The audience gathering in All Saints, Hove last night, for Sam Sweeney’s first solo album tour, could guess that they were in for a captivating experience. With the colourful vaulted ceilings towering dramatically over a temporary stage, the ancient (and chilly) church vibe created the perfect setting for a show with a poignant nod to both life and death.
Ten years ago, when playing with the wonderful Bellowhead, Sam Sweeney was looking for a new fiddle. He tried out a few of them at Roger Claridge’s Oxford shop and one of them, apparently newly made, had a standout tone that Sam couldn’t resist.
After discovering an intriguing inscription Sweeney’s dad started digging into the history of the violin. He eventually uncovered the tale of Richard Howard, a music hall performer called up in 1916 to the Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment to fight. He lost his life in the Battle of Messines on June 7 in 1917.
Richard Howard, never returned from WW1 to finish his creation, but years later it was found at a carboot sale and completed. With the Unfinished Violin album Sweeney has researched and gathered up the tunes that the fiddle could have played in those war, and post-war, years.
The gig opened with the beautiful and stirring Highland Soldier, first collected in Sussex by composer George Butterworth, who himself died at the Battle of the Somme, and Sweeney launched into a set that both roused and moved in equal measure. He was joined on stage by the great talents of Rob Harbron, Jack Rutter, Patsy Reid and, Worthing’s own, Ben Nicholls. Between tunes Sweeney explained how the Unfinished Violin came about and we found ourselves taken on a remarkable journey pulling in songs not only from Britain, but from all over Europe.
There were nods to the raucousness of Bellowhead with The Girl I Left Behind Me and The Rising of the Lark (as well as a humorous insight into its actual Welsh translation!) and the infectious energy of Sweeney and Rutter shone out with The Old Brags.
The melodious version of the well known Battle of the Somme was a complete treat, but for me the outstanding number of the evening was Eventide, paired with the beautiful Der Gute Kamerad, a traditional Swiss waltz that has been adopted by the German army.
The melody of Monk’s Eventide was used for the hymn Abide With Me and Sweeney’s instinct for seeking out magnificence in the melancholy echoed in each refrain.
It’s not often you go to a concert where there is a complete hush but for five or so minutes in All Saints the emotion was palpable, with the audience holding their breath until the final note. Ending with a tribute to Howard’s daughter Rose Howard, this was a gig unlike any other: emotional, original and delivered with the greatest of conviction.
To find out more about the tour and the album have a look here.
