Coven @ NAC
Good for the soul.
A seated night at Norwich Arts Centre is a point of trepidation for me, so this is a performance I enter with caution. The three acts – Grace Petrie, O’Hooley & Tidow, and Lady Maisery, or collectively Coven, are setting up quietly, a butterfly display behind them. The audience is watching, a respectful murmur passing here and there through the crowd. We are a civilised bunch.
The tour is in honour of International Woman’s Day, and the artists are advertised as ‘formidable and forthright’, so I’m ready to be intimidated. The atmosphere is a little less rebellious, a little more sober, than expected. This changes as Petrie takes the mic, with the other performers behind her. She is confident, dynamic, and funny. I could have sat and listened to her talk for the whole night (though I’m glad she did some singing). I hate to compare her to Billy Bragg, but she sounds like Billy Bragg. Not to discredit her – she has a touch more of a folk-punk influence, Dylan inspired, with strong whiffs of Americana. Her singing strong, her guitar work light. She opens with Emily Davison Blues. It is good.
After three songs she passes over to O’Hooley & Tidow. A couple: two women, one keyboard – where is this going to go? These guys are the most interesting for me. In the folk tradition, they tell us tales – but these tales are of the couple that decided not to buy a house in their home town of Yorkshire because of the hum of the factory, or the story of the cyclist Beryl Burton. Is folk realism a thing? Well they do it, theatrically, comically and tenderly. They look like they are having fun. Heidi Tidow’s voice is low, breathy, and very impressive. Berlinda O’Hooley is mad on the keys. I am blown away by their song Like Horses.
Three songs and we are passed over to Lady Maisery. They are a little less confident than the other acts, less relaxed on stage and it feels more like watching a school concert than a national band. Musically they are very tight, and perform arrangements of traditional folk songs such as Lady Cruel and The Changeling's Lullaby, as well as numbers of their own. The three of them boast a violin, viola, harp, accordion, squeeze box, and a range of percussive instruments. Despite their keen talent, the set is a little lacklustre. There is no real sense of personality in their songs, and though it is all very pretty, I wouldn’t rush out to see them again. It would be nice to see some more experimentation from these young women in the folk scene.
Throughout the night the acts perform a number of collaborations – a highlight for me being their rendition of Kate Bush’s This Woman’s Work. Once or twice everything gets a bit too kumbaya for me – the night ends with the acts standing arm in arm singing acapella about marching onward. Though over-earnest at times, the night as a whole is interesting and nourishing. As Petrie tweeted afterwards – this tour is ‘good for the soul’.
