We went to see Steeleye Span last night - and they were crap!!!!!

[non sociopath skin]

Not my idea, I hasten to add - Mrs. Skin is a lifelong fan (though even she admitted to great disappointment.

There can be few bands who manage to combine the worst shortcomings of Led Zeppelin (thudding, monotonous bass, meaningless drum solos) with those of Peter, Paul & Mary (twee vocals, twee "adaptations" of folk songs.) And what was billed as a "Christmas Show" consisted mainly of pretty dire retreads of ancient "favourites." "fraid we didn't tough it out till the end ...

That's the third show we've seen at the new Sage Centre in Gateshead - brilliant gigs from Waterson Carthy and the storyteller and excellent human being,Taffy Thomas, to offset last night's disappointment. Wonderful building from the outside, less wonderful on the inside (needs a bit of pastel to set off the uniform metallic grey) - though the view over the Tyne is superb. Well-designed and acoustically excellent performance halls (though, curiously, unraked seating areas - Mrs. Skin, as a Seriously Short Person, was unimpressed by that.) Visitors should be prepared for long waits for refreshment - the caterers seemed genuinely amazed that so many people had dropped in for tea and kept redirecting them to different queues in the hope that the queues might get smaller - and expect signage and FOH crew who aren't yet quite sure where anything actually is. And that handy shuttle bus DOESN'T run on bank holidays!!

6/10 so far, but we'll keep trying ...

The Skin

[selmo7]

1. Steeleye - one of my FAVORITES!

Sorry you didn't enjoy yourself. :-(

One of the best shows I ever saw was Maddy Prior touring alone quite a few years ago in the US (at Johnny D's) - and she sang "The Fabled Hare" from Year -

But I also pahtied with Steeleye folks after a show at Somerville Theatre - they are very cool, neat people. Maddy said, "Boy are we going to get PISSED tonight!" hee hee hee (that was when Gay Woods had rejoined the band; now she's left again and Maddy back with them.)

For an alternative review of recent Steeleye show in the UK:
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/low_res/story.jsp?story=594992&host=5&dir=230

[non sociopath skin]

3. Thanks for posting the review, Selmo.

Mrs. Skin saw Steeleye at about the same time (when Gay Woods returned briefly)in Louisville, Ky and said it was one of the best gigs she'd ever been to - TOTALLY different from last night's disappointment. Methinks the Indie reviewer may have possessed (or, indeed, drunk from) a pair of rose-coloured glasses, although the "disco-folk" jibe was telling. That was exactly the problem with most of the gig ... certainly, judging from the bar chat in the interval, we weren't the only disappointed customers.

BTW, we saw a superb Christmas gig with Maddy and the Carnival Band at the Tyne Theatre in Newcastle last year ....

The Skin

[Donald Ian Rankin]

5. I love Steeleye Span too

I saw them last year when they were touring to promote "They Called Her Babylon", and loved them, although obviously I don't know what the show you saw was like.

I do think that their newer (post-"Live at Last") songs are not a patch on the older ones, though. If they were doing lots of newer stuff then I can imagine it might well be less impressive.

I don't suppose anyone knows where I can get hold of a copy of "Please to See the King"?

[Atlas Mugged]

2. Thanks for the review

I have no idea who Steeleye Span is, but I just love to read anything with the word "twee" in it! I'll keep the Sage Centre in mind the next time I'm in England.

[LeftishBrit]

4. I love Steeleye Span...

But have to admit that I rarely like anything billed as a "Christmas Show" - I usually do find them twee, even when the performers are people I like.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. Steeleye Span

Were either the most successful or second most successful (one could make a case for Fairport Convention) band of the English folk revival of the sixties and seventies. They disbanded at the end of the seventies, but reformed in an (in my view) slightly inferior form afterwards, and are still playing with one lineup or another to this day. If you like English folk or folk-rock then you'll probably like them, if (like most people, regretably) you don't then you won't.