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Oysterband

Venue: The Lowry
Town: Salford
Date: 14/03/14
Website: http://www.oysterband.co.uk/

The last time Oysterband were at The Lowry was back at the 2012 Folk Awards when they were taking all the plaudits for their 'Ragged Kingdom' collaboration with June Tabor. With singer John Jones joking that the awards would likely be arriving later, it was the more intimate Quays Theatre which saw them return as part of the 'northern' set of dates for their current tour. Backing up their 'Diamonds On The Water' album released in February, their first album together in seven years, it's been a record which has been receiving very positive reviews; not the least of which came from that bastion of the corporate world which has recently been seen branching into music critique, the Financial Times.

The core of Jones, legendary folk rock fiddler, Ian Telfer, Alan Prosser and Dil Davies has been joined by long time producer Al Scott on bass along with cellist Adrian Oxall and vocalist Rowan Godel both of whom were involved with contributions to the new record. In fact it was Rowan's acoustic duet with Alan on 'Cry Cry' which provided a breather for the band and a low key highlight of the second half.

Songs from the new album not surprisingly made up half of the set, and in their live incarnations proved to be as strong as anything from their impressive canon; 'A River Runs', the Canadian inspired 'The Wilderness' and 'Steal Away' sat comfortably alongside the Oysterband live staples and there was also the more commercial bent of 'No Ordinary Girl' which gently rocked along quite agreeably along with the relatively older chestnut 'When I'm Up I Can't Get Down' at the start of the second set. Not only that, they showed they can still cut a rug when they take off into a more Celtic dance realm - not quite as far as their origins as the Oyster Ceilidh Band maybe, but from 'Street Of Dreams' and into a set of tunes, just for a short while they ventured back to their roots.

What John called a "simple" version, yet totally effected in its understated elegance, 'The Oxford Girl' was dedicated to a couple of recent passings - those of Pete Seeger and also that of Tony Benn in the same week as the gig, and stood as a more than worthy tribute to two people whose lives have had an impact on many people in the room. Choosing 'Road To Santiago' to close the set, it was a chance for a well staged one-by-one exit for each member of the band, allowing them to take a bow until only Telfer himself was left to fiddle the refrain and wander off the bare stage.

While the likes of Fairport take most of the plaudits for their originality and their admirable longevity and The Levellers (I can just imagine them blasting out 'By Northern Light') still maintain a certain edgy approach and attitude in their twenty plus year career, the songs of Oysterband could quite easily sit within either of these bands legacies. Although this time round they are missing the influence of June Tabor, it's perhaps fair to say that they aren't missing June Tabor - Oysterband are more than capable standing on their own feet and showing that they can deliver. An underrated band if ever there was one.

Mike Ainscoe