It’s only 33 years since I first saw Alan Prosser play the guitar. And only 37 years since I first heard June Tabor sing. This tour is (officially) the 25th anniversary of our finest folkroots band - the one time Whitstable Oyster Co. Ceilidh Band – who emerged partly from Top of the Pops nutters Fiddlers Dram in the early 70s. Now just Oysterband, they are bringing an acoustic Chumbawumba and a relaxed June Tabor out on another phase of their never-ending tour of everywhere you can think of.
The whole night works as a single show with a huge crowd of over a thousand people all charged with a fierce sense of pride and love for the kinds of music that bypass all fashions.
The Irish Centre's wide stage is set out with a line of SIX vocal mikes. An unencumbered Chumbawumba file onstage, and smile their way through a set of rebel songs, socialist songs and just plain lovely songs - a bit of guitar here and a bit of trumpet there. But it’s voices, passion and humour all the way. Never mind bloody megaphones or John Prescott's award show suit … we've got real Leeds people here who do real music - the lilting Italian song Bella Ciao (with trumpet), the stark Digger's song from the mid 17th century and a chilling reminder that the death in prison of Herman Hesse brought the Nazi maggots back out of the woodwork. They also do a killer version of Joe Strummer's "Bank Robber".
The Oysterband take up the remaining two hours or so, with a quartet of songs fronted by June Tabor, occasional appearances by James O'Grady on fiddle, Uilleann pipes or whistle, and a big finale with everyone on stage for a heart stopping chunk of glorious unaccompanied harmony singing of " Bright Morning Star" that had the whole room full-throated from start to finish. It was enough to make you feel religious.
Like all the best rock bands, Oysterband have a pulsing rhythmic heart. Alan Prosser on guitar and Lee on drums give everything a driving pace that stamps out any folklorique whimsy that might be hanging about. Deep down inside, Alan was a folk and rock guitarist from the Black Country with early influences in Davy Graham and Deep Purple. Both are on display tonight, along with echoes of Richard Thompson for good measure. Skirted, head shaven Lee is strong and versatile - standing up with a snare in the style of a marching band, or thundering away full kit with mallets on "All Tomorrow's Parties".
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The starring voice is John James, charismatic and leery, with dark glasses, a socialist heart and the most provocative melodeon playing you'll ever see or hear. Ian Telfer does swooping anti-gravity fiddle breaks. Chopper chucks around a cello as if it was a banjo and young visiting Irishman James O'Grady brings in some fiery tunes of his own. Between the two of them Chopper and James keep the average age on stage down to something half respectable.
Tonight's repertoire hits all the highest points of Oysterband's career, There are loads to sing and dance along with, like the very fine "Put Out the Lights", "One Green Hill", "Road to Santiago" and more. Everyone in the room seems to know them all. Except maybe the twelve year old girls who are down the front trying catch the guitarist's eye (he usually plays with his eyes shut). But even they join in on "Everywhere I Go" where the world-weary chorus is handed right over to the audience while the band go for a breather and a preposterously long natter at the back of the stage. The neighbours must have wondered what the hell was going on.
The night's finest section is the middle of the set when June Tabor comes centre stage and does the Lour Reed song with the sexy huskiness of Nico and the added depth and intelligence that makes all June's singing such a rare delight. She finishes by doing Grace Slick's psychedelic anthem "White Rabbit", with the mournful "Susie Clelland" and the scary "Mississippi" along the way. June Tabor is a major artist with an untouchable string of recordings who can still turn an audience inside out with one unaccompanied song. Tonight she graces the Oysterband's show with warmth and friendship and she gets a huge cheer from the crowd. Folk song and rock were only ever a mains lead away from each other.
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