Thursday 26th September 2024
Photos by Ron Pengelly, review by Pete Lambert
What an absolute delight it was! Jon Boden and friends never disappoint, do they?
I was at least one who did buy the 2019 album ‘The Rose in June’. It is a fabulous song, but I think no recording could ever be a match to hearing and seeing and experiencing it live. It was a complete triumph of musicianship, tension, emotion, build and climax with a tremendous meld of instruments and then the vocals….. which were on a different, heavenly plane. Jon was not joking when he said it was a long one, and I counted 14 verses on the sleeve notes, not to mention the verse and double chorus of that beautiful hymn “Hallelujah, send the glory” (not sure that is the title but I am about to look it up!)
…………….a supremely talented bunch of people who swapped instruments with consummate ease through fiddle to oboe to cor anglais to slide to guitar to concertina to double to electric bass, to drums to keys and masterful vocals from Jon himself. And all of them sang in fabulous harmony and to top it all each of them played concertina together on one of the songs!
As a trumpet and flugelhorn player myself, I would have loved that addition, though they would have needed an extra stage!
Don’t miss it next time, whatever you do ! Truly awesome!
Pete Lambert
