ROVING CROWS
Musician Pub: 8th September 2023
They were a real discovery last year... and friday night sw the welcome return of the Roving Crows.. and it was a triumphant return!
They hit the stage running with some fiery tunes that despite the heat managed to raise the temperature before launching into the title track of the most recent album, "Awaken Now".
Singer/Guitarist Paul O'Neill has an imposing stage presence and uses it brilliantly to engage with the audience. His banter is at times random, at other times distinctly edgy... and I fully buy in to his intro to "The God Song"... which I love.. and it is a fabulous song though i suspect wont be seeing much exposure on the BBC... though it does at home!!....
The set continued with a mix of quieter pieces as well as the full on numbers that are the basis of a Roving Crows show. The first half ended with an acapella 4 voice harmony song, away from the microphones.. and was superb
The second half opened with some more cracking tunes which got the dancers up.. and continued with a greater concentration on the fiery up tempo stuff which kept the dancers on their feet... a couple of hours after the start the band encored with a fiery "Devil went down to Georgia/Fire on the Mountain" and another familiar song which i simply cant place!
The band was in fine form... driven along by the superb drumming of Laurence Aldridge and bass playing of Jim Smith but the real focal points were the wonderful fiddle playing of Caitlin Barratt, who spent the whole time bouncing around the stage like a dervish, and Paul's great vocals and guitar.
This was celtic folk rock of the highest order... with the added benefit of some wonderful edge songs
A great night...
keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues
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