Red Shoes, The Room Upstairs, Palace Theatre
TAKE a great band, a super venue and the people will come – well that’s the theory, but on Saturday night a mere dozen of us were there to witness a brilliant gig by one of the best folk bands on the circuit.
A tad embarrassing all round, but Red Shoes, to their credit, gave us a spirited full length show performed with humour, verve and no little musicianship.
The band is essentially husband and wife songwriting team Carolyn and Mark Evans, and their CV reads like a Who’s Who of British modern folk, their songs being picked up by the likes of those giants of the genre Fairport Convention and the multi-million selling Queen of Americana, Emmylou Harris.
Backed by some top musicians on guitar and beatr box us lucky dozen were in for a treat and Red Shoes duly delivered.
Songs covered the death of a Canadian soldiers on Juno Beach during the D-Day landings to pleas to protect the much-maligned fox via two great numbers Worcestershire County Council had commissioned them to write in honour of Stourport and Droitwich.
However the highlight was Carolyn’s stunning interpretation of Roy Wood’s Blackberry Way, stripped of its upbeat feel and pared back, bringing the lyrics to the fore.
So Redditch, you missed out, which was a shame as the Room Upstairs at the Palace is a great little venue and the top notch bands they put on their – live, original music – deserve our support.
Ross Crawford
