Matthew Walton’s Blog

Firstly, thanks to the two people who have so far found and commented on my thoughts on Loreena McKennitt’s concert at the Barbican the other week. Google seems to be doing its job.

The other evening I was fortunate enough to go to the second of two performances by Kate Rusby and her band at the Playhouse in Nottingham. I’ve not been to the venue before, but it could hardly be more conveniently located and it was very nice indeed. Not awe-inspiring like the Barbican, but considerably smaller and on what might be termed a more realistic scale. The seat was comfortable, although a bit low — but most seats are a bit low for me so this can’t really be levelled as a serious criticism!

Kate Rusby herself has lost none of her on-stage charm. When she walks out into the spotlights and says ‘hello’ she’s like your next door neighbour, although probably prettier and a great deal more musically talented, something she proved immediately by singing The Playing Of Ball. As usual with a Kate Rusby Band gig, there was a lot of talking, joking and laughing going on. It’s often said that if the performers are having fun the audience probably will as well, and it held out here. The band were enjoying themselves, we were laughing and smiling and tapping our feet, and singing the chorus in appropriate places.

There were a few new songs in the set, including the excellent Awkward Annie and another one which did have a title but which has slipped my mind. This bodes well for the new album, and since Kate mentioned that they had been in the studio between tour dates, it seems likely that we might not have to wait much longer for the followup to 2005’s The Girl Who Couldn’t Fly.

Various favourites of mine were also included — Mary Blaize, The Elfin Knight, Sir Eglamore, Underneath the Stars and Cruel among others. I should admit that there are very few songs Kate can sing live which I won’t like to listen to. In many ways, she’s better live than on recordings, as the atmosphere created by the band is a considerable addition to the performance and there’s just no way for that to come across on a CD.

I can’t write as exhaustively about this as I did about Loreena McKennitt — good though Kate Rusby is, she’s not in the same league as Ms McKennitt by a long way. That’s an extremely select club, but it has by no means diminished my enjoyment of a smaller and much more fun performance. Kate Rusby Band: well worth seeing.