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Last Friday evening I saw Belshazzar's Feast - http://www.belshazzarsfeast.co.uk/ at a house concert near Cambridge (UK).

Paul Hutchinson (accordion) and Paul Sartin (oboe, violin and vocals) gave us a beautiful and often hilarious performance. For a mixture of clever and intriguing playing coupled with a huge amount of humour - they can't be beaten.

Five star evening.

Anybody else seen a great show recently?

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Freebo came to town to play two very engaging sets at the end of February. I hadn't heard anything about him for a long while. What a privilege to see him in a setting with so few people...house concert.

So natural and personable in his rapport with the audience. His lyrics are hopeful; his playing inspiring. And the performance was a little educational as well. I'd never seen anyone use a capo and then play to the left of it. Now I know about the half capo. I want one.

I think I can finally think of him as just Freebo instead of Freebo, former bassist for Bonnie Raitt. =;-)

Simply excellent.

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Hah - half, (or cut) capos are really beginning to take off these days.

I'm not sure they're for me - but I can see how they can be a quick way to some straight-forward alternate tunings. And, as you say, you can play behind them as well as in front! I've never heard Freebo's music, but every time anyone talks about him, it's always with affection as well as respect.

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saw the low anthem a few nights ago. the most reverential audience ive seen in ages...almost silent. the band played some songs around one old suspended mic with 4 voice sand guitar. they would swap instruments virtually every song when in full band mode and play either sedately or swamp-pub-rock style. soundman coped for the most but he must hate them! haha.

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Francis - I haven't seen them - and I would sympathise with the sound man too :0)

Made me remember seeing the Wailin' Jennys a couple of years back at the Borderline in London. They did a wonderful set, swapping instruments a lot too, but the songs and the harmonies were the main attraction. At the end, they stepped forward from the mics to the edge of the stage and sang 'The Parting Glass' completely acoustically. The venue is small enough to do that in, but only if your audience is rapt and silent - which we were.

It was a real 'hairs standing up on the back of your neck' moment. The kind of thing which makes you glad to be alive.

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That's the beauty of small venues and small, attentive audiences I guess, Martin. Over the past few years of attending house concerts where a maximum of 40 tickets are sold, I've learned that performers of all kinds are really inspired and sometimes a little overwhelmed that everyone is there for them.

It's a shared experience with the highest level of mutual benefit. We all leave high on music and kinship. =;-)

As for those Jennys...nothing quite like the purity of fine human voices in harmony.

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Absolutely Fhaedra!

I saw Walter Strauss play a house concert a week or so back at the beginning of a tour he's doing in the UK at the moment. A lovely bloke who won over his audience with his charm, great songs and tunes and spectacular guitar playing. He should be playing second stages at all the UK folk festivals - and supporting the big folk acts around the country. (And if he did, he'd be blowing a good many of them off the stage!)