As I slipped into the centre of the crowd, it became quickly apparent that I was representing a minority of more youthful spectators gathered to watch Seth Lakeman in Fibbers. The audience was wonderful and eclectic, and the venue struggled to live up to the mix of mud-covered, ale drinking country folk, the tattooed and bearded crowd, the splattering of families and the yummy mummy clan enticed by Lakeman’s handsome face and wholesome lyrics. But if you closed your eyes and imagined the sickly-sweet smell of hot cider and faint aroma of hay reminiscent of a remote British folk festival, the atmosphere was spot on. For the first half an hour of his set, Seth warmed up with a mellow guitar based selection from his upcoming album Tales From The Barrow House. The songs were fun and enjoyable and Seth did not lack in presence, but it wasn’t until the last five or six numbers that he and his band unleashed the full power of their blues infused, lyrical folk offerings. The energy in the packed room soared as the tunes became livelier, building to two stand out numbers Seth introduced as “old favourites”: ‘Lady of the Sea’ and ‘Kitty Jay’.
In both Lakeman demonstrated his near virtuosic fiddle skills as he performed with an obvious joy which threw him apart from other live acoustic acts I have seen in the past. It was clear that this was music best performed live and what Fibbers lacked in atmosphere, it made up for in intimacy allowing Lakeman’s gritty violin riffs to carry around the room to each and every one of his audience. I didn’t come away humming any catchy tunes, but had been infected with a little bit of that joy which bound the band and the music together in an uplifting and impressive performance.