There must have been about 1000 in the audience,ready at 8.00 p.m.It began about 8.30 P.m..Some bums had been deposited since 7.30 p.m.No "sorry" for being late and missing good supping time.
Its a huge chapel the roof is 100 feet up, the building cicularish and constructed of brick and stone. The sound engineer was on a hiding to nothing, echoes, booms, and just a general sound.It would probably have been O.K. for your everyday pop-crap but it destroyed the vocals of all the lyrics and poor old Leon, I could have wept for him
Sorry, but for me it was completly the wrong venue and put me off listening to Carthy again
Swarbrick drew genuine love from us.Liza's cleavage was well noted, even from the back row, and Norma we love but she puts the old man in the shade,but even her staggering around with a triangle was no match for Mick Jagger as she loooked as if she were going to heave as each chorus began.
Carthy is 60,his audience is too and with all the handicaps that accompany ageing its no wonder the likes of me couldn't hear a word that was said or sung.The instrumentals were O.K. as they didn't have words.
I am glad I went. It reinforced my opinion that I would be bored if I ever went to a Carthy concert. He did not help by performing an incoherrrant ballad as his penultimate song, followed by a big-band finish that totally lost the plot.The audience -those that remained to the end out of good manners-were glad there was no encore.
Its difficult to get people to folk clubs.Not one decent chorus song for the audience to join in with. No "thanks for coming on a dreary night from a radius of 70 plus miles", and "sorry we're late finishing."
It had better look and come over better on tele than it did in the middle pews or even more people will be alienated
I'm off to get me ears syringed but I like John Kirkpatrick's songs on his C.D. with Old King Coal, and guess what? I can hear every word, blame it on the acoustics.
Bet the rest of you Carthy fans adored it, and his red shirt.Yes I thought his shirt was clear, about all that was, now were back to Liza.Well sang Saul , not as deep as Collins , but still , not bad.Prefer the gold/green hair, but even you are knocking on now.
Good-night