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24 - 26 August 2012
FESTIVAL TICKETS ON SALE

CHRIS WHILE & JULIE MATTHEWS
The Centre Stage, Bournemouth
April 3

 Since meeting in electric folk outfit The Albion Band in 1993, Chris While and Julie Matthews have toured extensively and put together a string of excellent albums. They are both highly respected musicians and are in great demand on the folk and festival circuit. On their first visit to Bournemouth for some ten years, it was no surprise there was a bumper turnout for their Centre Stage debut. Having released their latest album HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING in 2010, the duo decided to tour with their studio band; Howard Lees (guitar), Neil Fairclough (bass) and Bryan Hargreaves (drums). With Julie excelling on guitar, ukulele and piano and Chris playing some terrific guitar and occasional banjo, the girls put together two extremely well thought out sets of folk and folk tinged country/country rock material.

Kicking off with Freedom Song from their 2001 offering QUEST and Together Alone, the title track from their 2009 album, the duo were already in fine voice by the time they started to showcase their latest album with Carved in Stone and The Coldest Winds Do Blow, both of which had the audience singing along on the choruses. The lovely catchy and country influenced Old Morocco, about a 12 year old boy Chris encountered on holiday, was followed by the poignant Angels Walk Among Us, a dark song about suicide attempts from the Clifton Suspension Bridge and which was taken from their 1999 album HIGHER POTENTIAL. Shattered really had the girls rocking before they calmed things down with the country ballad Shadow of My Former Self, and a new song Hope Springs before they closed the first set with Rock of Gelt, a story of the Roman occupation and building of Hadrian’s Wall.

The second set opened with the title track from HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING; a real country rocker, and Class Reunion, a dig at Julie’s school netball captain. The slow, sad ballad Four Walls was followed by another tearjerker, Single Act of Kindness inspired by the help given by famous stars in New Orleans following hurricane Katrina. Piecework, the title track from the duo’s first album together recounted Chris’ experience of factory work in Barrow-in-Furness at the tender age of fifteen and was followed by one of the many highlights of the evening, the beautiful ballad Where the Year Has Gone. The Darkside Wood, another from HIT THE GROUND RUNNING described (thankfully fictionally) a couples’ attempts to escape the Australian bush fires and led to a rousing finale with What Goes Around and an even rockier Blind Faith. This was terrific stuff and the Bournemouth Folk Club faithful yelled for more. They were not to be disappointed as the band returned to delve deeper and deeper into their back catalogue to encore with Westward from PERFECT MISTAKE (2003) and Diggin’ Holes from their 2000 offering STAGES.

Anyone expecting an evening of gentle folk music got a real surprise as the couple played an eclectic mix covering many genres of popular music much of which seemed to have an American or at least Americana influence. Chris and Julie are of course, seasoned campaigners and both enjoy a wonderful rapport with their audiences. Tonight was no exception as the couple captivated the BFC devotees with their stories and anecdotes without compromising the music. Writing all their own material, neither is afraid to tackle the dark and gloomy side; but they always seem to be able to add a touch of humour to whatever they do.

John Roffey