LINDISFARNE

VENUE OLD FIRE STATION, CARLISLE

DATE 30/11/2023

Introducing All Fall Down, the late Lindisfarne mainstay Alan Hull’s 1972 protest song about the demolition of parts of Newcastle’s beautiful old city, Rod Clements says the town planners behind the ‘makeover’ claimed they could turn Newcastle into the Brasilia of The North.

“‘Well, good luck with that’, we thought,” adds Clements with perfect comic timing. Like most venerable folkies of yore, he’s great with crowds, skilled with patter.

As 2023 ends, Lindisfarne are undertaking a festive tour that will wrap at Newcastle City Hall, as is traditional for them. They’re also enjoying something of a renaissance. A recent BBC TV doc on Alan Hull’s genius narrated by hip young Geordie songwriter Sam Fender did some profile-raising, and a re-release campaign, which took in their ace 1971 LP Fog On The Tyne and a box set of

BBC live sessions, also helped.

Tonight’s Carlisle show is the first of two sold-out nights, and the stage is awash with instrumentation. With Clements – once Lindisfarne’s brilliant bassist – now handling lead guitar, mandolin and fiddle; Alan’s Hull’s sonin-law Dave Hull-Denholm switching between guitar, harmonica and piano; and Steve Daggett juggling organ, guitar and harmonica, there’s lots of able multitasking. The rhythm section of Ian Thomson (bass, upright bass) and Paul Smith (drums), meanwhile, is the band’s finest since their 70s heyday.

We Can Swing Together and Fog On The Tyne are ripe for audience participation, and Carlisle is more than game. Lady Eleanor – Hull’s mystical, mandolin-imbued augury of death – is spectral and magical, while Winter Song is perfectly seasonal, an icy beacon for the homeless and others for whom Christmas can be decidedly un-merry.

It’s Dingly Dell, though, the title track of Lindisfarne’s underrated third album, that shows their proggiest side: its rich, drone-based atmospherics couched in cavernous reverb. As Hull-Denholm sings its ancient-sounding melody, it’s clear that he’s wholly invested in Lindisfarne’s important legacy. As the co-producer of Alan Hull’s final, posthumously released solo LP Statues & Liberties, Hull-Denholm is both a trusted hand and a capable vocal conduit for his late father-in-law’s most emotive songs. Tonight, these include January Song and the wonderful, part a cappella Clear White Light.

Clements, too, takes turns on lead vocals, leading the crowd through Meet Me On The Corner, a skiffle-ish No.5 UK hit for Lindisfarne in 1972, and airing his solo composition, Can’t Do Right For Doing Wrong, a breezy, Dylan-esque finger-picker of considerable, bloke-ina-relationship-putting-his-foot-in-it charm. Like Lindisfarne circa 1972, Lindisfarne 2023 bring folk, prog, blues, skiffle and more. A joy to witness live.