The Unthanks – Halifax Parish Church (October 2009)
Hazel Davis wanders off, dejected
Churches shouldn’t smell of beer. That’s my first point. I could leave it there and cry into my glühwein but there’s so much more to say.
“Ooh isn’t this atmospheric?” said a couple of people I knew as they wandered over in one of the many breaks. No. It wasn’t. One church, some candles and a smoke machine don’t an atmosphere make. Ask Russ Abbot.
Abbot would have had a field day last night at the Unthanks gig at the 900-year-old Halifax Parish Church. He could have done some of the Bingo-style introductions which were as appropriate as the “token-folk-sometimes-rock” loud background music in between acts or the smoke machine (I know) issuing poorly timed emissions and making everyone cough.
The last time I saw the Unthanks (in Sheffield) they were Rachel Unthank and the Winterset still and they had recovered from losing their pianist Belinda O’Hooley. I missed O’Hooley’s vaudeville stylings but they were nonetheless a tight bunch with replacement Stef Connor.
This time it was a totally different setup. The band has expanded into a 10-piece, with brass and all sorts. Their latest album, Here’s The Tender Coming, doesn’t suffer for the expansion but the live experience does. And then some.
The gig was poorly organised. The acoustic at the church (I know, I’ve sung there myself) is tricky and the noise from the bar at the back persisted throughout the support acts (we’ll come to those later) and into the main set, making it an excruciating listening experience for those of us halfway down the 1000-capacity “venue”.
Superb local singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards battled through her cold and bar noise to deliver a perfectly pitched and controlled set. Jonny Kearney and Lucy Farrell (longstanding folkingcool favourites) were also both ill but managed to make this reviewer shed a few tears with their raw and touching ballads before retreating to bed.
By the time the Unthanks came on, the ale had been flowing awhile and the audience was restless and a bit rowdy, rendering the church, candles and smoke irrelevant. The Unthanks’ trademark tightness and crispness was lost in the acoustic and the result had a messy church-band feel.
Despite this, Becky Unthank shone, her voice being reason alone to be there. The sisters’ sixth-sense saved them from poor-acoustic hell but the rest of the band fell down a bit. Rather than focus on two of the greatest voices in modern folk, the new experience overwhelms its best assets. The cover of the Beatles’ Sexy Sadie in any other venue and with fewer instruments and NO DRUMS would have been inspired and Unthankingly cool but that late on in the set felt like a school disco.
The Unthanks are still fantastic and the songs are brilliant but they’re not the group I fell in love with way back when and they need to realise that they don’t need to reproduce the lush large sound from their CD live. And churches shouldn’t smell of beer.
Hazel Davis
I agree, Hazel, and I’m relieved I wasn’t the only one to feel that way. I love The Unthanks in their many different line-ups but something was definitely missing from this gig. I’ve seen them three times and the first two left me gob-smacked with the power of the sisters’ voices and the tightness of the group. This time was a let-down for me, not least because of the organisation and acoustics. I didn’t appreciate being constantly told about the problems of staging the gig in the church (in my mind these should have been adequately addressed before the audience trooped in). I’m going to have to go and see them again at Hebden Bridge Trades Club (the ultimate gig venue in my mind) to see if better sound and a proper atmosphere helps.
Thanks Salli. We’d be really interested to hear your thoughts on the Trades Club gig. Do pop back and let us know!
were you at the same gig as me? i thought the whole evening was great starting with kathryn edwards. I know they mentioned problems with lights but i dont remember loads of announcements and the organisers resolved it. As for beer and churches, historically the parish church was a place where people met and amongst other things drank beer,so infact it was more on keeping with historical and dare i say folk traditions. i agree on the smoke machine, very naff but it was most definitely atmospheric and an enjoyable evening. churches should smell of beer or anything else that brings people into such a great setting.
Thank you for the kind words hazel and roberto. We both really enjoyed the gig..drinking in a church does feel wrong but still fun. Its great, from my perspective, to play in such a beautiful place and i thought the audience made the evening. The organisers ‘The Doghouse’ are a community based organisation and i think after all of their hard work it can be frustrating when small things go wrong. Overall the feedback i received was really positive and i’m looking forward to the next doghouse event.