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The Full English

Venue: The Royal Northern College of Music
Town: Manchester
Date: 1/11/14
Website: http://www.thefullenglishband.co.uk

"Three new songs, a lot of old ones plus a big screen" is what we were promised on this last brief run of five dates from the magnificent seven they call The Full English. It's been quite some trip. Everyone probably knows the tale by now; over a year since the launch of the digital archive of traditional English (and beyond) folk song and dance and the recorded and live branch curated by Fay Hield, her troupe can be satisfied that they've done their bit in helping promote this massive undertaking.

The penultimate date of what looks like being the final manifestation of this company saw the splendid and quite appropriate surroundings of the bastion that us Manchester's Royal Northern College of Music getting a virtually full house for an evening of music and tale telling par excellence. The staging feels very much like a dusty old back room of a museum, dimly lit in fading sepia as though gaslit and strewn with all manner of musical ephemera including instruments and old framed images of the pioneering song collectors. A line of distressed bunting hung haphazardly as a backdrop flanked by the slightly incongruous electronic screens which throughout the evening flashed up images from the archive, still and moving, illustrating the visual aspects of the music.

Quite an archive it is and interesting to see how the live incarnation has evolved over time. As promised, added to the recorded versions which the more avid followers will know well by now, were the promised three new arrangements. Ben Nicholls' personal odyssey into the nautical field has continued into a project which will come to fruition with his 'The Kings Of The South Seas' recording, with his performance of 'Kings Of The Cannibal Island' - a slightly camped up music hall feel in its cautionary tale all told, like his later delivery in 'Rounding The Horn, in a deep and rich baritone. Similarly nautical although with a more 'piratey' theme was Sam Sweeney's greatly appreciated piece with its suitably singalong line of "cruising down the rocky coast of high Barbary" - which may well have encompassed the song's title as well. Also a fine example of how well the seven play so well together as an ensemble. There were times when one or two of the musicians would take leave for some colleagues to take a showcase - the likes of Sam Sweeney and Rob Harbron's duet while playing along to some archive footage of folk dances, introduced slightly tongue in cheek with the wry suggestion that Cecil Sharp's famed song collecting talent didn't extend to his dancing feats.

Taking a style set very much by his version of 'Portrait Of My Wife', Seth Lakeman added 'As I Wandered By The Brookside' to make up the final new song in the repertoire - another tender and brooding piece accompanied by an intense string backing with the sound of viola, cello and bowed double bass, plus the rare sight of concertina specialist Rob Harbron on fiddle, added to Seth's footstomp providing a gentle heartbeat, gave a lush and resonant sound to the whole song.

New material aside, it was an evening of peasants, perverts, rowdy weddings and refined innuendo. As Nancy Ker commented before her 'Seeds Of Love' - "you think you're singing about your allotment then realise it's all about lust!" Martin Simpson's tales of Percy Grainger, the reprobate song collector and early pioneer of wax recordings of "genuine peasant folk singing", added further spice and more than a touch of humour to proceedings. Add to that his unfaithful wife ballad 'Peggy And The Soldier', over which the provenance of certain verses there is some doubt - whether they are original or added by AL Lloyd at the behest of Martin Carthy, he professed to remaining blissfully ignorant, although his "she can f**k off back to sea with a solider" line might have been quite a recent and contemporary addition…..

Amongst the lewdness and immorality of the scurrilous tales on the menu, there were moments where the more genteel themes of folk song took centre stage. Fay Hield's 'Linden Lea' and 'The Willow Glen', along with appropriate visuals, conjured up bright May mornings dreamily wandering through carpets of bluebells and Nancy Kerr's original 'Fol The Day-o' (accompanied by the surely most elegant fiddle bowing in folk) pulled together several folk song references to accompany its buoyant tune.

It's as a band though that they really spark. When they performed 'Arthur O'Bradley', the interaction between the two female voices and interjections from the male chorus was compelling and the set closer, 'Stand By Your Guns', another sea faring account remains as one of the highlights of this collaboration. Seth Lakeman has taken to covering the song in his own gigs, but the Full English version is hard to top; all Master And Commander in its portrayal of battles on the high seas with ominous portent, swelling strings and full of anticipation.

The band obviously have a clear love for what they do and genuine respect and admiration for each other as well as revelling in the chance to work together. The door may be closed on this particular chapter of the Full English chronicles but think of how many doors have been opened.

Words & Pictures: Mike Ainscoe

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