Sandy tribute at South Bank Centre, 1 December

[billy]

Almond was very good,if a little bit over the top.I only knew him from Tainted Love,Torch ? and the one with Gene Pitney.

14 back up singers seemed a bit ott as well  but i thought it was really funny at the end when Baby Dee appeared in their ranks !

A great night,thanks very much to everyone concerned (except the cameramen)

[Sam]

well yes he is over the top.. he is an unashamed queen

[Sam]

if this in inapproriate please remove it but i think i should say this:

swarb is a member of this board and will see this. saying the he " murdered " his contributions would be very hurtful for any musician but for swarb who adored sandy this i imagine would sting...

also remember his v close friend and mentor is very ill at the mo.. see the beryl marriott thread, and this will probably not make him feel too great ( although i am surmising )

i hope personally that he does not give a s**t.. but if he does i feel very bad.

i don't want to start a flame war but can we be fair? esp as some of the musicians are members here. of course there is a disclaimer in pace for people like cliff richard haha

[Caite1]

I went last night and thought it was mostly dreadful. It felt like a vanity project put on by the Nu-Folk trendy elite. Out of the new bunch, Mary Epworth was good but I was mostly unimpressed with the other interpretations of Sandy's songs.

I'm very glad to see her finally getting wider recognition but I was left with the strong sense that this was an unworthy, patchy and lacklustre tribute and she deserved better.

By the way, not posted here for a couple of years so thought I'd pop by to say hello.

[Caite1]

I just want to add that Dave Swarbrick, Jerry Donohue etc were great and the real highlights for me. I just felt there was a touch of posturing/posing elsewhere which felt against the spirit of Sandy's music. I can't apologise for telling the truth about how I feel. It would be pointless for me to pretend I enjoyed the whole thing. Some of it felt a bit ill-conceived.

[Brendan]

Can I hide my face in embarassment for the benefit of anyone, on any side, wishing to do this. I personally cannot comment and from those made this far am quite pleased!

[stripeyren]

Back from our early couple of days in London Christmas present to ourselves I really wanted to know what others thought...

I can see Caite1's point about the vanity project...  but I did get caught up in the second half.  And actually I wonder if there was an element of 'eek how am I going to do this justice?'  The end of the first half did leave me really cold...  I wasn't sure if it was cos they were songs I didn't know or if I was just missing something, but somehow Marc Almond managed to make all 3 songs sound the same (sorry, maybe just me).

Also, quite enjoyed the looks of panic between vocalists during WKWTTG!  Is that mean?

[Philip W]

I went last night and thought it was mostly dreadful. It felt like a vanity project put on by the Nu-Folk trendy elite.

As someone who was peripherally involved with this concert, can I comment on that? You’re entitled to your point of view, Caite1 and I respect that, but I don’t see in what sense this was a “vanity project” put on by the “nu-folk trendy elite”. What is this elite? I’ve never encountered it.

I do wonder what people want. At one extreme is the fellow quoted earlier in this thread who says there’s no point in such events – no one should sing Sandy’s songs except the lady herself. At the other end is the ultra-Cropredy position – that her work should only be performed by her old band with their hand-picked soloists. Surely there is room in between to discover entire new constituencies for her?

Not everything worked last night, I admit, but for me there were many, many highlights, and a number of songs emerged in completely new light. I spoke to several people in the audience who knew little about Sandy Denny but left wanting to know a whole lot more.

Philip

[rogthedodge]

Fantastic night!

It was interesting talking to people and getting their different take on the performers.

The only two I didn't rate were Marc Almond (which was tedious), and Baby D (which was 'bite your hand or you'll start giggling' - bizarre) but then others thought they were the first half highlights  .

Overall I'm sure most people were more than happy with 80+% of it, which for such a diverse bill has to be marked down as a resounding success.

Even with all that talent on stage Sandy was still the undoubted star of the evening via a 38 year old clip and I'm sure the night will go a long way in keeping her flag flying.

Thanks to all involved

[DavidBarlow]

I thought the gig was successful and also very enjoyable. Well worth the trip down from Lancashire.

As others have said, not every performer was to everyones taste - this surely should be expected.

Personally, I loved some songs and merely enjoyed others but the whole made for a great experience.

As I was alone and my train back home wasn't until early afternoon, I thought that I'd take the opportunity to visit Sandy's grave. It seemed an appropriate thing to do, paying my respects after enjoying her songs the previous evening.

It was a beautiful cold morning and I just stood by the grave, lost in thought. I had some Fairports, some Fotheringay and some solo Sandy on the ipod.

I'm not suggesting that this was a unique experience, as I'm sure hundreds of others have done exactly the same thing over the years, but it really moved me. I think it was the life and music that was commemorated the previous evening together with the crisp cold weather on the day that made me feel quite emotional. Glad I went though.

[Jim]

listening to it here
and so far its absollutely fine with just a couple of observations
Marc Almond did tend  to play with the notes, but then he always does
baby dee was strange,ive never heard if him before and im not really sure im glad i have
Swarb was Swarb on "it suits me well" so whats not to like? and i still love to ear the old rascal singing
the backing band who apparently are not bellowhead are good as well
ive just got up to Kev Dempsey doing one way donkey ride so if theres any surprises in thethe remainder ill pop back

[David W]

Just as a matter of interest - really not banging any personal drum here, was the event a benefit of some sort for either a charity or for Sandy's family?

David W

[PLW (Peter)]

listening to it here

Listening to it? How? Where?

[DaviD J (was geriatrix)]

D*me - me too!

[YaBB Master (Colin)]

As previously mentioned, Swarb got the biggest cheer of the night but for me perhaps his set brought the biggest disappointment… His version of “It suits me well” from his solo album (I forget which one) was one of those songs that really struck a chord with me from an early age (I’m 25 now), and I then went on to discover its roots in Sandy. I was really looking forward to getting the chance to hear him do it – but in my opinion, with some help from Kevin Dempsey, he murdered the song (and I don’t use that word lightly).

Murdered!? I've held off commenting until now that I heard a recording.
(Firstly it is great to hear Swarb singing for the first time in a decade.)

Yes the song is sung in his style, but what were you expecting, a Sandy Denny impersonation? I thought his 'Suits me well' was wonderful.

As I have said before I've always been a fan of Swarb's singing, as much as his fiddle playing. It's great to have him back.

[Jules Gray]

Murdered!? I've held off commenting until now that I heard a recording.
(Firstly it is great to hear Swarb singing for the first time in a decade.)

Yes the song is sung in his style, but what were you expecting, a Sandy Denny impersonation? I thought his 'Suits me well' was wonderful.

As I have said before I've always been a fan of Swarb's singing, as much as his fiddle playing. It's great to have him back.

Amen, Brother Colin!

Jules

[gower flower (Shirl)]

I've just heard it too, and was fantastic! I am sure Swarb would not even have considered performing it if he felt it was  not up to standard. But it was. Of course.

Always wonderful to hear him sing again. I heard him sing earlier this year in Cardiff, and I felt priveleged to be there.

[Sam]

I have heard it too.. fantastic and i just LOVE his voice. it is a great song and well delivered as always

[davidmjs]

I've also just listened to it all and would like to say Swarb's singing works for me too.  There are 3 songs on there which I had to listen to again to check my initial reaction was correct and I never ever ever want to hear them again.  But politeness will stop me from mentionning them.  I rate (most of) Marc's contributions.  Having had tickets, I'm sorry I missed it.  Well done to the organisers.

[David W]

listening to it here

Listening to it? How? Where?

What he said !!!