Bellowhead live at Lewes

So.... we woke up in our fabulous bed and had a fabulous bath. Spent some time trying to wake the sleeping teenager and went down for a delicious breakfast. Wandered around Lewes for a bit, spotted random members of Bellowhead as the afternoon wore on. Lewes is a strange and quaint place. There are very ancient buildings just dotted about in in the normal streetscape. looked at the castle with the great views; eerie through the fine drizzle on Saturday. Met up with Sam, Fiona and children at Bill's and had a great tea - they do fish finger sandwiches and cheese on toast. It's great. I opted for a spicy veg stew which was perfect. Fiona saw mine and had the same. Fortified, we adjourned to the Brewery Tap round the corner, a very comfortable and cosy pub, and had a pre- gig drink all together, then Jake went off with Sam, Kaya and Ryan for and evening of curry, beer and computer fun.

Phil, Fi and me strolled up the hill to the town hall to see Bellowhead. We had a drink in the bar, and then found a good spot to stand. What was really disappointing was that so much of the hall was seated. Yes, seated at a Bellowhead gig. Who thought of that? Anyway we had a small space among some friendly people in which to jiggle about.

The music, a mixed bag. Low point first...Bruton Town. Bellowhead added nothing to this song in my opinion. Maybe it was just so new they were testing it out - they did say this about some of their newer stuff. Maybe it's my own taste and experience. It felt like they were just going through the motions with it, and maybe it's just that I prefer the Pentangle version. The other new material was excellent though, a melancholy song about death, and some really full on instrumentals. A perfect rendition of Flash Company. Love it in their songs where the music falls apart -in a controlled way of course- and then perfectly climbs back in together for the climax.. Bellowhead are sounding really polished as far as their familiar work is concerned. So exciting to go and see them play live again, and have such a great time with friends, too.  Fi came back to the hotel with us to phone a cab, and after she got home, sent Jake back in the cab. Perfect. we had a brandy in the bar and waited for him, and we all went up for a wonderful deep sleep.