Nov 28 2017

Chris Wood, Friday 24th November 2017

The third and very welcome visit of multi Folk Award winner Chris Wood. The show was, quite simply, as I expected, excellent. No real review from me just a couple of comments. We had a change of person intro as Sam Samociuk had asked to do the intro, giving Hilary a break!

There is a thought that song writers have their entire lives to write their first album and then 1 or 2 years each for any subsequent ones. Chris Wood’s writing, already in my opinion the best Britain has to offer, is still getting better. The new CD SO MUCH TO DEFEND is certainly a magnificent genuine folk offering with some of his best ever songs.

Generally audiences can be quite insistent on requesting old favourites which are familiar. I’ve noticed with Chris Wood audiences that many are more than eager to hear the new or unrecorded material; it’s been a while since I’ve heard ‘One In A Million’ requested. Even the ones they are familiar with often change in melody and delivery.

Last night saw a relatively rare performance of the very powerful ‘Masterpiece’, a song which featured in 2012’s BBC Olympics Ballads. We were treated to a new song about, amongst other things, old folk tearing around the tennis courts. Also a very beautifully delivered Jake Thackray cover ‘To Do With You’ brought resounding applause. A fabulous night from one of our very best.

Keith Belcher, 25th November