Reviews

Artist:Marina Florance Band + Support
Venue:Bournemouth Folk Club
Town:Bournemouth
Date:12/07/09
Website:http://www.myspace.com/marinaflorance

There are times when a free gig doesn't seem like value for money, forty pound for a ticket seems about right to see a well renowned artist and four quid seems like an absolute steal. Sunday night at Bournemouth Folk Club was definitely one of those nights.

Normally I prefer two/three band gigs it gives the artists more opportunity to get into a stride and play a representative set, but when you get a night of song spread over five artists, it seems petty to quibble. As it was most of the supporting cast got four songs, rather than the usual three and it seemed to make a real difference.

First up was a man who normally spends his evening at the club behind the desk, rather than onstage, Andy Stone. Andy came to folk via a rock band, but took to the idiom like water off a duck's back. Andy has a real gift for songs and words, his first song "Tuppenny Jack" draws on an old fens name for Jack Frost and as a character reappeared in one of Andy's later songs about the people who make a living off the fens fighting against those that want to drain them. That song goes back to the times of the Stuarts, but could just as easily play today.

Andy is as much a master of guitar as he is words, consequently his all too rare on stage appearances tend to make you want more. We got four songs on the day, each one a gem.

Fiona Fox is a new name to me. Apparently she played the Club a couple of weeks back and was filling in for a singer who unexpectedly couldn't make it. As they say, it's an ill wind that blows no good. Fox started with a light hearted dig at the need for female singer songwriters to have a love song in their armoury and then followed that with a really emotionally delivered love song., classic. Fiona then hit the cover version trail showing that she can interpret songs as well as write and perform them. Bournemouth Folk Club appear to have unearthed another great find, hopefully one we'll get to hear a lot more of.

Nigel Waits is very much more in the style of what I would call a contemporary floor singer, albeit a very good one, in fact he had a song in his set that highlighted the need to travel around to do a few songs here and there. The reason I class him as a contemporary floor singer is his choice of material. Mainly self penned, rather than interpretation of traditional songs, picking up on the likes of Dylan in terms of style, rather than as pastiche, his songs pick up on the here and now. He seems very happy in his skin, as a performer he comes across as someone content with their lot and it gives his set real lift.

Last up in the first half was Jason Hinchey, Jason has played the club many times as well running his own club on the other side of town. His style is slightly more aggressive and normally includes at least one song of political or social comment and tonight was no exception. It was a song about how people in groups you don't like no longer have an individual identity, no longer Rosita, Juan and Jesus just deportees. I personally found it hard hitting and reminded me a lot of Tom Russell's song about the border wall. A great conclusion to the first half.

The Marina Florence Band take their musical influence from the other side of the pond, americana, country-folk, a little songbook and then give it a more English feel in the way they use their words and subjects.

The band are a five piece which gives plenty of depth to the sound, occasional brass, guitars, mandolin, blues harp, percussion and well thought out arrangements, particularly around the vocals and backing vocal, full of rich harmony gives their set some really rich textures.

Marina can turn her voice from an almost deep south growl to torch singer, flooding a song with a real sense of personality as though each song has a voice of it's own rather than just chord structure and words, it adds a dynamic to the overall performance and gives the band a wider comfort zone than that lead by a singer without the same vocal dexterity.

The result is a set that has a wider range of song and styles, but still feels like a set, rather than jut a collection of songs. You got the feeling that this was a band that could have gone on all night and it would still feel good, maybe in a southern honkytonk surrounded by chicken wire and covered in beer, rather than a folk club, but you get the gist.

The band are doing a live recording later in the year. I really do hope they manage to catch the essence of the sound because they've got that certain something that makes you want to come back and see them again.

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