exeter, it’s a kind of homecoming for the indie-folk singer/fiddler/tenor guitarist and his band.
Cormac Byrne the usual rhythm player is absent and instead there’s a lady called Lucy, I believe, who provides the rhythm on an improvised drum, and does a great job of it too. Seth’s brother Sean is a flourish on guitar and really layering up the sound around Seth tonight and big Ben Nicholls has his double bass set up loud and it really works to have the bass booming above all the instruments, but the sound on the left side of the hall is patchy between songs.
I strain to catch what Seth is saying as he explains the stories behind tonight’s songs but fortunately his singing voice is far more robust than his quieter voice between songs. His guitar and violin playing are extraordinary as usual and the whole band are clearly happy to be here as headliners. Huge grins are plastered on their faces.
Wearing dark jeans and a black Tee, Seth and the band unleash an amazing first track of ‘Riflemen of War’ that gets a hearty response and it’s a celebrated homecoming tonight. Seth promises to play most of his third album Freedom Fields and Ben swaps his bass for a banjo and we get a storming version of ‘Blood Upon Copper’ the band have no nerves playing such a big venue and seem to relish it, there seems to be a lot of friends in the crowd tonight.
The intro to ‘Lady of the Sea’ has me moving location to better hear the acoustics and Lucy and Seth play the song unaccompanied by the rest of the band. What a fantastic song and Seth plays it wildly his body straining and in full voice.
The band rejoin them for a Dartmoor tale the wonderful ‘White Hare’ and there’s a few of us swaying in the audience and the front few rows of mainly female admirers are enrapt. The band doesn’t need clever light shows or video backdrops for the music carries us with its infectious rhythms and the subdued lighting and plain sheet mean there are no distractions from the music.
The band really let rip on ‘Colliers’ and Seth dedicates ‘King and Country’ to his Grandparents and it really is a terrific song. ‘Final Lot’ is full of energy and Seth says we’re about to get ‘Solomon Brown’ giving it a big introduction only for him to swap his tenor guitar for his fiddle and the band play ‘Fight for Favour’. No idea why Solomon was axed from the set, but Seth makes up for it by introducing a song from around these parts, the vibrant ‘Setting Sun’.
The power of the music is shimmering from the stage and everyone is captivated for ‘Take No Rogues’ surely the song of the night and by the time Seth introduces ‘The Storm’ there isn’t a single person unimpressed in the house, the applause is nearly as impressive as the music. A drinking song with a jig feel to it ‘How Much?’ has me dancing but not much of the crowd are joining me, I do hope album four has Seth returning to the more lively tracks from this his debut album Punch Bowl..
The band leave Seth alone again for ‘Kitty Jay’ from his Mercury nominated second album of the same name but it sounds a bit terrible, instead of a live rhythm section, it’s being fed from the soundstage. Clearly Cormic’s replacement doesn’t know the drum rhythm and it looks as though the mixing desk has a feed from a Mac for the beats, it’s a bit of a shame!
‘Ye Mariners All’ has Ben’s bass turned up incredibly loud and both songs have me dancing away happily to, possibly because of the beefed up rhythm. The Punch Bowl song is traditionally Seth’s closing number and sure enough the band leave the stage before Seth returns for the gentle tune ‘Send Yourself Away’ at which point I grab a quick drink as the hall is very warm and return in time to catch some lively reels ‘the Scrumpy Song’ for some Christmas cheer.
And cheer we do after the reels close, and we’ve had a good dance. The crowd wildly applaud. I have to say I wish Seth would throw in a few more lively tunes like this and get the crowd up and dancing. Perhaps drop a couple of ballads and add a bit more oomph. It’s still thumpingly feel good music and a mesmerising homecoming. As Seth said, "It's amazing playing this place. I have seen so many artists play here but I never thought I would be up here. Thank you for supporting me." It was an amazing homecoming and Seth and his band are a prodigious talent, as everyone keeps saying he’s bringing the folk back home.
Set list:
Riflemen of War
Blood Upon Copper
Lady of the Sea
White Hare
Colliers
King and Country
Final Lot
Fight for Favour
Setting Sun
Take No Rouges
The Storm
How Much
Kitty Jay
Ye Mariners All
Send Yourself Away
Reels (the Scrumpy Song)
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