Steeleye Span "Est'd 1969" 2019****

It's been 30 years since I first saw Steeleye Span play at the Lycabetus Theater in Athens Greece. At that time I was just a bit familiar with a few songs: I had probably heard "All Around My Hat", and "Black Jack Davy" and knew "John Barleycorn" from Traffic's version, but I didn't know what kind of group they were supposed to be: folk-rock wasn't a term I was familiar with, even if I did know and like some American folk rockers. As for English or Celtic traditional music, I don't think I had ever before had a contact with - that I knew of, at least. But I was eager to see them play, so I managed to persuade a friend to climb the rocks with me. You see, the Lycabetus Hill theater has a certain peculiarity: it sits almost on top of the hill, meaning that there are still certain vantage points on the rocks overlooking the theater.  If you're reasonably good at climbing, you can balance yourself on the rim or a rock bulge, and with a bit of shoving the other scroungers around, you get a view of the stage. As for the acoustics, these are almost perfect on the top; the theater was built on 1964, but its shape is a copy of ancient Greek theaters, and as anyone who has been in one knows, the sound carries perfectly to the highest seats and beyond. But that time, we were in for a surprise. Arriving 15'-20' after the concert had started, we saw the doormen at the theater's gate gesturing to us. When we came closer, they just opened the doors and let us in. It turns out the band had been playing to an almost empty theater: it holds 3.000 seats, but there were barely 400 people there, most of whom had left their seats to gather in the orchestra (in ancient Greek theaters that means the circular space before the stage) and dance along to the music. Instead of being discouraged by the low attendance, the band played loudly and enthusiastically. I couldn't tell you which songs, but I remember the fiddler playing energetically and Maddy dancing around almost constantly - as did we. My friend and I went down the hill feeling tired but exhilarated, and I became a lifelong fan of Celtic folk. 30 years later, my girlfriend also needed some convincing to follow me to The Paard to see Span, but she didn't regret it: Today's Span are a different band (except for Maddy Prior and drummer Liam Genockey) but they've still got it. They played with gusto, engaging the audience with their music, humor, and explanations of the stories in the songs including witches, kings, lovers, fairies and criminals. Feeling satisfied, we hit the merchandise stand and left with T-shirts and the band's 3 most recent CD's which all sound great. In time, I'll present them all here in this blog...

...starting with the latest: Est'd 2019 is obviously meant to celebrate 50 years of Span, but instead of doing what most bands do in such occasions and revisit old glories they came out with an album of new material - if new can be applied to songs some of which have been around for centuries. With the exception of Maddy Prior and Liam Genockey, this is a completely new band, gradually formed during the 2010's: Littman and Sinclair play guitars and share the lead vocals with Maddy, while all of the band join in the harmonies which are omnipresent here. The lovely Jessie May Smart is not just a talented violinist but also a co-frontwoman who fits in perfectly with the rest of the band. Roger Carey on electric bass manages to ably replace the great Rick Kemp, which is no small feat: it was largely his electric bass that put the rock in Span's folk-rock. The latest addition is multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Benji Kirkpatrick, formerly of the most commercial modern UK folk band Bellowhead as well as son of former Span member John Kirkpatrick. Maddy, of course, as lead singer and frontwoman is the connecting link between past and present, ensuring the band's continuity. Her voice is in great form for a septuagenarian, even if in concert she couldn't hit the high notes as well as in the past. In general the sound of the new band sounds less like a copy of the classic Steeleye Span and more like its natural evolution, in this particular album sounding less electric and more progressive with longer songs (most of them exceed the 5 minute mark). Opener "Harvest" is the longest at 7:30' minutes: a band composition with emphasis on the harmonies. The first half has an almost Christmas carol feel, with the second half adopting a livelier sound. "Old Matron" is another original composition, although the lyrics could easily belong to an 18th century collection. Thanks partly to Ian Anderson guesting on flute, it sounds like a lost song from Jethro Tull's Songs From The Wood sessions. "The January Man" is a fine cover of Dave Goulder's ballad. Great singing by Maddy with stark accompaniment by ringing banjo and emotive violin. "The Boy and the Mantle" is a humorist traditional ballad set on Arthurian times. The music has a proggy style with a Renaissance hue thanks to the violin and harpsichord. Also from the Child song collection, we get "Mackerel of the Sea". Another prog-folk mini epic about a wicked witch transforming her stepchildren to a fish (the girl) and worm (the boy). Sinclair explained during the concert that "worm" was at that time interchangeable with "serpent" or "dragon", which I found hard to believe until I got to the part of the song where the worm admits to having killed seven knights. I guess a regular worm would have troubled doing that. Introduced with a short Gilmour-like guitar part, "Cruel Ship's Carpenter" is a captivating tale of murder most foul and ghostly revenge, dominated by Jessie May's Gothic violin. "Domestic" is an amalgam of two traditional songs about domestic relationships: "John Hobbs"and "My Husband's Got No Courage in Him", the latter originally sung by Maddy as a duet with June Tabor in their Silly Sisters album (1976). It's a rollicking medley with heavy bass and hard rocking guitars, easily the most upbeat song of the collection. It's followed by the almost poppy ballad "Roadways", while the album closes fittingly with the ecologically themed "Reclaimed" sung a capella. The excellent harmonies here reminded me of Crosby Stills and Nash. Very few bands can, after 50 years, release an album that does justice to their history. But today's Steeleye Span do even more than that. Their live concerts and recent albums are sure to not only please old fans but attract new ones, just like it happened with my teenage self when I first saw them 30 years ago.

**** for Harvest, Old Matron, The January Man, The Boy and the Mantle (Three Tests of Chastity), Mackerel of the Sea, Domestic: John Hobbs/My Husband's Got No Courage in Him

*** for Cruel Ship's Carpenter, Roadways, Reclaimed