Contemporary folk band ‘Bellowhead’ thrill Brighton audience

BELLOWHEAD + SAM SWEENEY – BRIGHTON DOME 15.11.22

This week’s local weather has seen us enduring a rain soaked and soggy Sussex with a hint of strong wind, but not even that was going to prevent folk heroes ‘Bellowhead’ from bringing their galleon into port. They are playing a special reunion gig tonight at Brighton’s Dome and for many it is a long awaited one.

‘Bellowhead’ are a contemporary folk band and were originally active between the years of 2004 – 2016 and gathered a very loyal following along the way. This enormous eleven piece band play traditional folk songs and sea shanties whilst incorporating elements of dance tunes to give them a modern feel. The band members can boast of playing over 20 different instruments amongst them including the Shaky Egg, Thunder Tube, Knives and Forks and Broomsticks along with the more traditional instruments expected in a band of their style. Everyone in the band can also play the kazoo.

Their breakthrough album (‘Hedonism’) is also the highest selling indie folk album of all time after selling over 60,000 copies. They have achieved a lot over the years including a performance at The Proms in 2008 and even were approached to record music for ‘The Simpsons’ 20th Anniversary episode. They have also been known to brew their own ale and most recently their own gin which can be purchased from their website I do believe. Originally, their final gig was in Oxford in 2016, but in 2022 they announced a sixteen date reunion tour of which we were about to see today.

The support act tonight was none other than a certain Sam Sweeney who was originally a member of Bellowhead between the years of 2008-2016. He was also due to perform with the headliners on this tour so you could say he had a busy night ahead of him. We walked into the venue hall just before showtime and we were taken aback at how full the room was at this early hour (8pm). Sam Sweeney is currently touring to promote his new album called ‘Escape That’ on Hudson Records. His band tonight consisted of :

Sam Sweeney : Fiddle
Jack Rutter : Acoustic Guitar
Louis Campbell : Electric Guitar
Ben Nicholls : Double Bass

Sam’s songs are of the folk variety of course and are instrumental too. His first song, ‘Ruby’ got things off to a good start and he followed that with ‘Want To Fly Want To Flee’. He had a good connection with the audience and brought attention to his multi-coloured jumper that he had recently picked up from a charity shop in Bristol. He said it was his homage to Neil Buchanan from 90’s children’s TV show ‘Art Attack’ which raised a titter from the crowd. He followed this with a rendition of his song, ‘Nightshifting’ which he told us he wrote while staying in a Travelodge in Slough when he was working there. He then played ‘Deep Water Shallow (End)’ and ended with ‘Pink Steps’.

He quickly introduced us to the band and informed us that Louis Campbell (electric guitar) always plays in his socks to enable him to fiddle with his knobs on his effects pedals. I couldn’t take my eyes off his feet after that. All of the musicians in Sam’s band were top notch, including some nice double bass work from Ben Nicholls. Sam Sweeney led the band into some nice uplifting folk tunes that had a certain positive joy about them. The crowd were won over too and gave the band some healthy applause in anticipation for the next band (Bellowhead) to grace the stage.

www.samsweeneymusic.com

I’m not saying that tonight’s gig attracted an older audience as there was a healthy cross section of age groups in the room, but saying that, in between acts we did notice a man completing a crossword in the audience and my wife nearly had to put her First Aid skills into action when someone took a ‘funny turn’ next to us.

As we stood port side to the stage, I couldn’t help noticing how enormous Bellowhead’s backdrop was. The stage had a very nautical theme so I suppose this was their main sail? Tonight’s tour was also a tribute to the band’s 4th album from 2012 called ‘Broadside’ which was the follow up to their breakthrough album, ‘Hedonism’.

Before we knew it, the band were walking on stage in a never ending stream of people and taking their positions next to their multiple instruments. The first song of the night was ‘Byker Hill’ which got the crowd going from the get go. Jon Boden (vocals/fiddle and many more) has a natural rapport with the audience and proceeded to lead the band into the song ‘10,000 Miles Away’ followed by ‘Jack Lintel’. I couldn’t help thinking that Jon had a touch of the Jake Shears about him and Sam Sweeney was back onstage and refreshed with a new sparkly jumper on. Sam seemed to be bouncing around on stage throughout and was a bundle of energy.

The song ‘Betsy Baker’ was up next and shortly afterwards the band performed their own unique take on the old standard ‘The Old Dun Cow’. Jon introduced a song soon after and dedicated it to one of the most romantic places in the East. Yes, he meant Norwich because the next song was ‘Fakenham Fair’.

The next part of the show was definitely the most poignant. It was a song dedicated to band member Paul Sartin who very sadly passed away in October of this year before he could take part in this tour. A recording of his excellent old school folk voice rang out of the speakers as the song ‘Brisk Lad’ was performed. Slowly, the band joined in one by one to create a top piece of folk music with the backdrop displaying the words “Paul Sartin 1971-2022”. A nice and heartfelt tribute.

‘Black Beetle Pies’ was played soon after along with ‘Let Union Be’. ‘Roll Alabama’ is a bit of a crowd favourite too and I was looking forward to hearing ‘London Town’ which they treated us to soon afterwards. This song is a good example of how Bellowhead have put their modern spin on a traditional folk song. The song even becomes quite funky at times and they are not scared to incorporate a dance element to their music. The horn section really adds to this sound too. At times, their darker songs even had a Danny Elfman feel to them.

By this time, the packed room was going absolutely mental and clapping along in unison to their songs. It was fun to take in and watch people up above totally enjoying themselves. The last song of the set was ‘New York Girls’ which I had also been looking forward to. The set was a lot of fun, and by the end Sam Sweeney and most other members of the band were dancing in a Morris Dancing fashion (Sam in shoes with flashing lights for soles).

There was a short break and then it was encore time in the form of ‘Roll The Woodpile Down’ and ‘Frog’s Legs And Dragon Teeth’. It was now time for them to drop anchor after an enjoyable set that was just shy of two hours. I have a feeling we may be seeing Bellowhead again in the not too distant future.

The band tonight were (deep breath……):
Jon Boden – Lead vocals, Fiddle, Shaky Egg, Thunder Tube, Kazoo, Tin Whistle, Tambourine.
John Spiers – Melodeons, Anglo Concertina, Claviola, Kazoo, Vocals, Tambourine.
Benji Kirkpatrick – Guitar, Bouzouki, Mandolin, Tenor Banjo, Vocals, Kazoo.
Rachael McShane – Cello, Fiddle, Kazoo, Vocals.
Pete Flood – Percussion (Frying pans, Glockenspiel, Knives and forks, Clockwork Toys, Megaphone Scratching, Stomp Box, Coal Scuttle, Party Blowers. Broomsticks etc.)
Brendan Kelly – Sax, Bass Clarinet, Vocals.
Justin Thurgur – Trombone, vocals.
Andy Mellon – Trumpet, Vocals.
Sam Sweeney – Fiddle, Vocals.

Bellowhead setlist:
‘Byker Hill’
‘10,000 Miles Away’
‘Jack Lintel’
‘Betsy Baker’
‘The Wife Of Usher’s Well’
‘The Old Dun Cow’
‘Fine Sally’
‘Fakenham Fair’
‘Brisk Lad’ (Paul Sartin tribute)
‘March Past’
‘Thousands Or More’
‘Black Beetle Pies’
‘Let Union Be’
‘Lillibulero’
‘Haul Away’
‘Rosemary Lane’
‘Roll Alabama’
‘Sloe Gin’
‘London Town’
‘New York Girls’
(encore)
‘Roll The Woodpile Down’
‘Frog’s Legs And Dragon Teeth’

bellowhead.co.uk