Show of Hands

 

I had heard some good things about Show of Hands but it took an interview and a couple of numbers on Radcliffe and Marconi's Jurassic Walk a couple of weeks ago which made me sit up and notice.  With Empty Rooms promoting them in Buckingham' St Peter and St Paul's parish church as part of SOH Cathedrals and Churches tour a last minute appearance by me on the door would not prove a problem. And so it proved, Feeling fit enough after arriving back in Oxford at 7.30 from London, which was followed by a forty minute drive, I managed to park up close by and walk up to the church through the old centre of the town. I had driven past the church many a time, but had never stopped to look.

As I walked through the west  door, the group emerged onto a wide raised stage located in front of the rood screen with the choir behind. I took a spare seat upstairs as this was indeed a sell out of some 300+. 

There then followed three numbers by Steve Knightley and Phil Beer accompanied by Miranda Sykes on double bass and what a superb sound they made fully utilising the acoustics of the church. Vocally it was the best sound I have ever heard at a gig and in Steve Knightley, the best male singer I have witnessed.

They took a break after the opening numbers, introducing their support singer Jackie Oakes, another Devonian. More in the folk tradition, she was totally unaccompanied, the opening number in which she sat down sang whilst playing two fiddles laid on her lap, one hand picking the bass line on one fiddle whilst the other picked out the lead line on the other, quite extraordinary. What X Factor and the like are doing I have simply no idea, and it is in fact contemptible, for her was real talent on show. She did three songs, and SOH came back on for a further three before breaking for 20 minutes. 

I moved down from the balcony, grabbing a glass of wine (all for church funds of course) and explored the church looking for other vantage points to take photos, and to stand as sitting down is most stultifying.

Second half started with Steve Knightley singing away from the mike and stage in the centre aisle, two verses went by when the third verse, and totally unnoticed by me as I was practically standing next to her at the rear, Jackie Sykes, playing violin as she sang, started to walk down the aisle. They swooped verses, Steve standing still and Jackie preceding down the aisle. It was a song about marriage, and a excellent way of staging it. Jackie eventually reaching Steve by the altar.

Sykes then did a further three songs,followed by SOH winding up proceeding with two of the songs I had heard on the R&M show, AIG (Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed), Boys of Summer and a song co written back in 1992 with three exiled Chilean musicians, the leader a mining engineer, called Santiago. This of all nights when the miners were being bought to the surface over in Chile.

Not a foot tapper of a gig, as they had modified their set to use the churches acoustic qualities, but nonetheless, xxxxxxx excellent!