Faustus – York (September 2009)
Faustus. What’s not to like? The previous histories of Paul Sartin and Benji Kirkpatrick (both currently Bellowhead) and Saul Rose (Waterson:Carthy) augured well. Their eponymous album took up immediate residence in my CD player, and was instantly memorable. The music could only be described as jaunty, even if the lyrics were depressing as hell (well, this is folk music). I was hooked, and eager to see them live.
I wasn’t disappointed. The set was largely an overview of the current album, with a few new songs. As one would expect, the delivery was energetic, technically excellent, and showed the multiple strengths of the band. For me, the fact that Sartin, Kirkpatrick and Rose can all take lead vocal on a song (as well as singing in harmony) gives the band much potential for variation of sound. Sartin’s judicious use of the oboe also adds an extra dimension. While the tracks all have a similar energy, one couldn’t accuse them of sounding “samey” or being formulaic.
Faustus were relaxed and engaging, taking time to chat to the audience and also to poke fun at each other and the folk world in general. Paul Sartin’s introduction to Acre Of Land was a case in point – after mentioning that the set included a morris tune, he added dryly, “If any of you feel like getting up and taking to the floor… Please don’t….”
One thing I wasn’t expecting, though, was a change to the band’s personnel: Pete Flood (Bellowhead’s rather idiosyncratic percussionist) seems to be a new and permanent member – this is his fourth gig in the now quartet. If you’re going to add percussion to your band, then Pete Flood must be right up there on your wishlist. However, part of me did wonder whether Faustus actually needs this addition. Certainly, I never felt a deficit in the rhythm section on the album: Benji Kirkpatrick’s guitar/bouzouki seemed to perform this function very effectively. Indeed, his playing seemed to get rather lost in the mix on a number of tracks which was rather a pity. This may well have been a function of the venue and its set-up as Kirkpatrick’s contribution wasn’t as high in the mix (in comparison to the album) even when Flood wasn’t playing. It also may be a function of the fact that Flood is still working his way in to the band. The balance between the musicians did seem to be rather better on the new tracks – where presumably Flood has been more involved in the arrangements – than on the material from the album. However, that’s me being uber picky: it certainly didn’t affect my enjoyment of the gig.
The evening had a rather unplanned finale as the strap of Saul Rose’s melodeon snapped during the penultimate song. This necessitated a different choice of encore and we got to see Faustus in bawdy music hall mode with Cock A Doodle Do, rather than a final track from the album. If anything, I thought it was rather a fitting finish as it enabled the band to show even greater breadth. Oh, and it also left a few hundred people sniggering happily as they went off into the night.
Bethan Davies
