Freeborn John UK Tour 2008

Subject: Freeborn John UK Tour 2008
From: GUEST,Ian Hughes
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 01:10 PM

I loved the Freeborn John original album but have to say that the stage performance I saw in Buxton yesterday was very disappointing. If there was any attempt to tell the story of this English 'hero' then it was thwarted by a sound system which made it almost impossible to hear the song lyrics. It was also impossible to follow what was going on as there was little apart from the songs. If this is to be performed again then a significant re-think of the staging may be called for, perhaps with more actors informing the audience of what is happening. If this was meant to be a performance of the songs from the album then it failed in that regard also. It was very disappointing to see the talents of some significant 'folk' artists being wasted in this way. There seemed to be others who shared my opinion, as a number left at the interval. Has anyone else seen this? What do you think?

Subject: RE: Freeborn John UK Tour 2008
From: BB
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 02:48 PM

Interesting, Ian, because I was talking to a friend today who had seen the show in N. Devon, and had exactly the same criticism! The volume was such that it was painful. Apparently, there were complaints to the management during the interval by many, and many left at that point. Apparently, the volume was reduced a little for the second half, but it was still too loud.

Barbara