THE LEVELLERS + DREADZONE + WILDWOOD KIN + DON LETTS – ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON 31.03.19
The Teenage Cancer Trust have been bringing iconic bands to the five and a half thousand capacity Royal Albert Hall in Kensington for 19 years and along the way have raised huge sums of money for teenage cancer sufferers.
Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall was conceived and curated by the charity’s Honorary Patron Roger Daltrey CBE, the legendary frontman of The Who and Roger still plays a vital role in making the shows happen.
For this year there was a series of concerts spread across several days that featured Rudimental, Take That, The Coral, Doves and The Script amongst the artists participating for this worthy cause.
Every penny Teenage Cancer Trust raises goes towards putting a spotlight on the thousands of young people living with cancer across the UK. The services provided treat people as individuals – the young person first and the cancer diagnosis second.
Find out more about the work of the Teenage Cancer Trust HERE.
The finale for the 2019 series was rounded off by Brighton’s finest folk rock band, The Levellers, in the only way they know how – with fire, passion, and a hearty lust for raising the spirits of everyone whose lives their music touches.
And what a night it was.
Opening the show were Devon’s Wildwood Kin and the trio’s close harmonies and powerful melodies were ideally suited to the naturally amazing acoustics of the Royal Albert Hall, which first opened its doors way back on 29th March 1871.
With face-splitting smiles that showed just how pleased they were to be on the stage, Beth and Emillie Key and their cousin Meghann Loney held the room in the palms of their hands – and no doubt won over hundreds of new fans.
Wildwood Kin setlist reads:
‘Warrior Daughter’, ‘Steady My Heart’, ‘Run’, ‘Higher Ground’ (Stevie Wonder cover), ‘Headed For The Water’ (new song), ‘Hold On’, ‘Taking a Hold’.
What came next had the potential to be an echoey sea of sub-bass, but turned out to be a masterclass in how a huge investment in a new PA system can tame the belly of the beast when a space the size of the Albert Hall is filled with the power of dub-masters like Dreadzone.
Their current lineup features drummer and founding member Greg Dread, MC Spee (vocals), Earl 16 (vocals), Leo Williams (bass), and Bazil (samples and technology). With razor-sharp precision Spee and Co. shook the dust from the historic vaulted ceiling and spread their mantra of ‘Life, Love, And Unity‘ to an audience who responded by dancing in the aisles.
Dreadzone’s setlist reads:
‘Life, Love & Unity’, Iron Shirt’, ‘Mountain’, ‘Walk Tall’, ‘16 Hole’, ‘Music Army’, ‘Captain Dread’.
Last – but by no measure least – The Levellers. The band’s personnel are Mark Chadwick (vocals/guitar), Charlie Heather (drums), Jon Sevink (violin), Jeremy Cunningham (bass), Simon Friend (guitar), Matt Savage (keyboards) and Stephen Boakes (didgeridoo).
This is a band that are often political, occasionally angry but always big-hearted. They have amassed eleven Top 40 albums, including a number one with 1995’s ‘Zeitgeist’, and spent 38 weeks in the charts with 1991’s ‘Levelling The Land’.
The Levellers took to the Royal Albert Hall stage and proved once again why they’ve managed to maintain their live following for all these years.
Of course it’s in no small part the songs – songs that tell stories and summon up a feeling of camaraderie amongst anyone looking for a better world.
But it’s also about the genuine bond that exists between the members of the band – both off stage and on.
It’s a palpable and defining property of The Levellers that they are very much a band as opposed to a mere group of musicians.
Again – hats off to the sound designers who ensured that every note and syllable was crystal clear throughout the hall and that the layers of instruments were distinct and vividly defined.
The Levellers setlist reads:
‘England My Home’, ‘Fifteen Years’, ‘Our New Day’ (new song), ‘The Fear’, ‘World Freak Show’, ‘Truth Is’, ‘Julie’, “Didgeridoo solo”, ‘Three Friends’, ‘One Way’, ‘Too Real’, ‘Men-an-Tol’, ‘Carry Me’, ‘Dirty Davey’, ‘Everybody Wants The Same Thing’ (new song), ‘The Cholera Well’, ‘The Riverflow’, (encore) ‘Beautiful Day’, ‘What You Know’.
There was also a DJ-set from film-maker, broadcaster and founding member of Big Audio Dynamite Don Letts aka the Rebel Dread.
The event was billed as ‘A Beautiful Night Out’ and I for one can certainly vouch that it sure was!
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