Within the last month Bellowhead have released a new studio album and I have been fortunate enough in this time to have seen them live twice. Firstly the new album, ‘Broadside’, is spectacular and is the eleven-piece folk group’s best to date! With their previous album ‘Hedonism’ the band perfected crafting their live sound in a studio environment. Bellowhead’s most recent effort has taken this and gone further, working it into a well produced, cohesive and multi-layered record that really blows you away. You are hooked from the very beginning with the fantastic powerful opener, and my personal favourite from the new album, “Byker Hill”. Thankfully this momentum is successfully sustained throughout with highlights including “Roll the Woodpile Down” and the joyous “10,000 Miles Away” (the best song about deportation out there) all the way to the rather heartfelt closer of “Go My Way”. Unfortunately there is only one instrumental but the quality of the rest of the material easily makes any doubts over this tiny imbalance disappear. A brilliant effort from an equally brilliant band.
The first Bellowhead gig I attended this year (second ever) was to the band’s invite only album launch party, for which I won tickets. It took place only two days after the release of ‘Broadside’ in a tiny little backroom of a pub called Water Rats in Kings Cross, London. It was so small that all eleven members of the band just about squeezed on the stage! The atmosphere was electrifying. All those in attendance (of whom there were fewer than 200) were fans and some had even dressed as pirates in accordance to the nautical theme. We were even given free ‘black beetle pies’ and tots of rum! Bellowhead performed the whole of ‘Broadside’ but in a different order with a few oldies mixed in for good measure. It was great to here all the new songs in a live setting and really adds to the experience of the new album. They are such a powerhouse of a band! The small size of the room and the loud speakers did mean that I couldn’t hear properly out of my left ear for three days though. Not that it really mattered, it didn’t take anything away the fact that the intimate venue and blistering performance made it a night to remember and a really unique and special gig.
I had around a three week gap until I went to my second Bellowhead concert of the year. After getting lost on the way to St Albans with a friend (a journey that should have taken around half an hour took us over an hour!) we saw the band at the Alban Arena. It was a completely different venue and as a result the experience as a whole was really different. However it was still quintessentially Bellowhead. The theme was once again nautical with the stage set up to make it look like a pirate ship. They opened with the same song as before, ‘Black Beetle Pies’, which is an odd choice for an opener and I’m still uncertain as to whether it is the right sort of number to get things started. The rest of the concert was outstanding as usual. It is just jaw dropping how unbelievably talented every member is. Trying to describe what they are like live is impossible as you just can’t do them justice. I implore everyone to at least attempt to see them. You won’t be disappointed. Once you’ve witnessed the band performing the amazing ‘Frogs Legs and Dragons Teeth’ you will be a changed person. The sense of ecstasy that takes hold of the listener is ineffable. Drop all your previous misconceptions about folk music and see this band!
Overall ‘Broadside’ and the subsequent tour are both sublime artistic achievements from one of Britain’s finest contemporary folk outfits.
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