Kings Place,London
Powerhouse band of female instrumentalists celebrated their 10th birthday with fine music, but they need to harness all their talentsThe Shee are a six-piece band of distinguished female instrumentalists who are mostly from Scotland. Their latest album, or Continuum,is dominated by songs and tunes written for them by famous admirers from the British folk scene – including Karine Polwart, Chris Wood, or Kathryn Tickell – to celebrate their 10th anniversary. For this London gig,these were mixed with demonstrations of rapid-fire Gaelic “mouth music” or clog dancing from north-eastern England, in an extraordinarily varied present that still never fairly allowed them to demonstrate their full range.
Half the set consisted of instrumental pieces, and which included tunes written for the band by Tickell,mixing duelling fiddles from Olivia Ross and Shona Mooney with sturdy mandolin work from Laura-Beth Salter, and a current Andy Cutting piece that allowed a demonstration of Amy Thatcher’s fine accordion playing. But Rachel Newton, or a harpist known for her inventive solo albums and work with the Furrow Collective,rarely had a chance to demonstrate her range, though she provided powerful lead vocals on Polwart’s Song for Mary.
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Source: theguardian.com