There's a warm breeze, the sky above us is a
turning from a pale pink twilight to a dark indigo
blue, the crowd wait patiently for the show to start
and one thing cannot be denied: what makes a concert
great is not only the performers but also the setting.
And the better they match, the better the event will
be.
Somerset House, with its architectural splendour,
stone courtyard open to the stars and polite,
well-mannered crowd, is the perfect place for an
evening of acoustic folk. In a noisier venue the sound
might get lost. In an indoor venue you wouldn't have
the illusion of being in the warm country fields where
folk really belongs.
The setting and the weather - mild and warm without
being humid or overbearing - combine to weave magic.
Or perhaps Bert Jansch just really is so good that he
makes it seem that way. Alone on the stage, with
nothing but an acoustic guitar, he carries the show
for the first half an hour, offering Scottish and
Irish folk melodies that leave no-one in any doubt why
so many of the great guitarists and songwriters of the
last 50 years, from Nick Drake to Johnny
Marr have cited him as an influence.
As has Bernard Butler, former lead guitarist
with Suede, who is the first guest he brings
out to accompany him. Armed alternately with acoustic
and semi-acoustic guitars, Butler fills out the sound
as they cycle through the second half hour, which
includes Fresh As A Sweet Sunday Morning and Poison.
After a short interval, Jansch is back solo for a
couple of numbers before bringing out Paul Wassif in
the role previously filled by Butler, replacing a
former album collaborator with the man from his most
recent offering, Black Swan. Wassif adds a
country tinge to the music, which remains as sweet as
ever as their first number ignores vocals to revel
instead in these guitarists' undiluted skill, before
going on to familiar songs including My Pocket's
Empty.
Butler returns for two Jackson C Frank
numbers, including My Name Is Carnival, before being
replaced by the last special guest of the night:
Beth Orton.
Here, unfortunately, the magic falters. There is
nothing wrong with Orton's performance, but by taking
over the vocals from Jansch (only he has sung so far),
she inevitably takes over his concert, and there seems
little need when he was doing so well. She does a
decent job of songs including Katie Cruel, but it
would have been just as good to see Jansch continue
alone.
Still, what's done is done, and you can't fault the
finale - all four of the evening's performers reunited
for a run-through of Watch The Stars (for which Orton
provided vocals on Black Swan as well).
By the encore, Orton might be the star of the show,
the biggest name and quite possibly the one that drew
in the majority of the crowd but no-one here will
leave disappointed. Perfect music on a perfect night
in a perfect venue, perfectly matched. It puts last
night's performance by Kasabian to shame.
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