anderyn
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Steeleye Span concert review (long, but hey...)
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Jun 13 15:55 UTC 1997 |
Well, let me see. Steeleye rocked. I got there
early, since Bruce and
the kids had signed up to work, so I made
myself useful around the
place beforehand -- which also meant
running into the band while they were trying
to locate food/coffee/the bathrooms...
Apparently they had been in Seattle the night
before, and had had to get on a flight at
4:30 to make it to Ann Arbor, and -- at least
Liam -- had not had a
chance to eat before the sound check time.
The sound check was grand
-- I got to listen to several songs pre-
concert. Maddy was running
around in a tee shirt and bare feet. She's so
sweet! The sound checks
went over-long, but I think that was due to
the tiredness and jet
lag. So it was nearly eight when we finally
let in the "dogs of war",
aka the 400 people who had been patiently
standing in line, but it was
still a while before they were allowed into
the auditorium. A mass
stampede ensued, but I still managed to get a
second row seat. On the
left, facing the stage, so I was treated to Bob
Johnson and Gay Wood
not five feet away from me.
Some visual notes -- Bob Johnson was *
very* sleepy-eyed -- he shut his
eyes every time he had to join in the chorus
and sing, almost as if he
was visualizing the words behind his eyelids,
and he had this
half-smile as if he was really enjoying
himself. He was probably the
most "normal"-looking of the band members
-- a denim shirt and pants,
nothing flashy.
Gay Woods was more etherial in black -- a
black mid-calf dress, filmy
sleeves, black granny shoes, with a white
lace shawl to begin
with. She seemed a bit detached at first, but
after "My Johnny was a
Shoemaker" she was into it. On several
tunes, she played the bodhran
with this pink glove with what looked like
brass knuckles attached to
it, and I could *not* tell if she had grown
extra fingers or not while
she was playing. She was very energetic and
she also played tambourine
and the "sticks". Her voice is very strong,
and she belts out the
lyrics -- often, it seemed, overpowering
Maddy's voice. She shared the
song introduction chores with Maddy and
Peter.
Maddy Prior was in a multicolored tunic
over a short swingy skirt and
black tights. She was bubbly from the start,
and was dancing to most
of the instrumental breaks. She didn't really
have any solo songs,
since Gay seemed to be at least singing chorus
on all of them, but
when she did the long version of "True
Thomas", it was magical. (For
those who might not know, the version of
"True Thomas" normally heard
on Steeleye records is the shortened
American version, which leaves
out the verses about the other roads that can
be taken -- this version
had the road to righteousness and the road to
wickedness included, as
well as a few verses added to the beginning.
Maddy did this gestural
thing which evoked the vision of the roads as
the Elf Queen must have
gestured at Thomas Rhymer. Gorgeous.) Of
course, "Thomas" is a rocker,
and they let loose full bore. I couldn't hear
for a good five minutes
after they were done!
Peter Knight has a very sly sense of humor,
unexpected in one who
looks almost like a fussy old professor (has
to be the
mustache!). Anyway, he played the fiddle
with near-incandescent speed
and virtuosity, and even on the video (which
is what the Ark workers
get to see crowded shows on), you could see
the fiddle smoking when he
really jammed. He had the most
incomprehensible song intros -- mostly
because they were logical if you could follow
his slant-wise logic,
but were not logical in any normal sense.
(Does that parse?!)
Tim Herries looked like a skinhead -- shaved
skull, tee shirt,
earring. He played a very nice wooden bass (I
didn't know that's what
it was until someone told me -- I don't focus
on instruments) and the
keyboards. I couldn't SEE him playing both at
once, but apparently he
did! And he really really got into "The Water
is Wide" -- they played
an extended jam-type intro, and he was
bending over the keyboards and
swaying as if he was underwater, in slow
motion. It was fascinating!
He was also a backup vocalist, but I can't say
that I could
distinguish him from the mix.
And finally, Liam Genockey. He was the, um,
most hippie-like of the
bunch, wearing a hat (striped), pants (ditto,
only not in the same
pattern), and a shirt that was mostly hidden
by his braided beard
(which hung down to his waist!). He was
hidden behind his drum sets,
mostly, but man oh man. He can really drum.
Again, I'm not as keen a
judge of instrumentals, but he kept it loud,
he kept it rocking, he
kept my heart beating at ninety miles an
hour.
Um. Set list --
The Prickly Bush (Time)
"Room..."??? (new song)
Harvest Of The Moon (Time)
My Johnny Was A Shoemaker (a cappella,
and gorgeous!)
Isabel (I missed that one, choosing to go to
the bathroom early)
The Fox(Tempted and Tried)
Erin Gra Mo Chridhe (new song, a Gay solo)
Padstow(Tempted and Tried, it rocked.)
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Cadgwith Anthem
The Lark In The Morning
Seagull (Tempted and Tried) (which inspired
the most esoteric joke of
the evening -- Peter Knight mentioned that
it was about a game local
to his home, Hastings. "1066 and all that.*
beat* Don't play with those
bows and arrows -- you'll put someone's eye
out." If you don't get it,
recall poor Harold. Damn Normans, anyway.)
The Water Is Wide(Time -- another Gay
showpiece)
The Cutty Wren (Time)
Thomas The Rhymer (Now We are Six)
The Old Maid In The Garrett/Tam Lin (reel)
(Time)
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Encores:
All Around My Hat
The Elf-Knight(Time)
reel-jam (which they never named, but it
was long and by the end my
hands were bruised by the energetic
clapping, and Peter Knight's
fiddle had begun smoking)
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Second Encore:
Gaudete (a cappella, and you could tell that
their voices had begun to
fade -- nice, and a wonderful ending, but
only Gay was really cooking,
and she had to have a lyric sheet (which I
found odd, since I believe
she's Roman Catholic from seeing her
necklaces up close and the things
she said)...)
It was truly a memorable concert -- I didn't
notice the lower energy
level in the first half, as most of the people
I've spoken to have,
but then I was revved up from the first note.
The second half was
definitely more high-energy, with a lot of
dancing and high jinks
between Gay and Maddy -- as the concert
went on, they seemed to lose a
bit of initial stiffness with each other, and
simply have fun up
there. You could tell that they were truly
glad to be there, with the
audience, and, afterwards, each of them was
truly gracious and willing
to speak to whoever approached them. I
managed to get all of them to
autograph my copy of Time, and *grin* even
got a hug from
Maddy. Whoo. Gay did mention that they'd
have a new album, probably
next year, and that the "difficulties" in
getting along (aka
adjustments) were easing. (I think that she
and Maddy are, um, just a
little too strong-willed for the other's
comfort -- Gay is definitely
a very strong stage presence, and she over-
powered Maddy at several
points, both vocally and energetically, which
I rather regretted,
since Maddy IS Steeleye in a very large
degree, but that's how it
goes....)
Seen there -- void, werewolf, krj. I heard
that aruba was there as well, but I didn't
see him. (Oh, and jiffer!)
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