Young folk star Seth Lakeman has had major crossover appeal following the success of 2005’s Mercury Music Prize nominated Kitty Jay LP.  On tour to promote his new album Freedom Fields, there was barely a trad folkie in sight at Carling Academy Islington.

After support sets by a bland female singer-songwriter and quite witty male strummer. Seth and his band emerged to rock and reel the joint.  Seth led the band on four-string tenor guitar, violin and vocals backed by his brother Sean on acoustic guitar, Ben Nicholls on double bass and occasional banjo and Iain Goodall on drums and electric tea-chest like percussion.  The backing musicians came and left the stage to suit the arrangements of individual songs with fifth member, the very youthful looking Cormac Byrne also joining Seth to play some brilliant bodhran on several occasions.

The set started rather uncertainly with Seth clearly not happy with the sound mix and the band perhaps a little overawed in playing a venue of this size.  It all settled down very nicely though when the regular band left the stage for Seth and Cormac to performance an excellent violin and bodhran version of Lady Of The Sea, the second song on the Freedom Fields LP.  Generally the high points of an excellent set were when Seth played his violin, even more so when with minimal backing culminating in a stunning, frenetic solo version of the song Kitty Jay

Although Kitty Jay and the other violin songs were highlights, the band songs were also good and sometimes embellished by extended instrumental sections.  Seth’s droning four-string coupled with Sean’s understated folk rather than singer-songwriter influenced playing created something of an Eastern sound, vaguely reminiscent of some of Jimmy Page’s acoustic playing with Led Zeppelin at times.

With his traditional and self-penned songs inspired by the legends of Dartmoor though, Lakeman is definitely folk rather than folk-rock.  Modern folk that is with good looks and crossover sensitivity.  An excellent gig.

7.4.06