Matthew Walton’s Blog

First I have to mention the excellent Cross O’th Hands, who played for a ceilidh from 8pm until 10pm. There was a great deal of dancing and some great tunes.

However, the main act was Bellowhead, and it was clear that most people were there for them. The hall got busier and busier as the time for Bellowhead to appear drew closer, with the dance floor full of people standing, and many seats occupied as well.

Now Bellowhead are an unusual band. Spiers and Boden are a long-established duo with a reputation for a certain level of eccentricity. In Bellowhead, they take that tendency to extremes with nine other talented musicians playing a variety of instruments: trumpet, saxophones, bass clarinet, trombone, ‘cello, fiddles, oboe, bagpipes, whistles, accordions, concertina and a wide variety of percussion (including a frying pan).

The cheer as Bellowhead came on stage was extremely loud, and the band launched immediately into Jordan, a song from their first full album. Things got much louder after that.

This is something to criticise – after a while it became apparent that the band were too loud, to the point where the speakers or something in the chain couldn’t quite cope and so there were hints of distortion around the edges, and the soprano saxophone came over way too strongly a few times. The overall quality was good, but if it was just a little bit quieter it would’ve been far more enjoyable.

I’m not going to go through everything they played, although there were quite a few things that aren’t on either of their albums. Some I suppose could be from their original EP which I don’t have, but I suspect some of them just aren’t on any recordings which bodes well for future album repertoire. I do feel though that Bellowhead’s strength is in live performance. While listening to one of their albums is a pleasure, seeing them live is a completely different experience where the energy and enthusiasm really gets you.

And of course, nobody sings quite like John Boden.