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24 - 26 August 2012
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THE OLD DANCE SCHOOL
The Centre Stage, Bournemouth
September 23, 2010

Fresh from their triumphant appearance at Wimborne Folk Festival, and in the middle of a punishing touring schedule, the seven piece band played the Bournemouth Folk Club promoting their critically acclaimed new album FORECAST. The Old Dance School was formed in 2006 following a gathering of friends in the garden of the old Betty Fox School of Ballet in Birmingham. Now, with two excellent albums under their belt, they are in great demand as one of the most exciting new young bands on the folk circuit. The band, Helen Lancaster (fiddle/viola), Robin Beatty (vocals/guitar), Tom Chapman (percussion), Samantha Norman (fiddle), Aaron Diaz (trumpet), Laura Carter (recorder/flute) and Adam Jarvis (double bass) are all extremely accomplished musicians in their own right and bring virtuosity and vitality to their tunes and songs, many of which are vividly inspired from their adventures travelling the British Isles.

The first set got off to a rather ragged start as after being introduced, they realised Robin was still in the toilet! An embarrassing five minute hiatus followed as he gathered and tuned his guitar and various members of the band struggled to entertain an eager full house. They eventually kicked off with the instrumentals The Envelope and Wire Over the River, written after encountering stepping stones across a river in their beloved lake district. Robin showed off his vocal talents with the love song Glen Logie before they played a medley of Little Lewis (inspired by Helen’s godson) and the slower Passage to Spike Island. The rather short first set finished with The Taxidermist, written following the discovery of a recently deceased hare which was taken home, stuffed and is now on display!

The band opened their second set with the great reel The Real Thing before Robin Beatty launched into the beautifully haunting ballad Strange Highway featuring some excellent harmonies from Laura Carter and Tom Chapman. The Enlli Light was followed by Rosemann Bridge, a tune written by Helen Lancaster as she was waiting to deliver a violin lesson but with no students and which is included on the band’s first album BASED ON A TRUE STORY. Another medley, the atmospheric Wen, inspired by the white cliffs around Holyhead and Sydney Carters’ John Ball, written in 1981 to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the peasant’s revolt and which again featured Robin Beatty on vocals. The set closed with Andy Cutting’s tune Spaghetti Panic which featured Samantha Norman showing her amazing talents on the violin. Although way past curfew time, a highly appreciative audience ensured the band stayed on for one last tune. They chose their aptly named Convenience Set; a medley of Broken Pledge, Wayward Son, written by Irish musician John Doyle, and The Convenience Reel, apparently written in a public toilet! This proved to be an excellent evening’s entertainment with the band displaying energy, enthusiasm and musical maturity way beyond their years. If they stick together, they can only have a very bright future. Brisk business on the CD table only served to emphasise that view.

John Roffey