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Kate Rusby

Venue: Bridgewater Hall
Town: Manchester
Date: 17/12/13
Website: http://www.katerusby.com

There are Christmas traditions and then there are Christmas traditions. Most major town and cities will have some festive decorations, maybe an enormous tree adorning some central space and almost certainly a pantomime in the local theatre. Being Manchester, there's the attraction of the traditional Christmas markets, now in their fifteenth year and extending across the city centre so much that the council have produced a mini-trail so as not to miss out on anything. It all comes to a head in Albert Square where the magnificent town hall entrance is adorned with a glittering frame atop which sits a huge Santa (looking suspiciously like Zippy from seventies children's 'Rainbow' programme). The pantomime at the Opera House this year is Dick Whittington and the well known tale of his journey to London to find streets paved with gold and of course starring various celebrities, anonymous enough for the need of their fame added to the billboards, itself almost a Christmas tradition. For the want of something a bit different though, there's been a new kid on the block for a few years now and one which is becoming a tradition in itself.

For her first time at the Bridgewater (apparently the staff confessed to not knowing whether to give her a hug of welcome or a slap for not coming earlier), it was the textbook setting for Kate Rusby at Christmas - even earning the acclaim of "our new favourite place" by the end of the evening. With her two 'Christmas' albums of traditional South Yorkshire seasonal songs and carols ('Sweet Bells' and 'While Mortals Sleep') having been in the shops for some time now, most of the songs would have been familiar and even if not, the light hearted in between song breaks meant the banter of the explanations and introductions made for most entertaining intervals between the more pressing business of playing the songs. Decked out in a suitably warm cardigan and scarf the diminutive figure of Kate Rusby dominated the vast expanse of the surroundings with her voice resonating as clear as crystal far into the lofty illuminated heights and the chance to include the five piece brass section alongside the regular band is always a joy.

It didn't matter that we got more than the one version of 'While Shepherds Watched' (after all there are over thirty versions) and several chances to wassail amongst the other seasonal songs or that there was a slight deviation from the Christmassy theme of the evening - 'The Lark' and 'The Wishing Wife' being shoehorned into the set alongside the very welcome appearance of bodhran playing local lad John Joe Kelly for the latter; staying on for a couple of songs including the now expected 'boys set' where Kate took a break and the band let rip along with the brass on a series of tunes from the Julian Sutton and Daman O'Kane songbook interspersed with some festive ditties. It was hearing John Joe play again that emphasised how much he's been missed in the Rusby band, not having been part of the set up with them for some time.

Amongst the highlights were a heart string tugging 'Home', a most congenial take on the 'Joy To The World' with hints of the Mexican feel of the arrangement and the 'Yorkshire' version of 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' (different verses, same chorus) which ended the evening, sending everyone out into the icy night full of seasonal cheer. Of course, anyone missing out can always wait until next year or indulge in some retail therapy and pick up the recently released DVD of the Christmas show filmed in Harrogate last year for repeated fixes over the coming months. Kate Rusby at Christmas - it's the new black.

Mike Ainscoe
photocredit:Neil King not taken at gig