Thursday, 29 October 2015

Gig

Over the Rhine, St Giles in the Fields

Many of Over the Rhine's songs either make direct reference to old hymns or sound like they would sit comfortably in a hymnbook. That's not to say that they frequently tackle faith head-on, but rather blow it a kiss from across the room.

over-the-rhine.jpgIt's fitting then that for their first UK date in eight years Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist are here in a beautiful church in London's West End. The setting nods to the literary (it's a street away from Charing Cross Road) and musical too (that street is Tin Pan Alley — Denmark Street).

I'm never going to be able to review Over the Rhine without bias. I've loved these people and their music for over twenty years. Too many songs hold too many memories for me to be impartial.

This was a truly special evening. There's no doubting the talent in the room.

But don't take it from me. Take it from the stage manager. "Not another band," she told us was her pre-show thought. Afterwards was a different story. "They were amazing," she said as she sprinted to the merchandise table to buy her first OtR CD.

Posted by pab at 23:09 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!