Seth Lakeman
A quick look at Seth Lakeman's 2022 tour schedule will show you just how important live music is to performers. After a summer of festivals, and a short series of harbourside Sea Shanty Sessions, Lakeman immediately took off on this 13-date full band tour around the UK. After a short break he takes off again in December for another 11 gigs accompanied by vocalist Alex Hart, and then, in February, there will be yet another tour with guitarist Benji Kirkpatrick.
But Devon-born Lakeman is keen to make up lost time, and has a lot to celebrate. Much more than the post-pandemic return of live music. Last November he released 'Make Your Mark', the eleventh album since his 2002 debut, 'The Punch Bowl', and one year after 'A Pilgrim's Tale', his acclaimed musical tribute that marked the 400th anniversary of The Pilgrim Fathers finally leaving Plymouth on board The Mayflower, bound for America.
On Sunday night Lakeman and the band ended their current tour at Norwich's Epic Studios, a venue that has really upped its game in recent months, helped by its fantastic sound system and lights, and some really exciting bookings to bolster their previous usual fayre of tribute acts and nostalgia nights. And it is a policy that I hope will continue. Since the closure of the ironically-named Open, Norwich has really missed having a central venue bigger than Norwich Arts Centre and Voodoo Daddy's, but more centrally located than The Waterfront, or the Nick Rayns LCR at the University of East Anglia.
There's a good crowd in for a Sunday, but the first surprise is that this is a standing event. Not a problem for me – I prefer to be able to move around, and have a little dance if the fancy takes me. However, I suspect that more than a few of tonight's audience might have preferred to be able to sit. The other surprise is that there is no support act tonight. No problem, especially as Lakeman and his band are to perform two 45 minute sets, with a 20 minute interval in between. But the whole point of an interval, from an audience perspective, is to be given the opportunity for a comfort break and to get a drink from the bar, something that a seated audience certainly appreciate, but is somewhat more of a heel-clicking interlude to an already standing crowd.
But the proof of a good gig is always in the listening, and this one was a cracker. Lakeman's band is made up of guitarist, banjo and bazouki player Benji Kirkpatrick (previously of Bellowhead, and now a member of Steeleye Span); in-demand double bass player Ben Nicholls; Norwich-born drummer Dave Smith; and vocalist Alex Hart, who also plays shruti box and guitar.
The double set certainly provides the opportunity to hear many of the songs from the new album, including 'The Giant', a classic Lakeman narrative which tells of the attempted rescue of a huge pilot whale that had become stranded off the Devon coast; the slow marching song 'Side by Side' with its sing-along chorus; and the politically-charged 'Love Will Still Remain' with its vocal emphasis firmly on the 'Remain'.
My favourite moment of the evening was when Alex Hart stepped forward to duet with Lakeman on 'Bury Nights' (from 'A Pilgrim's Tale), a truly emotive performance that had hairs standing on the back of my neck. Check out Alex's solo album – I reckon she is a star in the making, and The Guardian newspaper agrees with me on that.
But, even with the new album dominating the setlist, there was plenty of time for old favourites too – tracks like 'The White Hare' and '1643' from 'Freedom Fields', and of course, the 2005 barnstormer 'Kitty Jay'.
'Blood Upon Copper' and 'Race To Be King' become the encore, and then, even though we have been son our feet for over an hour and a half, the lights come up and we reluctantly make our way for the exits, feeling thrilled and exhillerated by what has been an unforgettable set from Lakeman and his band.
Well done Seth Lakeman, well done the band, well done Epic Studios, and well done to the audience for really getting behind live music on such a dark and dank November night.
