STEELEYE SPAN
For the first half of this concert on their delayed 50th anniversary tour, Steeleye Span play all of their 1972 album Below The Salt, and this live rendering reinforces claims of it being one of the great folk rock albums of that era. Although, at the time, Steeleye Span didn’t quite inhabit the rarefied atmospheres of, say, Fairport Convention’s Liege And Lief, there was something earthier and rockier about them, even back in their drummerless days. This quality is more overt now with drummer Liam Genockey’s subtle rolling style fitting these songs perfectly and locking into Roger Carey’s dextrous basslines, while in the guitar department Andrew Sinclair and multi-instrumentalist Julian Littman cover all styles from subtle picking to power chords and flamboyant solos.