The Customs House is a well patronised cracking little Theatre/cinema/restaurant on the banks of the river Tyne.
The other night it played host to Irish folk music legends the Fureys and Davey Arthur. With a pedigree stretching back to 1978 you know exactly what you are gong to get with these guys. A wide selection well loved songs and tunes drilled to perfection by decades of touring and played with passion!
The band have played the Customs House many times over the years and have built up a loyal following on South Tyneside and the hall was packed to the rafters last night.
The lights dimmed and after a swift introduction on walked the band to enthusiastic applause.
Now this is where the musical alchemy takes place. A simple set up of guitar, mandolin, squeeze box and vocal harmony and off they go, straight into, From Clare To Here and it does not take much prompting from the group to get the audience singing their heads off and we hardly have time to get our breath back and they are off again with a selection of Reels and then the bitter/sweet Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway. Fantastic!
The Fureys are masters of heart felt ballad and their next song written for their father called The Old Man cuts to the quick, they make it look so easy. The banter from the band is free flowing and with so many funny stories to tell from life on road and classic songs to get through that the first half of the show just flies over and they close their first set with an achingly beautiful version of When You Where Sweet Sixteen with it's haunting banjo riff that has the crowd raising the rafters once again.
Time for quick pint to lubricate the vocal chords....and I am going to need it.
Second half picks up where we left off with some absolute belters like The Leaving of Liverpool, Wild Mountain Thyme and some more jigs and reels. Just when I thought it could not get any better they broadsided every one with a show stopping version of the Lonesome Boatman that blew everyone away! The stage was littered with requests and it seemed that the band knew half the crowd by name and among the requests was a proposal of marriage from a man in the crown to his sweetheart. She said Yes thankfully, or that could have put a damper on the evening! As the night drew to a close they played a heart-wrenching version of the anti-war song Green fields of France and band made no apologies for it. As they say them selves “it's a song that needs to be sung.” But to make sure we all went home with smiles on our faces, they rounded off the night with another selection of jigs and reels.
Standing ovation, job well and truly done!
I mentioned Alchemy earlier and to me it is.
No gimmicks, no auto tune, no huge wallet emptying production.
Just raw talent, simple but wonderful arrangements played well and served up with lashings of passion to a crowd that appreciates such things.
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