Watch out for Sexy Seth
Last updated 05:36, Friday, 25 July 2008
Seth LakemanThere is good stuff to see and hear from the golden boy of folk, Seth Lakeman. He is flavour of the month on Radio 2 and in the press, all the while maintaining a deeply-earthed folk root.
His first non-independently released album Poor Man’s Heaven is striking a chord in even un-folksy folk.
With his band, which includes his brother on guitar, a slapping double bassist and a taut percussion player, this is harder-edged folk for a younger-eared listener. There is little chatter with the audience, but the large crowd was there to lose themselves in the energy of Seth’s music.
He is a dervish on stage and hurtles through his numbers with immense power and gorgeous precision. With a stomping right foot he drums his own ferocious beat. He is an excellent fiddle player, powerful guitarist and singer as well as being dangerously attractive – teenage girls were pressed up against the barrier in front of the stage and clearly impressed.
Interwoven in the set were songs from the new album as well as others from previous long players Kitty Jay, Riflemen of War, King and Country – some already classics. There is a raw and perfect harmony in Seth’s music, songs in the best tradition of folk storytelling washed down with youthful testosterone.
Lyrics are emotive with a strong tang of the sea and the wild country of Seth’s home in rugged south west England.
FI EXON
