You can scroll down these pages to see some great photos and reviews of the vast majority of our past gigs. If you go to our Past Shows pages, you can also leave a comment on any show you’ve attended here by clicking on Post Show Report.
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Folk Alliance International 2024
Westin Hotel Kansas City
This was our fourth Folk Alliance and it was as wild as ever, with over 2500 attendees, daytime panels and meetings, and thousands of showcases between the hours of 6pm and 3am. Sleep is at a premium and you’re lucky if you get any, especially after a transatlantic flight and a reaaranged body clock. However, we’re not complaining, it was a joyous experience to be around people from around the world all with the same love of live music.
We saw some really amazing performances there, met up with a bunch of people from across the world as well as here in the UK and have come home with lots of new ideas for artists to bring to TLR in the coming years. We’ll be sharing these with you as soon as we can.
Here is a selection of photos of our trip, we hope you enjoy them
Union Station, across the road from the venue and our regular breakfast cafe!
Day 1, Wednesday
The Henhouse Prowlers; Bassett; and Michele Stodardt
Day 2, Thursday
Skerryvore
El Pony Pisador
The Accidentals
John Smith
Willie Watson
Night time over Kansas City from the 20th floor
Justin Adams & Mauro Durante
Joachim Cooder
Day 3, Friday
Billow Wood
Dimpker Brothers
Northern Resonance
Humbird
Mirja Klippel
Julia Alapnes
Grainne Hunt
Alice Howe & Freebo
Puuluup
Okan
Moneka Arabic Jazz
Day 4, Saturday
Hilary by the almost invisible lifts!
Rosier
Musique a Bouches
Dean Owens & The Sinners
Walter Parks & The Unlawful Assembly
Ensemble Sangineto
Beth Nielsen Chapman
Robbie Cavanagh
Barbara Lica
……and some final shots of the hotel during the conference….
The Good Lovelies
Sunday 28th January 2024
Review, photos, video by Keith Belcher
Another sold out show for the second gig of the year. It’s becoming a habit. The third one is heading that way too. A debut appearance for Good Lovelies. Good Lovelies are Caroline Brooks: Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Kerri Ough: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboard and Susan Passmore: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Percussion, Keyboard. They do sometimes have a larger touring band but tonight we had the original core Good Lovelies trio.
They last toured 2019 and 2017 so this was the first post Covid tour. They did a straw poll at the start and from the hands up it looked like most of the audience were seeing them for the first time. I doubt many were disappointed. I would say everyone went home delighted with the pampering their ears got from the show.
We got 2 sets of great songs, good humour and stories and some of the most delightful harmonies heard at The Live Room. The lead vocals were juggled by all three, instruments alternated also. . There was a lovely tribute at the end of the show to one of their biggest fans and friends, Nick Lawson from Hull who passed away last February.
Rebecca Kemp, tour manager called up to the stage to join in for that. Nick went to all of their gigs in the UK and also travelled to Canada to see them too. RIP Nick , you are missed by those knew you.
The queue at The Merch desk was looong! at the interval and also still long when I had packed up my cameras and was on the way out. . Always a good indicator of popularity. The PA went down just before the start (the stage is not a drinks table!) but Ron sorted it out very quickly and we had the usual highly rated sound we have become accustomed to (Most artists say that , it’s not just me!).
Another band that will be very welcome back at TLR.
Tim O’Brien & Jan Fabricius
Friday 19th January 2024
Review, photos and video by Keith Belcher
The first gig of the year. The very welcome return of Tim O’Brien and Jan Fabricius with special guest, master fiddler Kevin Burke for the start of Set 2. We were very lucky to see Tim and Jan. They had a 36 hour nightmare journey from Nashville, delayed by snow. The gig scheduled for Sheffield on Thursday was cancelled. Tim and Jan had travelled up from Heathrow to make our show.
You really would not have guessed they had been travelling for 36 hours. The quality of the playing and singing was top notch. Jan playing mandolin , Tim, guitar, fiddle and mandolin and Kevin fiddle. Tim sang most lead vocals with Jan taking 2 songs as lead and they harmonised beautifully.
Special guest Kevin Burke opened the second set with Tim with 2 instrumentals . Jan joined the stage with Kevin and Tim for a third instrumental (Pear Tree/The Muddy Roads/Ladies Pantalettes/ The Kid On The Mountain and O’Carolans’s Concerto – for those interested) Lots of new songs as it’s been quite a few years and 3 albums since we’ve seen Tim on these shores.
Some old favourites like Brother Wind and Look Down That Lonesome Road.As you would expect at a Tim O’Brien show lots of humour throughout especially in new song Nervous.
70 years young this year and 50 years in the business and he played for just under 2 hours! The beauty of Tim is that it all looks so effortless whether its guitar,mandolin, fiddle or banjo. A true master tradesman.
Videos
Pretty Maid In A Garden; Bear; Pear Tree/The Muddy Roads/Ladies Pantalettes
A Winter Union
Sunday 10th December 2023
Photos by Ron Pengelly
Jim Causley: A Causley Christmas
Sunday 3rd December 2023
Review, photos and video by Keith Belcher
After a 10 year absence, a 7 hour drive in awful conditions and only a half hour sound check, Devon’s Jim Causley took the stage on a cold, wintry night . The audience were treated to pre-show drinks and nibbles from Hilary and Ron. A sign of the times that some mince pies were labelled vegan.
Switching effortlessly between accordion, keyboards, a Capella , stories, poems and songs, happy ,sad and somewhere inbetween. Jim, blessed with one of the best voices in the folk genre delighted the very enthusiastic Live Room audience not only with his singing but also the humour in the show. An unaccompanied poem by Roald Dahl mixing all the panto/fairy tale stories together had the audience in stitches. None of your usual festive carols featured in this show.
The show itself was a bit of a history lesson of Christmas songs from all around the British Isles (even a Gracie Fields cover from Lancashire and that well known folkie Cyndi Lauper were allowed in!). A lot of the songs were from Jim’s latest Christmas CD but many from the folk archives.
A goodtime was had by all. Set List below for those interested. (Note the Ivy and The Holly is not a typo and the Hunting The Wren is traditional not the one on the latest Lankum CD which is also covered by Natalie Merchant). Some shots below, videos to follow. Jim also wore a Christmas hat in the second set but I’d put my camera away by then. The video captures the hat though.)
Set 1
Yule
Mari Lwyd/Dartmoor Wassail
The Dunster Carol
On Christmas Day It Happened So
Wailey Wailer
Hunting The Wren
The Plymtree Carol
Christmas in No Mans Land
My Christmas Day
Set 2
Adams Fall/Feels Like Christmas
A Song Of Truth
The Jacobstowe Wassail/Christmas Morn
Innocents Song
The Ditchling Poem
Hot Pot Hot
Shepherds Arise
Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs (Roald Dahl)
Mistletoe
The Ivy & The Holly
Video by Keith Belcher
Yule and Marie Llwyd/Dartoor Wassail
Blue Rose Code 2023
Friday 24th November 2023
Review, photos and video by Keith Belcher with additional info from TLR
The fifth visit of Blue Rose Code to The Live Room Saltaire. Last time as I think without checking Ross Wilson (aka Blue Rose Code) was a duo with guitarist Lyle Watt. Tonight a 4 piece with Ross, main vocals and guitar, Lyle on electric and acoustic guitars and mandolin. Gus Stirrat playing a 5 string bass, making it resemble a lead guitar at times and Stuart Brown on drums. A really cracking night. The first half was superb but the second half notched the pace up to another level altogether, serious rocking in Saltaire last Friday. Here’s to the 6th visit.
Note from TLR: As part of the 10th anniversary of their debut album, North Ten, the band has been performing the record in order as part of their shows this year. The video is their full performance of North Ten from the night. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Video
North Ten in full
Adam Holmes
Featuring Jen Austin
Sunday 19th November 2023
Photos and video by Keith Belcher
Video by Keith Belcher
Nadine
Honey & The Bear
Friday 17th November 2023
Photos by Nigel Plant
Joshua Burnell – The Glass Knight Tour
Sunday 12th November 2023
Photos and videos by Keith Belcher
Video by Keith Belcher
Moonlight's Child; So Say The Crows (ft. Frances Sladen); and The Last Rain
Daniel Rodriguez & Friends
Sunday 5th November 2023
Review, photos and video by Keith Belcher
Sunday 5th November 2023. Caroline Street Social Club, Saltaire. The debut appearance and I hope the first of many appearances at TLR for Daniel and his band. Emma Rose opened with a short acoustic set and then joined Daniel with and without Zachary and Jason.
The Daniel Rodriguez Band, Daniel Rodriguez Lead Vocals, acoustic guitar, Zachary Jackson, vocals, bass, Jason Mazer, vocals, electric and acoustic guitar, Emma Rose , acoustic guitar, vocals
It’s just me, and the universe, tonight, and together we’re going to have to make things right from “A Thousand Lights” by Daniel Rodriguez
I have pretty much stopped writing reviews and these days I mainly just post pictures/videos with a brief accompanying introduction to the artists. I was very tempted to change that after Sunday night’s show. I had such a good time and felt very uplifted by the show. Without gushing, it genuinely left you with a warm glow.
To be honest a seriously glowing review had pretty much written itself in my head as I left the venue. I’ll just say if you want a really good night that’s going to to leave you feeling very glad you took the time to see this band then go and see them! They are really worth travelling to see. You won’t regret it.
The words below are from the much acclaimed £10 pom Scotsman Eric Bogle and they encapsulate the feelings generated on the night. I heard quite a few people who thought it was THE show of the year. Considering the wealth of talent we have seen this year that’s a strong but justified statement. If not familiar with Daniel’s back history you may also want to check out the music of his band until 2018, Elephant Revival, you won’t be disappointed.
Don’t know what music means to you,
but that’s what music means to me,
it can capture my heart, yet somehow set it free.
It can tear me to pieces, yet somehow make me whole,
it gives me hope and feeds my soul.
The Last Note – Eric Bogle