Reviews
Artists: Kerfuffle
Venue: Bournemouth Folk Club
Town: Bournemouth
Date: 12th December
Website:
Bournemouth Folk Club
December 12th was one of those nights for meeting up with old friends, both on and off stage, to catch up with all the gossip and then listen to some great music. The snow had pretty much cleared, but was due to come back later in the week, not that that mattered because in the here and now we were at Bournemouth Folk Club and mulled wine and Christmas slices were being handed out.
The band that brought everyone together, Kerfuffle, had actually split officially in the Summer, unable to sustain the other commitments of the individual band members, something had to give and that something was Kerfuffle. Having not seen one of the farewell dates, I was really pleased the temptation of repeating last year's winter tour supporting their traditional Christmas album "Lighten The Dark" had proved too much for them and here they were though with Rob Harbron along to do bass and other duties.
Kerfuffle has decided to go down the two sets and no support root, which I'm not always a fan off, but with this being a signoff tour I was more than happy with as this was something that was not going to be seen again.
The band kicked off the first half with the lead track from the album, "Three Ships", which really set the tone for the evening, great songs, mainly carols, top tunes and some absolutely stunning clog dancing and what with this being the kick off of the festive season proper, a novelty tune or two set to a sea shanty style.
Kerfuffle's approach to carols was very much in line with the way it used to be, away from churches and into pubs, more like wassailing though in a bar with an open fire. Lead vocalist, Hannah James, is steeped in the Sheffield tradition, which like many local traditions adds versus into otherwise well known carols. Listening to the eloquently delivered lyrics it was easy to understand why churches were reluctant to have them sung there, some of the lines verge of heresy.
The second half increased audience participation dramatically with lots of singing in the choruses, fortunately we weren't asked to join in the clog dancing, it was exhausting just watching, but between the singing and dancing the band really were creating a magical atmosphere and one that really explains why this band will really be missed.
Bournemouth Folk Club really does put on some great nights though out the year and I was really pleased to see that next year they are getting involved in two folk festivals. They are expanding their Purbeck Folk Festival and launching the first ever Bournemouth Folk Festival at the BIC on the 12th of March.(More details on our tour pages in the new year, but keep the date free)
Neil King