Steeleye Span: at City Varieties Music Hall on 27 April

The current Steeleye Span tour has been timed to coincide with the release of Conflict, their first studio album for five years.

As usual, the atmosphere created by the band was light and celebratory, but as Maddy Prior made clear, the title was chosen to mark difficult times. On the album cover notes, she states it aims “to reflect the times we find ourselves in, but also the stretch and tear of our relationship with this planet that hosts us.”

The evening opened with Sound of the Drum. An instrumental introduction set the scene before Maddy Prior, one of the band’s founding members who has now been performing for over fifty years, joined the stage. This is one of the tracks on Conflict and has a clear military theme. Over the Hills, played a little later, is often known as a nursery rhyme, but links to the role of recruiting officers in enticing young men.

One of the most poignant references to the impact of militarism was the band’s rendition of the lyrics of Elvis Costello and music of Clive Langer in Shipbuilding. This is not on Conflict, but was a beautiful version sung by the whole band with minimal musical accompaniment.

The band for this performance were Maddy Prior, Robert Carey on bass, Scott Sinclair on guitar, Julian Littman on keyboard and guitar, Athena Olivia on violin and Chris Finn on drums. Finn has stepped in to replace regular drummer Liam Genockey who is recovering from surgery.

Genockey has played consistently with the band for the last twenty-five years, but Finn filled his place well. As always with Steeleye Span, the performance was tight. The band is well rehearsed and the set
flows seamlessly, with song introductions from various members of the group.

The first set contained several songs not on Conflict: Edward, Drink Down the Moon, Little Sir Hugh Longbone and The Gardener. I always enjoy the bittersweet Little Sir Hugh, with the happy image of children playing ball descending into bloody murder and the appeal for a mother’s love.

The set ended with a return to Conflict and the track Flying Low which we were told was originally written as a protest about low flying aircraft at their Cumbrian base. Prior assured us that planes are not such an
issue anymore. Good to know if you are intending to sign up to one of the courses that she runs at Stone Barn with her daughter, Rose.

The second half opened with Gaudete. The Latin song of Christmas devotion is worth singing at any time of year for the opportunity it gives the band to harmonise. The glue sticking all the other voices together was that of Octavia. One of the UK’s leading acoustic and electric violinists, classically trained at Oxford University and the Royal Academy of Music, here she showed her considerable talent as a vocalist. I will be checking out her solo work.

The second set contained songs from many decades of the band’s back catalogue. With fifty years of performing and recording, the band have plenty of choice. They intentionally change their set list for every tour to keep things fresh for the audience and themselves. Tam Lin, Cold Haily Windy Night, Two Magicians, The Green Man, Jack Hall and Bonny Black Hare all made an appearance. I particularly enjoyed Let Her Go Down, and Prior’s musings on Peter Knight’s flirtation with fishing, despite suffering from seasickness.

Although the set changes frequently the encore is a constant. All Around My Hat, their chart-topping hit from 1975, must be sung by band and audience. Maddy Prior made it clear that their anthem will never change and the audience were more than happy to join.

The night ended with a show of instrumental prowess from the band in Dodgy Bastards, with Prior providing visual accompaniment using a large silk scarf.

Main image: Steeleye Span performed at City Varieties Music Hall in 2022.