This reviewer was very pleased at the opportunity to attend a concert by Steeleye Span. This was the first time in a long while that Steeleye Span would tour the United States, and the first time this reviewer would ever see them.
The Theater of Living Arts is located on South Street in Philadelphia. This venue was a rather good choice for attending the concert. The house was packed with a rather odd mix of first generation fans (having seen Steeleye Span from their first albums in the early 70's) and a new generation of folk / rock music fans.
Steeleye Span's lineup for this concert was Maddy Prior, Gay Woods, Bob Johnson, Peter Knight, Tim Harries and Liam Genockey. This is the same lineup that appears on their new album Time.
The band opened with "The Prickly Bush" from their new album. Time has only been available in the US for the last few weeks. The impact of the new material on the crowd was astounding. Complete and utter silence followed by thunderous applause.
Steeleye Span performed "The Prickly Bush", "Go From My Window", "Underneath Her Apron", "Seagull", "The Elf Knight", "The Weaver and the Factory Maid", "Lark In The Morning", "The Water Is Wide", "Padstow", "Thomas The Rhymer", and "The Old Maid In The Garrett". The encores included "All Around My Hat", a series of reels / jigs this reviewer could not identify, and "Cadgwith Anthem".
During the jigs / reels, Maddy Prior and Gay Woods went into some jigging around on stage ending with glittering confetti (magic fairy dust ???) tosses from Gay and Maddy climbing off the stage and circling the audience.
The mixing was good, the sound was excellent and the performance fantastic! A few very nice surprises appeared in the song list. This reviewer did not expect "Lark In The Morning", "The Weaver And The Factory Maid", or "Cadgwith Anthem", a personal favorite. In addition, the jigging and performance made this show special.
And, of course, the Bob Johnson comments on elf stories and the Peter Knight light bulb joke: How many folkies does it take to change a light bulb? Ten - One to change the bulb, four to sing about the old bulb, and five to walk out because it is electric. This reviewer later learned that the joke had been told during Steeleye Span's other tour dates, but that doesn't matter.
The Steeleye Span concert, billed in promotion flyers as "the long-awaited history-making North American concert tour of the reunion of Steeleye Span", was history making and is sure to delight those who follow folk / rock music. While the first leg of the tour is scheduled to end June 5th, a second leg of the tour is planned for August.
