STEELEYE SPAN

Live At The Rainbow Theatre 1974 CHRYSALIS

Archive show gets a vinyl outing.

It’s possible to tell a lot about a group when they’re on stage. It’s not just about how well they play. It’s about their interactions as players and performers, subtle things that in and of themselves might only be small details but when added together equate to a special chemistry that animates and informs the entire show. What some Steeleye Span fans regard as the ‘classic’ line-up of Maddy Prior, Tim Hart, Bob Johnson, Rick Kemp, Peter Knight and Nigel Pegrum had buckets of chemistry to go around and it’s all over this two-LP set.

Taken from the recent 12-CD celebration of the Chrysalis years, Good Times Of Old England, the Rainbow gig captures the energy and commitment of a group really digging deep into their repertoire and repurposing of traditional folk tunes. It’s worth remembering that unlike Fairport Convention, who began life as a rock group that wandered into the tangle of folk music, Steeleye Span were right there in the thick of it from day one.

Promoting their recently released,

Ian Anderson-produced Now We Are Six at this performance, both Two Magicians and Thomas The Rhymer make it into the setlist. Compared to their studio counterparts, they run with greater fluidity and force, the latter channelling The Who’s frenzied windmilling. Maddy Prior’s beautiful laser-pure tones sound all the more telling when surrounded by these kinds of sharper edges.

That kind of contrast works especially well on Long Lankin’s creeping psych-dirge, a song that brilliantly fuses together several elements while remaining rooted to its origins. Offering a warts-and-all glimpse into a group that were still only five years old at this point, they absolutely own the stage throughout the evening. Institutions come and go, and while the Rainbow Theatre may no longer be with us, the fact that Steeleye Span are still out on the road in 2022 is proof that some traditions are worth preserving.