| Reviews 2022 | |||
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Woodman Folk Club - Reviews |
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| Birdbrother |
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| Woody* | 30 Sep 2022 |
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Hi Everyone Woody, here again for the first time this season following my
slightly extended Summer break. It’s good to be back. I hope you’ll think
so too after you have read this review. The Birdbrother acoustic duo is new to the club albeit one of them Paul Beadle, has been to the club as part of other bands in the past. The duo was initially conceived in Sussex by Phil Stapley and Kris Lamba about 10 years ago, where they performed live and produced a cd “Peace to The Wanderer”, which is still available today. The band regrettably folded however, when Phil moved to live in Shropshire making gigging a bit tricky. Not to be put off by this, however, Phil reformed the band about 4 years ago, this time with Paul Beadle as his partner. While maintaining the same “feel” the overall sound was changed by Paul’s introduction of flute and the incorporation of on-stage percussion, which it is fair to say commands a major part of the overall performance. Phil sings most of the lead vocals, accompanying himself on guitar, while Paul provides vocal accompaniment and all manner of instrumental backing including guitar, flute, shawm, harmonica, and all sorts of percussive instruments. Each is accomplished at what they do and balance each other out very well. In addition, they both make some use of electronic effects by means of an array of pedals which they control with their feet. The first set began simply with, “Our happy Song” said Phil, Brightling Stars. This introduced us to Phil’s lovely voice, which performs well at the high end of the male register. Each of the duo playing guitar and harmonising well, with only a slight reverb/echo – giving us a hint of what was to come. “Elvis” too was echo assisted with Paul playing a instrument which I think could be called a tuneable tambourine, the sound of which was very much like an electrified cajon. Much use of this was made throughout both sets. Atlantis Restaurant saw the first use of Paul’s flute, reminding me somewhat of The Moody Blues and others I have spoken to of Jethro Tull. Over the course of this and the next song Your Eyes we were treated to a display of ride cymbal and two different types of tom-toms. Dark Night which followed, was written by Phil before lockdown whilst Burning Bright was another of their infrequent “happy songs”. Up to this point all the songs had been written by one or other of the band but the first set was completed with two songs from the late Martin Thorn, who was a very good friend of Paul’s. It was he in fact that encouraged Paul to dig his flute out of storage, buy a guitar and at the grand old age of thirty begin his journey to where he is today. The second song of the pair was enhanced using a sound loop – one of the many electronic pedals - taking it from a simple two instruments to a semi orchestral piece. The second set opened with Do You Remember written by Phil in New Zealand, followed by Counting on the Sun and Ego Blues, which had a lovely descending guitar riff throughout which certainly reminded me of Paul Simon. I regret I did not hear the title of the next much slower song, but my attention was drawn to the Vuvuzela played by Paul in the next one, Saffron Wheel. You may remember seeing and hearing this instrument during the 2010 FIFA World Cup competition in South Africa. What was really clever was that for a simple tube whirled around the head, how did he find one to be in tune with the song? Phil’s Just Like Water and Whatever Matthew lead us to the intended last song of the night the cathartic Let It Go. Of course, this was not the final song as it was followed by the encore Moon Song. Thus ended two sets by one of the more unique bands we have seen at the club. I feel I cannot let the review finish without adding a little rider. We were entertained this evening by two accomplished musicians whose voices complemented each other very well. Phil’s singing was very good and although I should not try to make comparisons, it reminded me at times of Donovan. This is intended to be a compliment and I hope it is taken that way. The harmonies and counter melodies from Paul were excellent. Overall, however I have to say that I want to apologise for not being able to give the lead vocals my full attention all the time since as a percussion enthusiast I was spellbound by Paul’s “antics” when playing the many and varied instruments he commanded. The concentration it must have taken to put it all together live must have been enormous. It all went together to give us one of the most hard-working bands we have had at the club. Praise is most certainly due to club residents, Velvet Green – who did an excellent job of setting the scene by performing 6 songs, thereby warming up the audience nicely for the band to step in. They began their set with the Jez Lowe song Weave and Worry requested by our own Dick Woodhouse who is a big Jez fan, so to ask someone else to sing it is a complement indeed. This was followed by the John Langford, Glen Tunley composition Autumn’s Here. Their third song was one of Paul’s many songs and a firm club favourite Before Your Heart Breaks. I was joining as were many of the audience. The much loved Waterfall song Thanks, proceeded yet another of Paul’s songs Rainy Days, which he felt was appropriate given the somewhat inclement weather today. (I joined in this one too). Their final song was the old Tom Paxton favourite, Rambling Boy, yet another request, this time from our host Bryn Phillips. And yes I joined in this one as well. Only chance I get to sing these days. This completed what was a lovely set. Thanks guys. And so, with the Birdbrother encore another evening came to an end and the audience wended their way home to return another day. I shall conclude as normal by saying A Wonderful Night Was Had by All. Here’s to The Next One. * Notes taken by Les Jones, who also typed up the review, but the views expressed are those of Woody, the club mascot. |
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