MARIA DUARTE, JAMES WALSH and ANDY HEDGECOCK review The Invite, My Father’s Island, Nirvanna: the Band, the Show, the Movie, and Oh My Goodness!
Latest editorial
An impressive, multi-layered combination of players and instruments
Streamed concert Bellowhead
Stabal Mansion
Bellowhead
[David Angel/bellowhead.co.uk]
PAUL DONOVAN is chilled by the contemporary resonance of Harper Lee’s coming of age tale amidst racism and white supremacy in this excellent production
GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends the unashamedly light-hearted escapism on offer in this stage version of the 1963 film
Full of mysterious religious references and radical sound design, the Scottish duo’s new offering is candidate for album of the year, suggests SIMON DUFF
MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
PERSONNEL-HEAVY English folk band Bellowhead walked away decisively from live performances in 2016 with a sell-out show at the London Palladium – so they were keen to portray this global concert stream as nothing more than a one-off reunion, organised to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their successful third album, Hedonism.
Operating together under “strict Covid-safe conditions” in Stabal Mansion near Epping Forest, their hour-long, 15-song set was, naturally, based around songs from Hedonism, although there were excursions into other albums.
While the feel and subject matter of their roustabout material makes their recorded work rather samey, when it comes to the live experience there’s no doubting they know how to hit the spot.
Similar stories
PETER MASON thrills to the sound of south London-born Yussef Dayes, and the galaxy of musicians drawn into his orbit
SUSAN DARLINGTON swoons in the presence of a magnetic frontman
New releases by Porridge Radio, The Cribs, and Bjorn Meyer
WILL STONE in entertained, and some, by the Irishman Shobsy and the Dutch/Kiwi combo My Baby