Sunday 26th March 2026
Photos by Keith Belcher
Many thanks to everyone who came along and gave us a sold out evening for Chris Wood on Sunday. Chris was on superb form; his guitar and voice blending beautifully around those fantastic songs of his. In this writer’s opinion, ‘Spitfires’ alone is worth the price of entry. Although originally released some 17 years ago, it is sadly more relevant now that ever.
Never a polemicist or traditional protest singer, Chris nevertheless manages to echo and give words to the thoughts that haunt us during these very dark days. As he says: ‘I hope that people leave the show with the feeling that at least they’re not alone’.
However, not all his songs mine the ills of modern society, stories of replacing a much loved old sofa and taking his daughter to university show a family man dealing with the passing of time and are written with beauty, humour and much love.
He also gave us wonderful versions of some of our traditional songs, three of which were learned from his friend and sometime mentor, Martin Carthy, and were performed in tribute to the great man who has just retired from live performance.
The phrase ‘national treasure’ is much over-used, but is surely apposite in the case of this superb chronicler of English life. A brilliant show.
