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Red Shoes + Della Perret

Venue: The Gun Room
Town: Portsmouth
Date: 11th May
Website: http://www.redshoes-music.com

It's been a number of years since I last saw Red Shoes, in fact thinking about it, the last time I saw Carolyn & Mark, aka Red Shoes, play was when I was promoting my own gigs back in 2009. I've caught up with them on a number of occasions since, but just not coinciding with gigs. It's been even longer since I was last in Portsmouth, but there you go.

This was the first time I'd been to the Gun Room. It's a good example of its type, a bar at one end, small raised stage at the other, tables and chair in between. The sound in the room was good, with the pa the right size for the venue.

Opening on the evening was Della Perret a singer-songwriter that I'd not previously come across and one whom, I'm guessing, is a regular on the local scene. She's definitely a competent enough performer, but I'm afraid that she didn't do it for me.

Judging by the high percentage of Red Shoes t-shirts around the room, a limited edition that accompanied the most recent Red Shoes album, "All The Good Friends", if you took one of the selective offerings off their crowd funding site, there were a lot of dedicated fans in the audience. (As a quick aside, seeing those t-shirts does give testament as to how effective crowd funding can be when it's done correctly, the real musical gems it helps bring to life.)

Red Shoes were playing two sets on the night, starting off the first half as a trio, with additional guitarist, Nigel King(no relation even though he shares all of the letters of my name with just an extra g). Red Shoes have now got two album's under their belt, the aforementioned "All The Good Friends" and their debut, "Ring Around The Land" with the latter providing a good number of the songs in the first set.

Whilst Carolyn provides most of the vocals, Mark is no slouch behind the mic, or indeed along the fretboard. A lot of Red Shoes songs are darker in nature and the ability to switch the texture of the vocal gives the set a real dynamic. It gives all of the songs an opportunity to find a real space and it' no coincidence that Red Shoes are being recognised not only for their performance, but also for their songwriting ability, with a number of recognised artists taking on their material.

After what seemed like too short a first set, there was time to recharge the glasses, the smokers to head outside for a ciggie etc. before Red Shoes returned to the stage for set two focused around "All The Good Friends".

Set two started with Carolyn giving the album context, it's a dark album that is anti-hunting, not just of the fox, but also that by sexual predators, actually a theme that can be found in folk songs dating back hundreds of years. Opening the set with "Red Coat Ride" an anti-hunting song that Red Shoes once turned down a gig over as they were told they couldn't play it.

The set also included "River Rey" a song that combines the betrayal of Cadbury's, with the betrayal of innocence, a song that's roots can now be given a full context following a statement to the Yew Tree enquiry.

Part way through the set, the three on stage were joined by Della Perret for a series of songs where she filled in as an additional backing vocalist, but more importantly was filling in as a sax player taking the role normally occupied by the fiddle. It was an interesting addition and one that really worked, particularly in the intimate indoor setting, I'm not so sure it would work so well on a festival stage.

I really enjoyed the second set, dark and brooding, but with enough contrast to give the set real definition. There was a really nice touch at the end, where Red Shoes invited a number of members of the audience on stage to join them in singing the last number of the evening, a cover of Fairport's "Meet On The Ledge" sung in the original key. All in all an excellent night's entertainment.

Words & Pictures Neil King