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Karine Polwart + Blue Rose Code

Venue: St James Church
Town: London
Date: 12/10/13
Website: http://www.karinepolwart.com

St.James' Church, Piccadilly was the beautiful setting for Karine Polwart's latest London gig. In the courtyard outside the church was a market, which hit you in the face with a mixture of many glorious perfumes and fragrances. At six o'clock on this Saturday night, the atmosphere was electric with the anticipation of a great night of music.

First on the bill was Blue Rose Code, (Ross Wilson). I first became aware of this artist when he was supporting Lau on their UK tour last year and was blown away by his musical and performance abilities. This performance didn't disappoint, and he was aided by a fiddle player and banjo player. The trio stunned the audience! The lyrical content of the songs performed were truly brilliant and were complemented by raw energy and enthusiasm from the musicians. A real highlight of the set was when Karine Polwart herself came on stage to join the song, Whitechapel which was released as a single. Through the evening Ross mentioned that his debut album had recently been released. If you don't have a copy, I recommend that you invest in one!

After the interval came the main act of the evening, yes, the force of nature that is Karine Polwart, Steven Polwart and Inge Thompson. Most of their material in this set was from the latest album, Traces, (again, if you don't have it in your CD collection you need to). One of my favourite songs of the set, and the opening track from Traces, was Cover Your Eyes. This tackles the issues caused by the Trump Corporation in Menie. The lyrics are a work of genius which are complimented by the sensitive use of harmonics from Karine's brother and the very delicate and effective playing of Thompson on Piano Accordion and Kalimba, (African thumb piano). There was also an unexpected solo number from Inge Thompson, which had a nautical theme and employed the use of her beautifully distinctive voice and Accordion playing as well as electronics and effects, including some great use of delay. At the end of the night there was an inevitable encore of the King of Birds, which was nominated for best original song at this years BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Matt Tighe