A Communion virgin until Sunday night, I didn't know what to expect from the once monthly folk event held at The Library, let alone how a Christmas special might unfold. Enticed by the idea that the event in London launched such nu-folk names as Laura Marling, Mumford and Sons, JJ Pistolet and others, I set off in high hope of promising new talent and was not disappointed. The whole atmosphere of the night was quite literally communal: the performers, their friends and family, the audience, bar staff and the tech guy, all just mingling and sharing the same space, just as it should be. A big love-in essentially; a peaceful protest against big label landfill bilge.Richard Rowan-Robinson started us off, the audience trickling in bit by bit throughout his short but sweet set. Plinky-plonky strumming and whimsical lyrics about forest legends and a particularly endearing yet cheeky cover of Lou Reed's 'Walk On the Wild Side' served as a good introduction to the retro back-to-basics feel of the night.
The next act, David Henshaw, tuned up the intensity of the night tenfold. The silence of the mesmerised crowd emphasised the stunningly sonorous, unusually gentle but yet striking voice of Henshaw, resonating over the softest of acoustic guitar strumming. Henshaw was brilliantly embracing the 'Christmas' theme, more than anyone else. Anyone that wears a festive jumper and breaks into a heart warming swooning version of 'Silent Night' half way through a song, scores big points in my book. 'Father' was a particularly warm-and-fuzzy-inside moment; its often the simplest of things that strike home the most, and the innocent murmur of "I will walk with you" really encapsulated something very special indeed.
The Happy Red Tractors, I think it would be fair to say, completely juxtaposed the semi-conscious, lets-all-hold-hands vibe crafted by Henshaw. There were about seven of them on stage to start off with including a banjo player, a violinist, loads of guitars, and a big double bass. I imagined them to be the kind of band that would have entertained village fetes in medieval times, like in a barn with loads of hay and moonshine liquor on tap.
Bruno Merz play the kind of music that you want to lie down in the bath to, or maybe put on in the background while you're having a massage. Its lovely sunshine music. Lulling and swaying and smooth, no sharp edges, no big shocks, just really lovey-dovey, but not in a boring clich?ense, just in a sort of sleep inducing way. Listening to Bruno Merz, I want it to be a summer's afternoon lying in the park with a cold cider in my hand, I want an ice cream, I want some sweets and I want to go on the ferris wheel.
The charmingly ambient sounds of Rodney Fisher closed proceedings for the night, down on band numbers, but still demanding in presence. Slightly more country than Merz, with tinges of blues, Fisher sings straight from the heart with nostalgic songs about sunsets and romances. 'Alright to Fight' really pulled on the heart strings, and I when Rodney whispered out "come here and take my hand", I think everyone in the crowd was thinking to themselves "ok then".
There was no Slade, and no Wizard, thank goodness, but there was a whole lot of love at the Communion Christmas Special, and that's what its all about, right?
