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| Photo by Robin Gillanders |
It was
music fit for the lavish setting. By her own admission, Karine Polwart has not made
many visits to the West Midlands to play shows in the past, so the opportunity to
bring her current tour to Birmingham Town Hall was too good to turn down. It
does not matter where your prior appreciation or awareness of her music sits on
the barometer; by the end of the show, you attain the status of a fully-fledged
knowledgeable fan.
Not only is
Karine Polwart the source of many wondrous songs, the background and
inspiration to them is enchanting, enlightening and dealt with heaps of guile
and craft. Adeptly assisted by a band comprising of her brother Steven on
guitars and multi-instrumentalist Inge Thomson, the trio glided through two precious
sets full of new songs, older numbers and the odd surprise. At the heart of the
content are myths, observations and personal experiences from their Scottish
home, a land that has placed Karine Polwart at the heart of the folk scene for
many years.
The centerpiece
of the current tour is the release of the latest album LAWS OF MOTION. By the
time Karine mentioned the record via the title track towards the end of the
first set, several songs from it had already been enjoyed alongside learning
about their origin. Politics has often been a fruitful source for Karine and
right from the off we were treated to the inventive piece ‘I Burn But I am Not Consumed’ taking its cue as a response to the
45th President of the United States from the land of his ancestry.
Politics with a small ‘p’ plays a part in the song ‘Suitcase’, which draws its inspiration from forced emigration from
Eastern Europe to Scotland in 1938 and generally reflecting modern day
migration. Most songs from the new album had an informative introduction, so we
learned that ‘Cornerstone’ draws on
the experience of visiting the Isle of May and ‘Young Man on a Mountain’ recalls her grandfather’s joint ventures
on active war service in Italy and a more serene life in the forests of
Scotland.
Before we
leave the new album, a special word for ‘Ophelia’,
which was probably the stand out song of the evening and one that launched the
second set. Perhaps a song that let its beauty do the talking as no introduction
was required.
As
indicated, Steven Polwart did most of the string work, although Karine did sidestep from her Shruti Box to acoustic guitar on more than one occasion. By far the most intriguing aspect of the sound is the contribution of Inge
Thomson. Surrounded by a concoction of percussive, electronic and organic
instruments, she came across as a fair distance from the folk purist world to
the extent of experimenting with loops alongside more conventional accordion
work. However, the soundtrack worked a treat and played the perfect foil to
Karine’s beautiful unblemished vocals.
It was not
all the domain of original material. A song by Sidney Carter, ‘Crow on the Cradle’, can be found on the
new album and appeared in the first set, alongside a tribute to Scott
Hutchison, the late front man of Scottish rock band Frightened Rabbits, with a
cover of ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’.
You could sense the populist divide between this song and the distinct folk
numbers, a trait expanded further later on when the trio launched into a fun, and
different version, of the seventies chart topper ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’.
Many people
leaving a Karine Polwart concert would be entirely justified in celebrating the
feathered thread as the stand out moments. In the final throes of the show,
Karine recounted the myth of the robin obtaining its red breast before launching
into ‘The Robin’, ended the second
set with her signature tune ‘King of
Birds’ and eventually closed the evening with her own favourite of the species,
‘Follow the Heron’.
The splendour
of Birmingham Town Hall is never a presence to be under estimated when enjoying
a show in the venue. Maybe thoughts do sometimes drift to the need for
Birmingham to utilise a smaller theatre-style setting when getting anywhere close
to selling out a 900-capacity venue is beyond the pull of an artist. However,
any substitute would fall short in the grandeur stakes.
Thinking
back, Karine Polwart was last seen in concert at the Artrix in nearby
Bromsgrove six years ago. In hindsight this was far too long, but enjoying a full
two-hour exhibition of inspirational Scottish folk music has started the
compensation process. Leaving the venue informed, inspired and fully
entertained is all you can ask for from putting your money down.
www.karinepolwart.com