Without a
new album to promote, Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman took the decision to
downsize capacity wise on their return to Birmingham. Not that one of the UK’s
premium folk duos are strangers to the Kitchen Garden, and proving adaptable in
how shows are presented keeps performing artists fresh and connected with their
fan base. There was no surprise of a near full house turning out for this gig
despite the competing attraction of another Lakeman just a couple of miles down
the road in the city centre. A full-on folk rock Seth Lakeman show at the Glee
Club would surely have gone down well, just as the slightly less intense
evening brother Sean delivered in conjunction with wife Kathryn in nearby
Kings Heath.
A common
thread linking each Roberts-Lakeman show is the unrelenting heady level of professionalism
prevalent. Whether mesmerised by Sean’s intrinsic guitar playing or rarely
hearing a note dropped by Kathryn’s sculptured vocals, the immaculate delivery
of traditional and original songs frames each show. Intuition plays a deep role
in how this vastly experienced couple serves their musical offerings. While
sound innovation rarely deviates, the continual search for song material
stretches far and wide consistently scouring the tapped and untapped traditional
songbook and seeking inspiration from observational sources closer to home.
As we have
come to expect from their shows, Kathryn eases between piano, solo vocals and
occasional flute, while Sean concentrates entirely on acoustic guitar. A large
degree of warmth radiates from their friendly banter that shines a faint light
on family life and how this transcends to a duo regularly on the road. Family
life also permeates some of their song inspiration, beautifully executed in ‘A Song to Live By’.
The vast
majority of material selected for the pair of sets that formed this show are
found on albums credited to Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman over the years.
The elegance of 2018’s PERSONAE was most prominent led off by ‘Tribute of Hands’ and co-peaking with ‘The Knight’s Ghost’ and ‘Independence’. The latter was introduced
as a song not frequenting many set lists recently, but still lived up to its
billing as one of the album’s finest numbers. The change of pace that ‘The Poison Club’ injects into a set was
also a feature of tonight’s show.
Away from
the duo’s original material and dip into the traditional world, cover versions
of Springsteen’s ‘Matamoros Banks’
and Sandy Denny’s ‘Solo’ stacked up
well, although both aren’t new to Roberts-Lakeman shows. Neither is the majestic
’52 Hertz’, the pick of the duo's own songs and a moving composition turning and
twisting into many metaphors for missed communication.
You do get the feeling that Kathryn and Sean are in the midst of a rich vein of form. They have hardly been prolific in their career on the album churning out front, but two exceptional releases in the last four years and a continual stream of live shows across the country keep them at the forefront of their genre and contemporary scene. This Birmingham show proved another outstanding renewal and it is not difficult to ascertain as to why they court popularity. Dedicated folk fans have tuned into their work for years, and maybe casual observers who only wish to occasionally dip into this genre would do a lot worse than check out the work of Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman. Whenever or wherever you check in, a consistency of high caliber music validates the choice.
www.kathrynrobertsandseanlakeman.com