Sunday 1st October 2023
Photos & video by Keith Belcher
Martin Stephenson & The Daintees
Tag: Caroline Street Social Club
Xander & The Peace Pirates
Saturday 16th September 2023
Photos by Pete Stevens, David Brown and David Starley
Annie Keating Band
Sunday 10th September 2023
Review & photos by Keith Belcher
Sunday 10th September 2023. After a 7 week break the new Live Room season kicked off with the return visit of The Annie Keating Band. The band tonight being Annie Keating, guitar and lead vocals, Joe Coombs, guitars, Jamie Dawson, drums and Mark Lewis , upright and electric bass.
Almost a year since the debut visit on 25th September 2022. They rocked the summer off in style to a very appreciative audience who had (hopefully ) dodged the late afternoon’s torrential rainfall. The entire show was pro filmed, hopefully clips will be available soon. Catch the tour if you can.
Hamilton Loomis
Sunday 23rd July 2023
Review and photos by Ron Pengelly
Saltaire visit on Sunday evening from Texan electric bluesman Hamilton Loomis and his band at the conclusion of their UK tour.
All kinds of blues plus a healthy dollop of funk and rock blew the roof off and made for a rather special show full of energy. The audience loved every minute, and huge appreciation from him both for the audience and the venue.
Hurry back Hamilton!
Gordie MacKeeman & His Rhythm Boys
Wednesday 12th July 2023
Review and photos by Ron Pengelly
Really enjoyed my stint at The Live Room at Saltaire in Saltaire in recent weeks covering for their regular photographer Keith Belcher. It’s been a privilege to have a ringside seat for so many top notch folk and roots acts from all over the world.
Many acts, like Canadian Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys on Wednesday evening, are difficult to categorize in terms of genre, but the common threads are consummate musicianship and great entertainers. And boy were we entertained last night, as the standing ovation at the end showed. Unbelievable, still buzzing, and now we know why he’s called ‘Crazy Legs’!
Carter Sampson & Amelia White
Sunday 9th July 2023
Review and photos by Ron Pengelly
Lots of love at The Live Room at Saltaire for a superb Americana double bill on Sunday evening. Great show from Carter Sampson and Amelia White of Oklahoma and Nashville towards the end of their UK tour.
Raghu Dixit Project
Friday 7th July 2023
Review and photos by Ron Pengelly
A blast of Indian folk rock at The Live Room at Saltaire on Friday night from Bangalore based The Raghu Dixit Project. Great, energetic songs, with some Iron Maiden woven in, and a competitive singalong, where half the audience didn’t have a clue what they were singing. And a selfie with the audience to round off the evening.
Great evening guys, thanks for coming to Yorkshire!
The Hoth Brothers
Sunday 25th June 2023
Review and photos by Ron Pengelly
A taste of the wilderness of New Mexico came to Saltaire on Friday with the Hoth Brothers. My photos of a hugely entertaining set of toe tapping Appalachian inspired songs from Bard Edrington and Sarah Ferrell, with Karina Wilson on fiddle and vocals standing in for Boris McCutcheon who couldn’t make the tour.
Great show, thanks folks.
VRï
Friday 16th June 2023
Review and photos by Ron Pengelly
Welsh language band Vri at The Live Room on Friday showcasing Welsh folk tradition. Fantastic harmonies, energy and musicianship, three guys who clearly love playing together. Felt like we were in the pub for a singalong one minute, watching top notch chamber music the next.
Hugely impressive and uplifting. Give ’em a listen.
Karine Polwart
plus support Iona Lane
Thursday 8th June 2023
Review, photos and video by Keith Belcher
The second of three Scots performers in a row at TLR. A TLR debut appearance of Karine Polwart. By no means Karine’s first appearance in Saltaire but a first for TLR . Judging from some of the comments I heard on the night, a first concert by Karine for many. By the feel of the comments she made a lot of new fans who will be very eager to see her again, eveything I overheard was very complimentary . Karine introduced Iona Lane who opened the show. Iona also acts as tour driver due to Karine’s vertigo precluding Karine driving. Karine was introduced by Hilary and then went on to introduce Iona, joining Iona on stage to harmonise on Iona’s final song ‘Humankind’.
Karine then stayed on stage playing solo for the rest of the set. Those who know or have heard Karine’s body of work will know of her huge interest in natute and natures folk lore, especially birds, and trees. Many other aspects of nature fascinate Karine and the show tonight was no exception.
I should start by saying that I am a long time huge admirer of Karine and her many projects and collaborations so I am somewhat biased in any reviews I write. It had been a while since I last saw Karine. That being in January 2020 in Glasgow , just before you know what happened. That night Karine was taking part in Rollin’ Roots Review 70th birthday tribute to the boss. Having seen that both Karine and Lisa Hannigan were taking part booking a ticket was a no brainer. Karine rocked out to The Ballad of Tom Joad and The Rising and Lisa featured Tougher than the Rest in her segment. Just sheer unexpected magic. But onto tonight at TLR.
A feature of Karine’s solo shows is that sometimes the intros are far longer than the actual songs themselves , tonight was no exception. If she’s with brother Steven and multi instrumentalist Inge Thompson they sometimes restrain her dialogue. Not a problem for me as I love both the songs and Karine’s distinctive Scots voice, both spoken and singing, also her unbridled enthusiasm for whatever Karine gets involved in.
It’s very easy to spot that Karine is fascinated by nature in all it’s aspects especially birds and trees, nature pretty much ruled tonights shows. She even opened Celtic Connections in 2017 she showed the political side of her nature by portraying Donald Trump, as seen through the nature of the Isle of Lewis, in a song called ‘I Burn But Am Not Consumed’ (The McLeod family motto), a song telling of his mother Mary Anne MacLeod’s emigration to America . A very powerful song well worth checking out if not already aware. Karine had been on stage to introduce opener and driver Iona Lane. Joining Iona for Iona’s last song ‘Humankind’.
Karine stayed on stage and opened her show proper with ‘Rivers Run’, a song written for her son (now 16) from This Earthly Spell (2008). The Live Room Choir was in good voice answering to the nany requests for them to join in with the show. As early as song 2 with ‘Heartwood’ from one of Karine’s projects Spell Songs (2019). The first tree song of the night using the voice of an ancient tree addressing it’s cutter. There was an as yet unrecorded song in set 1 based on a short poem by Charles Simic. Another song based on a poem by Robbie Burns (The Wrens Nest) called ‘Come Away In’ closed set 2 with the Choir in good voice. That one from the latest album Still As You’re Sleeping (2021).
Set 2 opened with ‘Terminal Star’ from 2006’s Scribbled In Chalk . ‘Cornerstone’ was next from Laws of Motion (2018), song to be used in a new BBC nature related documentary that Karine will feature in, something to look forward to there! More songs about birds with ‘The Lark In Clear Air’ from A Pocket Of Wind Resistance (2017). More sing alongs with a cover of Deacon Blue’s ‘Dignity’ (Karine Polwart’s Scottish Songbook , 2019) and ‘Travel These Ways’. A beautiful and as far as I know unrecorded song ‘Beechbrae’, a 100 year old tree named Rebecca (you needed to be there for that intro) telling the story of it being attacked by a chain saw cutter (and surviving). This song inspired by a Forester friend of Karines.
All too soon we were at the end of the gig. Iona rejoined the stage and combined voices beautifully on ‘The King of Birds’ (Traces 2012). The final song was a delightful cover of Rachel Sermani’s ‘Lay My Heart’ with a wonderful contribution from Iona and The Live Room Choir . I would imagine Rachel will be on Ron & Hilary’s booking list before long. A truly wonderful night. It would be really nice to see Karine at TLR again.
