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| Photo not taken at gig |
The group have had a recent set back with Sam Parton being unable to join them on this trip due to recovering from a car accident and although Caroline Ballhorn stepped in to offer support vocals, this left main vocalist Frazey Ford and Trish Klein to carry out a bulk of the musical duties between them. The girls had a couple of guys on bass and percussion to add a little rhythm but the focus is very much centered around Frazey’s rootsy distinct vocals and the exceptional versatile guitar and banjo picking from Trish.
Throughout the 90 minute set, both Frazey and Trish ably
demonstrated why they had received a vast amount of critical acclaim in the
first half dozen years of the 21st century, yet there was still
something missing in their show that would signpost a prosperous future for the
band. The decision to play the 1500 seat capacity Butterworth Hall within the
University of Warwick’s luscious arts centre was a touch ambitious with even
the lure of a Saturday evening slot being insufficient to getting anywhere near
to fill it. Also the onstage vibes didn’t come across positively and as
somebody who went along to find out something about them, there was an empty
feeling as being none the wiser of their journey or what the future holds.
Maybe just a personal view but I believe a period of re-connection with the UK
audience would have been required.
The set was liberally sprinkled with a host of covers. Some
have been recorded by the band such as Neil Young’s ‘For the Turnstile’ and Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry’ while others featured included a slowed down
version of ‘Here Comes The Sun’,
bluesman Willie Brown’s ‘Future Blues’
and a Pete Rowan number believed to be ‘Midnight
Moonlight’. Of the rest ‘Human
Thing’, ‘Ootischenia’ and ‘In My Time
Dying’ came over well although surprisingly omitted from the set list were two
of their apparently more popular songs in ‘The
Littlest Birds’ and ‘Light Enough to
Travel’. Although no mention was made of future recordings, the unreleased
‘September Field’ gave a hint of what
might be possible.
Probably the two finest performed songs on the evening were
the final two numbers that concluded the encore. Just Frazey and Trish on
acoustic guitar re-appeared for the excellent ‘Lakes of Pontchartrain’ while the show closing ‘Gospel Song’ ensured the musical part of the evening ended on a high.
By this time the atmosphere had lightened and we were probably witnessing the
true Be Good Tanyas.
Fellow similar Canadian artists such as The Wailin Jennys,
Ruth Moody solo, Cara Luft, Po Girl and the Good Lovelies have all been
witnessed live in the UK recently and left a more favourable impression. The
talent is indisputable but more is definitely warranted to elevate The Be Good
Tanyas into the upper echelons of my live music experience.
A special mention needs to be reserved for Emily Portman who
opened the show fresh from her recent nationally recognised song writing award.
There will no doubt be many more column inches elsewhere in UK folk circles but
her honesty, genuine warmth and song interpretation was well received by those
present.
