It’s just 48 hours since we got home from our terrific large
sophisticated concert at the Barbican (see the previous blog) and we’re at it
again, out on our musical adventures. The prospect before us however, couldn’t be
more different or lacking in promise. We’re in a small, dark, battered and
seat-less (aside from a single bench) back room to a tiny amiable pub of
similar attributes behind the railway station in Winchester. The (highly
competent) support act is gamely playing to about ten people, at the end of
which he gets as much of a clap as ten people can muster, and we discover that six
of those people comprise the main band for the evening. At least the ale from
the bar at the back of the room is pretty good!
So… the six band members duly get up on stage and word
goes out that the “main event” is about to start. After a short delay there is an
influx from the main (i.e. tiny) pub of eight or nine people, phew - at least
the audience has gone up rather than down, just! And if we add in the barman,
the sound man and a roving photographer that makes about fifteen of us.
Everyone stands coyly round the edges, clutching their drinks, terrified of the
wide open space in the centre of the room. And then the music starts…
“We are 9Bach”, charismatic lead singer Lisa Jen Brown announces,
and who with husband and guitarist Martin Hoyland form the core of the band.
They hail from Bethesda in the heart of Welsh speaking North Wales, on the edge
of Snowdonia, with the vast gash of the Penrhyn slate quarry dominating their
view in contrast to the beautiful neighbouring Ogwen valley. Lisa sings
in wonderfully soft and expressive Welsh (with one Greek exception),
songs that are mostly interpretations of traditional Welsh material of generally
weighty subject matter, which is perfectly complemented by the innovative slow
and pulsing atmospheric sounds of the band with harp, guitars, drums, harmonium
and frequent tinkles from xylophone and chimes which are extraordinarily engaging;
gentle and powerful by turns, and highly evocative of the homeland. But if this
is the context and the general sound, what is really astonishing is
the quality and subtle creativity of the songs, arrangements and delivery. This is a class act.
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| The ever reliable fRoots magazine, ahead of the game as usual |
After the first impressive song everyone is smiling,
realising this isn’t going to be a duff performance. After two or three it’s
broad grins and earnest concentration all round, this demands our full
attention. Then comes the first of an outrageous number of spine-tingling “stop
you in your tracks” songs that has my better half spontaneously standing up in
excitement, not quite sure what to do with herself but knowing sitting on the
bench is no longer satisfactory! The rest of the audience are similarly increasingly
agitated and/or entranced and there is a growing awareness that we may be small
in number but tonight we are some of the luckiest folk in the land. And so it
goes on, innovative and bewitching throughout, interspersed with hilarious and
unrepeatable banter between the band members, and increasingly the audience, often
initiated by mischievous London cabbie and drummer (and token non-Welsh member)
Ali Byworth. The emotional range and effect achieved is extraordinary, and the
ultimate highlight is the stunning song Plentyn
that Lisa herself has written after a visit to the aborigines of Australia,
telling the appalling true story of the white man coming to take a mothers
child away, and capturing the ensuing grief and despair. The piece as performed
is a thing of astonishing beauty.
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| The understated, mesmerising first album from 2009 |
And then, too soon, it’s all over, and they’re off the
stage and we’re shaking hands and having a good old natter. Lisa admits she’s
thoroughly enjoyed the venue despite the turn-out; they’ve just played a couple
of concerts in one to two hundred seat auditoriums in North Wales and found it
a little too staid being spread out on a large stage which kills the banter
within the band, and with the audience locked into their seats restricting the
scope for dynamics and spontaneity and hence the atmosphere they clearly
thrive on. Chatting to Martin he’s unassumingly chuffed to bits when we make
clear what we thought of the evening’s performance, and that the new album Tincian has had rave reviews in the
national broadsheets over the last couple of weeks; I waste no time in giving
him a tenner for my copy. I’ve had their impressive eponymous debut album for
the last four years and play it regularly, it’s extremely engaging in its
unique understated way and many of its pieces were played this evening to great
effect, but it has also always hinted at huge further potential – something
that’s been finally realised in spades tonight and through the new release.
Lisa and fellow singer Mirain Roberts ask sociably if we can stick around for a
while as they are keen to extend the post-performance social – but with a heavy
heart we have to make our excuses for the late drive home (a decision we
naturally regret even more half way back).
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| The stunning new album... err, just buy it! |
Walking through darkened Winchester back to the car the
locals are turning in for the night, absurdly unaware of the uniquely special experience
on their doorstep that they all missed out on. No it wasn’t a smart concert at
the Barbican or Royal Festival Hall, it was something else.
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For more information on 9Bach, including access to some nice videos, click on: www.9bach.com
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