NORTHUMBRIAN MUSIC
NIGHTS
What we said about
The
Bushburys
Capacity Crowd for
Bushburys
If ever there was a case that needed to be made for the benefits of synergy between band, promoters, audience and community, last Friday night at Allendale Village Hall would make a conclusive point.
The Bushburys created a focal performance area in the middle of the hall, with an ingenious set of spotlights over an ancient Indian carpet, highlighting the drum set, the piano, the double bass, and the guitar, with a black and brown backdrop lending a daredevil slant to the set.
The promoters had contributed to the atmosphere by arranging candles and subdued cloths on tables around the darkened room, with the bar conveniently tucked away to the side. And the audience, of all ages and sizes, when it reached capacity seating, and overflowed, nicely obliged by entering into a rapt spirit of the performance. This looked like a show that could have been anywhere -- anywhere in your mind, in fact, and so it turned out to be.
Starting in mellow mood, the Bushburys showed, as someone remarked, that they were able to work both intimate crowds as well as their more usual festival multitudes. In only a couple of numbers, they had laid out their professional musicianship territory, as well as establishing closer and closer bonds with the audience who were all only a few feet from the performers. It was clear why this band could attract people from as far afield as Penrith, Hartlepool, or Ashington, many of whom stayed overnight in the area, and so the local community also shared in the proceeds of the show.
As more chairs quietly filled the room, the band, composed of Eddy Morton on vocals, guitar and mandolin, Brian Bannister on vocals and harmonica in addition to guitar and mandolin, with Gerry Smith on keyboard and accordian, Mick Barker on percussion, and Buzby Bywater on double bass, played steadily on.
If their songs were 'All for the love of you' , they still exhibited gritty realism too, as in '60% Proof' and in other two-step rhythms celebrating the soul of the country on the weekend. It was ennervating, too, with the drums in the middle of the audience, and the performance compelled people to dance about on the fringes. But it was not so loud to offend more senior attendees, nor so bland as to put off the younger ones either. And the political slant of songs like 'You're not my brother ' was not lost on the the rest. Somebody else remarked, "They're very good, aren't they!"
Everyone had to chuckle, when Eddy defined the difference between rock and folk: rock, of course, doesn't have a raffle! Never mind what sort of music the Bushburys play, it's transporting to another place in your mind.
It didn't seem sufficient, somehow, that the lads only did one encore, an anthem called 'Stay Young' , but it was certainly a show-stopper, as like Elgar's 'Unfinished', the performers individually left their places, leaving only a solo guitar to round off the evening.
So an audience eager for more, and those who were unfortunate to miss this performance, may be delighted to consider that the Bushburys will return to the region at Langley Village Hall, on Friday February 26th, when another transport to anywhere in the imagination will no doubt be arranged.
