Reviews
Artist:Uiscedwr/Tinderbox
Venue:Bournemouth Folk Club
Town:Bournemouth
Date: 09/12/07
Website:http://www.uiscedwr.com
They say it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good, well Tinderbox dipped in due to an unfortunate injury to the artist that should have been supporting Uiscedwr. So fresh from their appearance on Radio Solent the night before, Tinderbox(bottom left), Monique Houraghan and Dan Tucker were back on stage at Bournemouth Folk Club.
Drawing on songs from their current release, "The Fire's Inside" and introducing songs from the forthcoming album, Tinderbox played a short, bus succinct set to get the night started.
Cathy Burke, a Tinderbox regular when the duo step up to full band configuration, joined Monique and Dan for a couple of numbers, adding both whistles and backing vocals to the guitar and voice already on stage. Her whistle style must have reminded the visiting Uiscedwr(top right) of Michael McGoldrick.
Cathy left the stage again whilst "Oranges For Breakfast", the first song Tinderbox wrote together, before returning for one more number. It was easy to see where Tinderbox's growing reputation for their live work is coming from and fingers crossed, the new album will help propel them onto the wider circuit.
Next up and playing two sets were Uiscedwr. Anna Esslemont, fiddle and vocals, apologised for being late, a year late. The band were due to have appeared last year, but Anna's illness had curtailed gig and tour.
She, together with the rest of the band, Cormac Byrne, percussion and Kevin Dempsey, seemed determined to more than make up for it as they opened with a blistering set of tunes.
Whilst mainly staying within the Celtic tradition, Uiscedwr will pretty much take a shot at any tradition that makes use of a fiddle. Greek, French, Turkish, Kletzmer, all make an appearance during the course of the set.
So does Postman Pat, as Kevin performed a highly abridged version of the song when Anna makes mention of her and Cormac's move to Yorkshire.
As well as tunes, Uiscedwr are playing more songs as part of their set. Anna and Kevin both happy to put a word or two to the notes they belt out with great aplomb.
Suddenly set one was over. There was time for both band and the dancers they'd got up to the floor to get some breath back and the rest of us to buy some raffle tickets and squeeze in another pint or at the very least get a glass filled at the bar.
Remarkably set two started with all the same energy of set one, though it wasn't long before Uiscedwr dropped down to being a duo as Kevin battled to replace the string on his guitar. All whilst being heckled in the most caring way possible by Anna, also taking the opportunity to share some banter with the audience.
A spectacular finale, well excluding the encore, saw Cormac eek out every last sound from hid bodhran, including a passge from Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust". His mastery of that instrument has to be heard to be believed and it's no surprise that he finds himself more and more in demand as a sidesman.
Another cross cultural set of tunes and songs once again reminded us of what we'd been missing during the band's enforced absence. There's talk of a big band version in the new year, but on the night three exceptional musicians were all it took to provide us with some really great entertainment. Uiscedwr are back and they're back in style.
On a personal note Anna took the opportunity to appeal to members of the audience to ask them to think about being blood donors. Had it not been for blood donors, Anna would not have survived aplastic anaemia. Their generosity gave Anna her life back and us a great band. If you can help, please do.