There was a hum of respectful reverence as the audience that filled St Peter and St Paul Church* in Lavenham, waited for the ethereal voice of Kate Rusby to ring out and reach the roof of one of England’s finest examples of Late Perpendicular Gothic Architecture.
On stage at the end of the nave were left to right Sam Kelly, samkelly.com Kate Rusby, katerusby.com Duncan Lyall duncanlyall.com and Damien O’Kane damienokane.co.uk for the first of a two night stop over in the historic town of Lavenham, Suffolk. (Kate making sure she was pronouncing it correctly with her endearing Barnsley accent, she was reassured, she was)
Kate Rusby Lavenham Church Suffolk
Kate opened with a firm favourite from her Album 30 – We Will Sing and she didn’t need to encourage her loyal fan base, sitting in the nave of this beautiful church, to participate … sing they did.
Her introductions to the origins of the songs she chose for this performance, were witty and moving. Her second choice in the first half of the set ‘Only Desire What You Have’ from her 2016 album ‘Life in a Paper Boat‘, reassuringly left us with a message of hope for a safer and better future. The lyrics telling of a mother’s unwavering love for her child and a testament to her determination to find a new life for them. Seeing news reports about the European migrants, Kate wrote this after being particularly moved by the image of a woman carrying a baby on board a flimsy boat.
The love for her own two daughters a recurring and warming theme throughout the evening.
We didn’t have to wait long until the first offering from her new album ‘When they all Looked up‘ was introduced. Today Again – Kate told us, was a song she wrote for “Someone who really needed it. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it, but with love, kindness and humour all will work out well”, Kate’s intuitive compassion, clearly resonating to everyone in the audience. I felt a rustle, it seemed everyone in the audience gave the person they had come with, a palpable hand squeeze.
Next came another heart warming story about Kate putting out a plea for a ‘few’ extra, teenage voices, to appear on the first single released from the album. – ‘Let your Light Shine’. It was a song she had written especially for that age group, Kate went on to explain. It was a song to give them the ‘confirmation that they can go out in the world, when they are just discovering themselves’, referencing her two lovely daughters again. Her expectations for a low turn out were surpassed when one hundred and twelve teenagers turned up! I immediately thought, how wonderfully validating it must have been for the Barnsley Nightingale.
You can check out the result here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8YWVLAyUfg
Moved by her own recollection of the experience, she had to restart the song…. We all had our hankies ready to throw on the stage to dry her leaking eyes. A truly moving song and moment in the evening.
‘The Old Man’ continued the theme of Kate’s extraordinary ability to see things with compassionate eyes, a traditional folk song, it tells the story of a man who is scorned for his age and looks, but who eventually finds love and happiness with a woman who accepts him for who he is. The song’s lyrics evoking themes of beauty, age, and finding love in unexpected places.
Then we were taken back five years (has it really been that long?) to the lockdown video Kate released with her daughters, when the world had gone mad and we were not allowed to see each other. She bashfully recalled that it had caught the attention of The Bangles’ lead singer, Susanna Hoffs ‘so cool’ I heard my inner, fifty something year old, voice say.
Ettrick came next and we learned it was a poem by Lady John Scott, suggested to her, by her Dad’s Cousin Kathryn Wiggen. She fell in love with it straight away and wrote the tune for it one sunny afternoon. We fell in love the same way, but in the delicately lit church of St Peter and St Paul.
Then came the last song of the first half, Barnsley Youth Temperance. Another from her latest album. Kate said, she has been revisiting songs that had shaped her life and just in case this was her last album (another reference to her being nearly as old as me) she needed to record it. With loud heckles of NOOO! to that suggestion, it was a wonderful way to finish the first half and encourage us all to go and join the growing queue, to purchase a copy!
After visiting the statutory merch stand, the second half began with a story of Kate growing up, going to folk clubs and there not being many happy songs. (No surprise there to the folk faithful) She recalled being encouraged to sing this song which now features on her latest album. ‘The Yorkshire Couple’
“I just love this song!” Kate enthused “I used to sing it thirty years ago when I toured solo and had such a great time playing so many folk clubs all over the world. There are many sad songs in folk music but this never failed to make people chuckle!” … as there was a ‘dead easy’ refrain we were all encouraged to sing along. The result was a joyous collaboration between an old traditional song, Kate Rusby, her engaged singing audience and an electric guitar playing rifts that ‘‘Damey had been practising at home”
Songs from the new album continued and those who had politely queued up at the merch stand, were now getting a live teaser of what to expect from their newly purchased CD on the way home. Explaining The Girl with a Curse had been written for a friend who was going through a hard time and how now (she was in her 50’s) was less tolerant of people who made her feel uncomfortable. With some comical banter about how to count the song in between husband and wife, (which continued throughout the night) we hoped collectively, that her friend was now ok.
Carrying on the evening we then dipped back to a song from Kate’s back catalogue … A gentleman behind me reminding her that it was from Little Lights her 2001 album (impressively he was correct I checked. Think a super fan badge should be sent his way for sure!)
Next a song, written for her Uncle, ‘Bitter Boy’ (which apparently at the time, everyone assumed was about an ex boyfriend) She was glad to put the record straight for us and told of the love she had for this man ‘Whose golden heart I saw gleaming.’
After which Kate took a well earned break allowing Sam Kelly, Duncan Lyall and Damien O’Kane, some time to play some ‘Man tunes’ so she left us in the company of the very ‘Manly Boys’, Damien then asking if anyone would like to see Kate com back to the stage to dance ? Where a distance but emphatic ‘bye’ sounded from behind the curtain!
L to R Duncan Lyall, Damien O’Kane (Photo Credit Howard Holdsworth)
Damien continued to introduce some ‘Irish/Scottish/Suffolk tunes’ … With some sneaky ‘recognisable theme tunes’ cleverly entwined… All played at breakneck speed…. Their individual talents brought together in this amazing ‘Manly Boys’ interlude, during which the audience in St Peter and Paul’s Church seems to hold their breath, waiting for the opportunity to whoop and whistle, as they applauded such an amazing trio of musicianship.
Sam Kelly (Photo Credit Howard Holdsworth)
Kate returned to treat us with a song she affectionately calls “Yazza” a nickname for the song “The Fairest Of All Yarrow”. I am tempted to tell you why, but it would ruin the surprise of anyone seeing her at a live performance, so at this juncture, I am playing the musicians code card and keeping schtum!
After which, the customary tour picture was captured (later to be uploaded to social media , but not Twitter Kate made the point of saying! )
So we reached the ‘last song’ with a huge wink from Kate and Village Green Preservation Society rang through this amazing setting. The acoustics far surpassing anything I have experienced at other live music gigs. I hope these architectural wonders are increasingly used to let music sing through them.
Credit at this juncture must obviously be given to the sound man & lighting engineer Pete Sharman of Isophase Audio and Zak Nicholson from GLX Productions who got everything perfectly coordinated throughout the evening, with an especially beautiful lowering of the neon display at the end of the set. Both stunning and sad as it pronounced the end of the performance. Or did it …. (wink)
After our dutiful applause, our entertainers returned for their last song…. brilliantly saved for the end, Underneath The Stars, introduced with a lovely anecdote from her festival of the same name. While on stage her Father said the International Space Station was coming over and everyone ran out to look. Kate witnessed the crowd in a field, without phones or technology looking up to the stars. Thinking they had seen it, they all cheered only to be told it was the ”Last EasyJet outta Manchester ” A warm ripple of laughter filled the church.
She dedicated this last song to everyone who had come out for the night, with a gentle plea for us to look up to the stars as we left.
After a long and emphatic standing ovation, we all left doing just that.
Chantelle RS
For further information about the rest of the tour and Kate’s latest album please visit: https://katerusby.com/
Or her social media accounts … but not Twitter !
https://www.facebook.com/officialkaterusby
https://www.instagram.com/katerusby/
https://www.youtube.com/user/katerusbyofficial
https://bsky.app/profile/katerusby.bsky.social
