| Reviews 2023 | |||
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Woodman Folk Club - Reviews |
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| Colum Sands |
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| John Hoare | 13 Oct 2023 |
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Friday the thirteenth has a reputation as being rather unlucky; but it
wasn’t for the large attendance at The Woodman for the club’s first visit
of Colum Sands. This was one of those special nights, the memory of which
helps sustain you through the winter months. It was one of those evenings
you simply don’t want to end. When you do your research on Colum Sands, you read that he has performed in thirty countries across the world. Well now, he has performed in thirty-one … because he’s now performed in the Black Country! And how he enjoyed it! As is the custom, the evening began with a set from one of our regular resident acts – Corinne and Barry Priest, performing under their stage name of … well, Coz and Baz! Baz’s opening comment was, “I’ve got a bit of a drooper here” (referring to the microphone stand, I think), and their opening song was ‘Cheap Whiskey’. Isn’t un-planned humour always the best? They followed with ‘Autumn Leaves, ‘Castles’, the haunting ‘Black and White’, ‘The Galway Farmer’ and finally, ‘The Fields of Glory’ – this an Irish football song that I’d not heard before. Coz and Baz were stunning, and although support acts are not allowed encores, Coz and Baz were invited back to the stage to clear up the pint of beer Baz had upended leaving the stage; all much to the amusement of Colum Sands, who commented that it was the cleanest stage he’d ever walked on to! Colum began his set by speaking the lyrics to ‘Very Nearly’. There is something mesmeric about this technique – I’m sure he could calm a pub brawl by doing it. And so, there was an audience immediately in the palm of his hand; and there it remained. Here’s the first half set list: ‘Very Nearly’, ‘The Maid of Ballydoo’, ‘Lazy Hill’, ‘Just an Oul’ Thing That’s Going Around’, ‘Whatever You Say Say Nothing’, ‘Buskers’ and ‘Turn the Corner’. And the second half: Colum opened with a concertina tune evoking the spirit of selkies, which instantly settled the audience after the excitement of the interval raffle! He followed with ‘Going Down to the Well with Maggie’, ‘Better Times Are Waiting for You’, ‘The Mule Song’, ‘Ah Ho Ho (Apathy to Action Song)’, finishing with ‘Directions’, and returning to sing ‘The Night is Young’ as his well-deserved encore. A set list, of course, doesn’t tell the story of a performance. I think the list is fairly accurate, but I was far too engrossed to want to scribble notes, so please forgive any minor inaccuracies. Every song or tune has an accompanying story. In most cases, story and song are entwined, so they are, effectively, one. My first words to Colum on the evening were, “Can I buy one of every CD you’ve got with you” (apart from the two I’d purchased from him at Bromsgrove Folk Festival earlier in the year. So, you could say I was a fan before he started. By the end of the evening, we’d also bought a copy of his delightful book, ‘These Quiet Places’, which is a collection of annotated photographs he’s taken of his surroundings in Rostrevor. My wife asked Colum to sign the book, which he duly did … accidentally upside down, and at the back! He offered to replace it, but we settled for him adding a note at the front, which says, “See the back”. We all agreed that it made it unique. Fitting, in a way, because Colum Sands is unique! If you haven’t been to a Colum Sands performance, you need to do so as soon as you can. MC for the evening was Bryn Phillips: the consummate professional. And our thanks to Debby and Derry, and all the helpers, for running a club that hosts evenings like this. |
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