GALLEY BEGGAR
Galley Beggar
Day two of the Sweeps Festival in Rochester and my second band of said second day. Galley Beggar are setting up in the rather cramped (or cosy, as an estate agent might put it) confines of The Man of Kent. Cramped and confined – and indeed cosy – it may be, but there’s a great atmosphere here, as there always is.
It’s one of those great pubs with local ales and strange looking ciders. You’ll find no Fosters or Carling here, sir or madam. Instead there are fantastically named delights such as “Dominator”, “Dogbolter” and “Biddenden Bushels”. Wonderful.
A beer mat’s toss from the bar, there’s much discussion among band members as to exactly what the set list should be. Having just returned from a mini tour of the South West of the country, they’ve not given today’s itinerary much thought.
Then, apropos of something or other, David Ellis one of the band’s guitarists confides in this writer that he recently suffered the indignity of a wasp climbing up the inside of his trousers. In full view of a band mate’s toddler nephew, he removed the leg garments to guarantee the offending insect’s freedom, forever grateful the police weren’t on hand to brand him the new Gary Glitter.
Galley Beggar
Do you do requests, I ask him shortly after this admission. “What, like ‘Do You Wanna Be In My Gang?’?” he suggests. Hmmm. Maybe not.
Galley Beggar’s music could not be much further removed from the Glam pop nonsense of Paul Gadd and company. The songs on their album rise and fall like gentle waves upon a beach, swooshing (that’s a word, right: swooshing) around you.
Live, they retain this gentleness, especially at the beginning of their set when a hypnotic waltz seems to lull at least one audience member into a trance – possibly even to sleep. But they also leap at the chance to rock out when they can.
Their songs cover a broad back catalogue of English musical tradition. Quite possibly broader than most other bands you could hope to hear. Some songs date as far back as 500 years ago. They are generally tales of young lust filled knights chasing after innocent damsels, and young women being ill treated by their sea faring lovers.
They regularly dip into Cecil Sharp’s famous archive of English folk songs such as “Restless Sinners” which appears on the band’s album. While the band produce little in the way original material in the strictest sense, they’re far from the dismal covers band you’ll find destroying “Baker Street” on Friday night in your local boozer.
Galley Beggar
Instead, they bring an impressive fusion of ancient and modern to the folk genre, an exciting prospect when you see them live. Excellent as their album is, it’s as a live act that Galley Beggar truly thrive.
It’s during the performance of “Restless Sinners” that a huge influx of people descends upon the pub. With little space to move, the violinist looks a little worried she’s about to hit someone with her bow. Such are the perils of fiddling.
As the hastily arranged yet brilliant set snowballs towards its conclusion, the band flirt with other genres: a bit of funk here, a bit of 70s rock there, a bit of blues somewhere else. Before we know it the band are performing their last tune, an encore by the name of “Buckskin Breeches”*. It’s an instrumental with a slight military feel to it and a complex time signature.
Where audience members were once in a trance thanks to the music’s peacefulness, now they’re entranced for completely different reasons. We’d all be rotating like whirling dervishes now – if only there was any room to whirl and be dervish-like. The crowd are lapping it up – and I really don’t blame them.
And then, just like that, it’s all over. Damn and blast. There’s nothing for it but to get another drink in.
*No bucks, or buck’s breeches, were harmed in the making of Galley Beggar’s music (as far as we know).
Disclaimer: All comments and opinions are those of the writer.
1/05/2011 • Sweeps Festival, Rochester
By Stephen Morris • Photos by Stephen Morris
2 Responses to “GALLEY BEGGAR”
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On May 9th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
I was one of the many cramped people in the Man of Kent, great atmosphere, great band, I’ll look forward to seeing them again.
On May 10th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
great couple of hours, over too soon