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Ninebarrow + Will McNicol + Kadia

Venue: The Lighthouse
Town: Poole
Date: 26/4/14
Website: http://www.ninebarrow.co.uk/

It was quite a night at Poole Lighthouse where rising duo, Ninebarrow held their sell out launch gig for their well received debut album, "While The Blackthorn Burns", ably supported by guitarist Will McNicol and local trio, Kadia, who recently launched their own EP, "Beacon Fires".

Will McNicol opened the proceedings with a series of tunes built up using a combination of guitars, building the tunes with what KT Tunstal describes as 'a bastard pedal', i.e. sampling chords and phrases and then layering them. It created a really dynamic series of tunes, enhanced by not only using the percussive elements of the instrument, but also by using a wire brush drumstick to infuse a different dynamic to the sound.

Will was followed by Kadia who kicked off their set with a folkified version of the Michael Jackson classic "Thriller", but don't let that fool you into them being a novelty act far from it. You couldn't fault their arrangement of the song, but what really defines the band is their own material and that is excellent, if you're looking for reference points, try to imagine Simon & Garfunkle expanded to a trio or slimmed down Southern Tennant Folk Union, either way those are only reference points as is the combination of folk sensibilities and Americana, definitely worth checking out.

It was a damned fine opening half, with Ninebarrow's Jon Whitley only half joking when he said they'd given themselves a lot to live up to when they came back for the second half, after an opportunity to refresh glasses.

From the off it became obvious that Ninebarrow were very much in their element, not just because they had a sell out audience behind them, but because their set just sparkled with quality. There is just so much strength in their material, not only the songs they've penned themselves, but also the way they arrange traditional songs.

My personal favourite is "The Weeds", a song about the disintegration of someone's life when their partner leaves them, but it's also one that works on a society breakdown level, strong stuff. The great thing about that song is how it sits in with its brother and sister songs on the album and is something that comes across more in the live environment and what gives their set so much sparkle.

Jon and Jay are predominantly inspired by both the landscape and the rich history that gets tied into it, both a real nature, such as "The Sea" which is about a group of Roman troops transported to Hadrians Wall from the Adriatic and legendary, including "Mother" a tale of the fay folk and kidnapping in the Dorset countryside and from where the album title came.

Kadia's Lee Cuff was called to the stage for a couple of numbers to reprise the contribution that he made to the album and other guests on the recording were duly name checked, Ninebarrow, are a band that are generous with their praise, but when you've got an album as strong as "While The Blackthorn Burns" you can afford to be, particularly when you can deliver it so vividly in the live arena. To paraphrase a Roman reference, 'They came, they played, they conquered' and we enjoyed every minute.

Neil King

L-R Will McNicol, Ninebarrow, Kadia