response 9 of 62:

Apr 24 03:09 UTC 1997

I got my tickets at Schoolkids tonight.  The service charge there 
is only $0.75.
 
On the Ark schedule:  Roberts/Barrand?  The House Band?  Maura O'Connell?
ack, I'll be at more Ark shows than I have been at all year.

response 11 of 62:

Apr 24 14:37 UTC 1997

Damn, that's probably the same night as the Historic District Commission.

response 13 of 62:

Apr 24 16:45 UTC 1997

From recent reviews on Usenet newsgroups, my impression is that most
Americans are pretty happy with current Steeleye Span shows, while 
some British writers aren't too impressed.  The Americans I know who 
saw the titanic Steeleye Span reunion festival in London back in 1995
were all quite pleased with it.
 
Twila, drummer Liam Gennocky has been with the band about as long as 
Tim Harries.  He's a much better drummer than Nigel Pegrum, who tended 
to play everything with the same thumpty-thump rhythm.
I couldn't find the Usenet item which said that Tim Harries wasn't 
with them on bass; if that is so, it could be because Harries also 
is in the Irish Christian folk-rock band Iona, and he might have had 
a conflict. 
 
Steeleye Span spent most of the 1980s as a nostalgia act, with varying 
degrees of success.  But the addition of Harries and Gennocky seem 
to have revitalized them, and going back 25 years to pick up a 
second woman vocalist, Gay Woods, was a masterstroke.  TIME, their 
current album, doesn't sound much like a stuffy museum piece at all.
There are a few tracks on it which are a bit too goopy for my tastes,
but "The Old Maid In The Garrett" is up their with the band's best work, 
and half a dozen other tracks certainly match their 70s standards.
 
I also read on Usenet that Maddy Prior has yet another solo CD out.
I'm hoping there will be copies for sale at the June gig.
Void, did you have any reaction to the Prior solo CD you borrowed?

response 15 of 62:

Apr 25 18:55 UTC 1997

I can probably get the loaner CD when I drop off the Steeleye CDs your 
roommate ordered.  No problem, no rush.

response 17 of 62:

Jun 12 03:49 UTC 1997

Just a reminder that the Ann Arbor Steeleye Span concert is 
Thursday night, June 12, at the Ark.  As of Tuesday there were still 
some tickets available at Schoolkids.  Bring earplugs, they'll probably 
be loud.  

response 19 of 62:

Jun 13 04:32 UTC 1997

We had a pretty good Grex turnout for the Steeleye Span show.
Twila & Bruce Price (anderyn & bru) and their children Gareth and 
Rhiannon; aruba; kami; void; werewolf; jiffer; and krj.  
The show was a sellout, and it's been a while since I saw so many 
happy middle-aged people.  

response 21 of 62:

Jun 13 07:58 UTC 1997

met void and werewolf after thej concert .. for her i think i am safe
in saying, for her, 'it was *worth* it!'  (and for void too, fwiw).
  
me, iw as out shooting the last (??) batch of hs grads, i think.

response 23 of 62:

Jun 13 16:59 UTC 1997

(Twila's review is item #48 in the music conference, for those reading 
this linked item in the Agora conference.)

response 25 of 62:

Jun 13 20:21 UTC 1997

Okay, *you* try having a full drum kit,  
guitar, electric bass, keyboards, and fiddle 
and two very loud vocalists and amplifying it 
even a little means loudness. Actually, it was 
wonderful. 

response 27 of 62:

Jun 14 01:42 UTC 1997

Oh, that kind of loud.  If it was only a little amplified I can understand.

response 29 of 62:

Jun 15 19:38 UTC 1997

senna in #24: the whole *point* of Steeleye Span was to be loud!
The idea, back in 1970, was to take English, Irish and Scottish 
folksongs and arrange them for rock band instrumentation.
 
Contemporary bands doing the same sort of thing seem to be more 
influenced by dance club idioms: Shooglenifty and Afro-Celt Sound System,
to grab the first two examples which come to mind; also the 
new Hedningarna album.

response 31 of 62:

Jul 10 04:37 UTC 1998

So here's a quick review/set list for Tuesday's Maddy Prior show 
at the Ark.  Opening for Maddy was Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell,
and I can't think of much to say about a solo instrumentalist.  
I've enjoyed Tickell's recordings for years, and it was great to get 
a chance to see her.
 
Prior had a backup band of two people: Nick Holland on keyboards, and 
Troy Donnockly on uillean pipes, electric guitar, bouzouki.
Holland has been playing with Prior for a while -- I think he was 
here for her last Ark show -- and his playing has a 
tendency to lean too much towards MOR.  Donnockly, on the other hand, 
added some really interesting textures.
 
Set list:
"Hindlorn," a Child ballad; from the new album?
"Bewcastle"
"Honest Work," a Todd Rundgren song which Prior does acapella
I don't have a title about this one: it's about the child Jesus playing
   ball with some princes.  Prior introduced it as "from the Apocrypha,"
   and said it reflected the Victorian belief that Jesus was an 
   Englishman.
"Boys of Bedlam," from early Steeleye Span
"The Crooked Road," perhaps?  Maddy said the lyrics were from 
   G.K. Chesterton, on the premise that English roads had been 
   laid out by drunkards.
"The Blacksmith," another early Steeleye Span song
   Maddy sang this acapella.
"Saucy Sailor," in an arrangment close to the Steeleye one.
the "Winter" songs from Prior's YEAR cycle, including "Long Shadows" 
   from Maddy's first solo album.
an instrumental with pipes and keyboard, and Prior on bodhran
"Heart of Stone," a new song by Prior and Rick Kemp
"Sheath and Knife," a Child ballad
 
encore:  "Somewhere Along The Road," another Rick Kemp song.
   Kathryn Tickell came out to play fiddle.

response 33 of 62:

Sep 9 18:41 UTC 1998

A Usenet writer from the UK reports having found the album in his 
local megastore.  He bought it and gives it an essentially positive
review.  I'm trying to get a copy ordered from the UK as soon as I 
can; I'm too impatient to wait for a USA release.