It’s cold in here. Drizzle cold. Rain black night cold. Even 180 expectant bodies can’t warm it. That’s how cold.
It’s cold enough for three folk goddesses to don, variously, gloves, jumpers and a drape. Lady Maisery feel the cold yet blow on the embers of the very finest folk that you have ever heard. This show sees them stopping off at Christ Church as part of an extensive UK tour and is, probably, the most keenly anticipated of all of the Folk Club evenings. And rightly so. Anyone who has seen them on any of their frequent Bristol visits already knows that this was to be something very special indeed.
Three albums in and Rowan Rheingans, Hannah James and Hazel Askew have fully hit their stride. The new album, Cycle, is a paean to nature and the cycles there in and it is a thing of heart stopping, cosmic, transcendent beauty. The album, and this evenings set, starts with “Sing for the Morning”. A new song, written on a bicycle journey, that is utterly hypnotic and transportive . Far from a rainy Bristol evening Rowan’s violin and voice throws us up with the Swallows and Swifts, riding the warmest of summer breezes. She takes us somewhere new with a cover of Richard Farina’s “The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood” too. This time there is a fuzzy, hippy vibe, mainly due to the hybrid bansitar (part banjo, part sitar, all kinds of fantastic). “Brotherhood” becomes “Sisterhood” and the three voices weave and spin around one another.
With every passing song, whether new or old, the DFC audience sighs and swoons. Yet it is in a simple cover of a Todd Rundgren tune that the true power of LM is seen. Political and honest; their version of “Honest Work” is an iron fist in a Laura Ashley shawl. It brings together everything that is wonderful about this incredible group; there is a quiet power, a confidence honed from several years of touring and collaboration and a remarkable level of musicianship (Hannah James’ innovative accordion playing, Hazel Askew on lovely, melodious harp) which few possess. Just imagine having three talents like this in one band! They are the folk equivalent of the Barcelona front three.
The second half reminds us, as though we had forgotten, just how beautiful those voices are. A selection of old tunes showcase the harmonies and intuitive way they blend together. Then there is the infectious word less tune singing, or “diddling” if you prefer. From a Scandinavian folk tradition to a chilly church the results are little more than a gorgeous humanist mass.
Then there is the undoubted highlight of a highlight packed night. Hazel Askew wrote “Order and Chaos” as a way to explore death and physics and has tapped, unwittingly, in to the “humanist funeral market”. It is, hands down, the most beautiful modern folk song that you will hear this year. Seek it out and allow it to wrap itself around you.
Before all of this was Midlands duo Ashland. Two voices, one acoustic guitar and a story for each of their perfectly wrought songs. So many of those songs could fit snuggly into the daytime schedules of Radio 2 and there was something 80s-folkish-pop about them. Think Fairground Attraction or Deacon Blue. Kathryn Marsh’s voice is certainly their greatest asset; a relaxed, delightful thing. The shivering pews absolutely loved them.
On this chilly evening Lady Maisery sent us back to our homes with a Ready Brek glow, warmed hearts and flushed with joy. This amazing band are truly on fire.
Gavin McNamara
TallFolk 