Footlights, West Chiltington, 13 Sep 2003

Huntingdon Hall, Worcester, 18 Sep 2003

Norwich Arts Centre, 19 Sept 2003

Herringthorpe Leisure Centre, Rotherham, 20 Sept 2003

Worden Arts Centre, Langley, 21 Sept 2003

The New Roscoe, Leeds, 22 Sept 2003

Pillar Rooms, Cheltenham, 23 Sept 2003

Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe, 24 Sept 2003

Flowerpot, Derby, 25 Sept 2003

Tower Arts, Winchester, 26 Sept 2003

Central Studio, Basingstoke, 27 Sept 2003

CENTRAL STUDIO, BASINGSTOKE, 27 SEPT 2003

BARELY ABLE TO PUT A FOOT WRONG - Review from Dick Greener

I caught the Acoustic Strawbs two nights running at the end of their current UK tour. First of the two at the small but perfectly formed Tower Arts Centre in Winchester - nice venue, good sound system with a perfectly judged level of reverb over the whole thing, though, for part of the night at least, the guitars were too loud and overpowered the vocals. The second night, at the hard to find Central Studios in Basingstoke (to me, all the roundabouts in Basingstoke look the same in the dark!), saw the Acoustic Strawbs barely able to put a foot wrong in front of a highly responsive audience. Basingstoke was one of the best Acoustics gigs I've seen, with pretty much every song an excellent rendition, the sound balance very good from where I was - right up at the front despite the A316/M3 traffic causing me to only just get there on time (thanks Sue!), though I gather from others that elsewhere there were some issues with the volume of the vocals.

From the opening couple of numbers, "Benedictus" and "Glimpse Of Heaven", it was clear that it was going to be a specially good night, though DC was wary of any little last night of tour japes that might have been planned. "Ghosts" was fantastic, the new song "Face Down In The Well" is getting better and better, and "Autumn" has become an excellent set closer with the "Hold On To Me" chorus leaving the audience humming as they head out to the bar. "The Hangman And The Papist" is a welcome return too - it's easy to forget how powerful this always was in a more or less acoustic arrangement to which not a great deal has had to be done for the Acoustic Strawbs set - I like the tolling bell notes which Lambert adds to the sparse Cousins intro (can't recall when those were added but it may have been this time round).

Having heard them play around with the instrumental rising chord sequence in the middle of "Shine On Silver Sun" during Winchester sound check, it was nice to hear the slight but deft changes made - and repeated the following night the acoustic versions of these classic numbers continue to grow and develop - another good example being the "Out In The Cold/Round And Round" suite, now with both guitarists scratching the initial notes out of the menacing opening to "Round And Round" and using the same technique during the middle instrumental - it allows the sequence to be really rather quiet in comparison with the verses, without losing any of its threatening impact. This song shone out of many other excellent performances that night, with Cousins really throwing himself into the vocals, whilst Lambert and Willoughby powered it through the loud bits.

"The River/Down By The Sea" was also particularly tight and powerful at Winchester, and "Hero And Heroine" was as ever a superb closing number - Lambert's two pronged attack on the bodhran adding power to the intro (Cousins has taken to crediting DL as Ginger Baker at the end of the show), with those splendid acoustic power chords at the close - clearly they don't need a mellotron to deliver this powerful piece, though it'll be interesting to see what happens to them when these songs return to the electric environment next year.

But the highlight both nights for me - played at my request at Winchester and repeated at Basingstoke - was the splendid rework of one of my favourite Cousins songs, "We'll Meet Again Sometime", possibly the perfect encore now that "Hero And Heroine" has moved to be the main set closer (where it is perfect too). Building from a simple guitar figure from Brian, with Lambert noodling away on e-Bow in the background, Cousins' impassioned vocals are soon joined by a harsh sounding Lambert harmony. The Lambert slide instrumental in the middle is impressive, then Brian takes a solo too before leading back into the underpinning figure. Last verse sees some crashing DL chords and unison vocals with the instrumentation coming to a sudden stop, then the song closes with some powerful folk-club style acoustic strumming as both singers tunefully bellow out the chorus - another one to take back in your head into the bar - the upbeat second encore - the frothy "On A Night Like This", which though pleasant and catchy, doesn't have quite enough substance to displace it.

A fine end to UK touring for 2003 - next stop for DC is Canada to work on the live DVD, a holiday and then our friends on the East Coast have the pleasure of their company for November and part of December, and we'll next seem them live on these shores in January.

Nice to catch up at Basingstoke with friends Kevin and Jan, Sue and Mike Holton (over from Kent) and Bob and Louise Richardson (down from Brum) - the faithful turning out (considerable distances) for the last night of the tour.

ROUND AND ROUND WE GO - Review from Louise Richardson

We arrived at St Mary's College at around 7-00 pm after circling Basingstoke for a good hour or more trying to find the place [hence the title]. The theatre was very tasteful and we had wonderful seats.

This being the last show of the UK Tour, we felt we had to be there. Great night again and well worth the travel from The Midlands. It was a full house and the acoustics we thought were very good. The lads were in good form and didn't even look tired, after their long run of shows here. "Face Down In The Well" has really grown on us now, hope it will be put on to cd and "Autumn/The Winter Long" always gets a good reception, hope they always keep this one on their set list. Same goes for "Shine On Silver Sun", loved it years ago and it even sounds better now.

As the night drew to a close, they did "On A Night Like This" as the finale and afterwards Dave C said 'we could have carried on forever', unfortunately this was not to be. He also thanked friends that had gone to several of their shows this year, which we thought was really nice. Really great show, one of many by 3 Great Musicians. Looking forward to next year. Had a drink afterwards in the bar and said our goodbyes.

FLOWERPOT, DERBY, 25 SEPT 2003

ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS IN DERBY - Review from Adrian the Rock

Just got back from a fantastic gig at the Derby Flowerpot and finally had a chance to hear two of the new songs, both of which sounded great.

If it started a little tentatively, with DC having the odd frog or two in his throat on some of the early numbers, this gave no indication of the real treats that were to follow later.

"Face Down In The Well" is an intriguing new song and I'm looking forward to hearing this when the next CD comes out, and it was also good to hear "Shine On Silver Sun" live for the first time (for me). This was followed with a superb rendition of "Autumn" and by this time my friend was really enjoying their superb playing. The crowd even began calling for encores at the end of the first half!

The second half began with "The Winter And The Summer", which again I'd never heard live before. If perhaps the chorus could have been played and sung with a bit more vigour (the same probably being true of "Shine On Silver Sun"), the feelings and subtleties were well done and I'm sure these songs will get better still after a bit longer on the road.

An accomplished performance of "Tears And Pavan" was then followed by what I can only describe as an awesome combined rendition of "The River" and "Down By The Sea". I have never heard these played with such a sumptuous flow coming over, I was really groovin' and getting into each moment of the songs.

Next came "Out In The Cold", and I noticed that Brian and DL had adopted a new style of playing at one point on this, plucking their guitar strings right at the very bottom of the instruments. When I spoke to DL afterwards he confirmed they'd started this only within the last 2-3 weeks. This segued into "Round and Round", full as usual of energy and vigour, then the main set was rounded off with another beautiful rendition, this time of "Hero And Heroine".

The crowd then roared and roared, so after returning to play "We'll Meet Again Sometime", the Strawbs gave "On a Night Like This" its first British outing. I don't think I've ever heard the crowd sing along to the chorus so much on a totally new song - magnificent!

It was also good to see so many familiar faces including Bob and Louise, Nick Evans and several others I'd met at the Inkford party, as well as several Witchwooders and other faces I recognised - apologies to any of you I didn't manage to say hello to.

A CRACKING NIGHT WAS HAD BY ALL - Review from Mike Barker

Fortunately the frog only played a bit part in tonight's performance at the Flowerpot, Derby interrupting DC a couple of times from the depths of his throat - apparently it was 'an occupational hazard brought on by a lack of alcohol the previous night'. It did nothing though to spoil what I consider to be the best Acoustic Strawbs performance I've seen.

The set was much as previously reported except for the re-introduction of "We'll Meet Again Sometime" as the first encore. The Flowerpot always engenders a great atmosphere and I'm sure it wasn't just the assembled Witchwooders who cheered loudly at the end of each song; in fact anyone poking their head round the corner after "Autumn" would have thought the show had ended rather than just the first set.

The changes in running order e.g. "Tears And Pavan" and "The River" moved to the middle of the second set seemed to breathe new life into songs that had sounded tired during the June tour-ette. "Round And Round" was a revelation - not one of my favourites in concert or on record but tonight it was very powerful. The balance of the two sets was perfect with the up tempo and slower numbers enhancing each other.

Of the new songs "Face Down In The Well" sounds like a DC classic although the vocals were a little indistinct and the Witchwooders joined in the chorus of "On A Night Like This". Other highlights this evening were numerous but "We'll Meet Again Sometime", "The Hangman And The Papist", "Shine On Silver Sun" and "The Winter And The Summer" also spring to mind (more or less the whole set - I might have a look at replacing "Benedictus" though).

All in all a cracking night was had by all - we even managed to recruit my mate's teenage son to the Witchwood ranks!!

THE NEW ROSCOE, LEEDS, 22 SEPT 2003

THE POWER AND THE PASSION - Review from Ian Stobbs

A jaunt down the A1 to Leeds on a wet Monday isn't normally on the agenda, but with possibly the last chance to see the lads this year, an opportunity not to be missed. The venue was a large pub on the northern outskirts of the city renowned for it's excellent gigs and the Acoustic Strawbs must rate as the highlight of the year. After a pint and a chat to Alison and Brian we went into a large room with its own bar and a substantial stage. We managed to get front row seats and settled down for the evening.

Dave started the gig with "Benedictus" and immediately we could tell this was going to be special!. Dave C's presence on stage was apparent as soon as he hit the first chords. "A Glimpse Of Heaven" came next and followed by "Ghosts" both (to my untrained ear) with slightly different arrangements giving a more powerful acoustic rendition of these two Strawbs classics. Dave L guitar playing was inspired and the passion in his voice during "Ghosts" created an electric atmosphere. Brian W (as usual) seemed to play effortlessly, a sign of a musician in tune with his guitar, adding his own 'stamp" to the proceedings. The first set continued with a new song called "Face Down In The Well", a classic Cousins track. Obviously, genius has not deserted Dave. The first set continued with "The Hangman And The Papist", "Alice's Song", "Shine On Silver Sun", and "Autumn".

The second set started with another Strawbs classic given the acoustic treatment, Dave Lambert's "The Winter And The Summer". This, once again, shows how the feel and content of the song can be changed. The set continued with the "normal" set list but a mention must be given to the stunning "The River/Down By The Sea". An Acoustic Strawbs concert without it would be unthinkable. The power and the passion the lads created was intense and felt throughout the room.

For the encore we were treated to the powerful "Hero And Heroine", another acoustic classic, followed by the newly penned "On A Night Like This".

It all ended to soon. As the night progressed it was obvious to all that have followed the Acoustic Strawbs from the start (nearly two years ago) that the lads are evolving into a much more confident and tighter team and are now trying new material every time you see them, making each experience unique. This was Dave Cousins at his very best, Dave Lambert was exceptional, and Brian Willoughby was superb. It was a privilege to be there and look forward to next year's tour and hopefully a new acoustic CD.

CONSISTENTLY EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES - Review and pix from Alison Brown

A return visit to the New Roscoe in Leeds, 20 months after my first visit there to see the Acoustic Strawbs when Dave first played his newly acquired banjo. This one turned out to be a stunner!

A front row seat to witness an almost perfect performance which had me totally lost in the music. It's hard to pick stand-out songs because this performance was so good from start to finish, but the boys played a blinder on "Ghosts" and "The River/Down By The Sea". I'm now totally hooked on "Face Down In The Well" and it sounds better every time I hear it. Not sure about "On A Night Like This" as a second encore - give me "Simple Visions" any day (but I would say that wouldn't I!) - but hey I'm not complaining at a new song AND a second encore, just unsure about its placement.

It was good to put another face to a fellow Witchwooder, Mike Harrison, who brought along some lovely rare 45s for me to drool over during the interval and I was sat amongst fellow Strawbs nuts Ian and Sandra, Bryan and Al Jameson - it's wonderful how many friends I've made through StrawbsWeb/Witchwood over the last seven years.

My last of six Acoustic Strawbs concerts this year, two of which (this one and Hartlepool) were out of this world - maybe it's the northern air! A big thank you to Dave, Dave and Brian for producing such consistently excellent performances and giving me so many happy memories.

Roll on January  :o)

WORDEN ARTS CENTRE, LANGLEY, 21 SEPT 2003

GREAT STUFF! - Review and pix from Les Cotton

A great location for Sue and I, its only 25 miles away. The Arts Centre is a lovely building, a converted barn situated in parkland. Inside, its a fully rigged concert hall, Bose-equipped PA with a permanently installed multi-channel mixing desk, lighting and stage monitors, nice.

A full house (about 300) welcomed the band, off to a shaky start as Brian's new nylon-strung guitar refused to play amplified, resulting in a hasty swap to "Rosy", the trusty Gibson for the first two songs. Early mix was a bit weird, but once settled in the soundman did a great job, the barn giving a nice natural reverb to the vocals.

Standout tracks for me were "Face Down In The Well", now a well-rehearsed tune, all parts blending nicely, superb vocal harmonies on "Shine On Silver Sun" ( I think Mandolin would fit better than Banjo on this..?), and a super "Winter And The Summer" with beautiful Mandolin from DC. Of the standard tracks, "Autumn" is now as perfect as it gets, amazing how the acoustic version has evolved with subtle changes here and there, a wonderful sound....and the well-documented rhythmic "scraping" sounds on "Round And Round" from Brian and DL, also a very clever change of tuning mid-song from DC (from standard to drop "D", capoed at the 2nd, for you guitarists..) to enhance that chugging riff in E....encored with the ever more frenetic "Hero And Heroine", with DL creating a thunderous beat using TWO beaters on the bodhran, its now a rock solid foot stomper.

Great stuff!

HERRINGTHORPE LEISURE CENTRE, ROTHERHAM, 20 SEPT 2003

DON'T THEY HAVE ANY CHAIRS IN ROTHERHAM? - Review and pix from Alison Brown

I've only been to Rotherham twice; once to see Dave Cousins and Rick Wakeman play together and tonight to see the Acoustic Strawbs. Two different venues and no seating - don't they have any chairs in Rotherham? After tonight's experience, the Acoustic Strawbs are definitely best viewed sitting down.

The evening was organised by the Classic Rock Society in the sports hall of a large sports/leisure complex and opened with the Miv Cameron Band, playing some very pleasant Celtic-influenced music.

There were a couple of sound problems during "Benedictus" and "Glimpse Of Heaven" but things settled down nicely after that. Lovely harmonies on "Shine On Silver Sun" and I loved "The Winter And The Summer" but then I'm a big fan of the sound of the mandolin. But the highlight for me was the beautiful, haunting "Face Down In The Well". The tune and the chorus have been in my head since I first heard it at the White Bear back in April, and this time the words of the verses were much clearer. Simply the best new Strawbs song we've had in ages.

Interesting to see the number of instruments on stage steadily increasing with the addition of Brian's nylon-stringed guitar and Dave C's mandolin - I make that a total of eight between them!

Another excellent performance from the boys but my appreciation was slightly lessened by having to stand for nearly two hours. Maybe the CRS should consider finding a venue with seats as I'm sure I can't be the only one put off attending their concerts as I don't fancy standing all night after a 100 mile drive unless, of course, there's Strawbs on the bill!

An enjoyable evening, nonetheless, with the added bonus of a chance to talk "Strawbs" with ever-knowledgeable Dave Passmore (and to see some of his LP "goodies") who was manning the merchandise stall as Neil was otherwise occupied at a Rolling Stones concert, and also had the pleasure of meeting another new Witchwooder, Andy from Chesterfield.

NORWICH ARTS CENTRE, 19 SEPT 2003

SIMPLY WARM PEOPLE - Review from Peter Steward

Norwich Arts Centre is in many ways a strange venue. Memorial stones on the wall to those buried there, clearly illustrate that this was once a place of worship.

Today the sermons and hymns are long gone. The old church has been turned into a marvellous centre for the arts where Media studies and Information Technology live side by side with a small and intimate concert venue in the main church.

Over the past few years I have witnessed heavy rock nights, quiet reflective folk events, country and jazz and even poetry evening. To this venue came the Acoustic Strawbs. The audience was full of silver haired foxes maybe reliving their youth, remembering the power of Grave New World et al and again looking forward to the distinctive voice of David Cousins, the mesmerising guitar work of Dave Lambert and the quietly confident work of Brian Willoughby.

That over two hours of playing went in a flash, is testament to this trios ability to hold an audience. There were no fills, no gimmicks, no back drops, just three consummate musicians turning out the old magic and making it sound fresh and modern.

My two sons are at University and, like me, enjoy loud and heavy rock music. I would have liked them to have been with me to witness genuine artists and realise that the "singer" can have a personality rather than simply uttering expletives in an attempt to be clever or remaining silent under the excuse of mean and moodiness.

Acoustic Strawbs are simply warm people, doing what they love doing. Their set is chronicled elsewhere. I was more interested in the overall feel and at times it was quite astonishing that three people with acoustic guitars can bring out so much passion.

It was a great night of genuine Strawbobelia.

THIRTY YEARS ON - Review from Barry Smith

It was ironic that the Strawbs were back in Norwich after thirty years. It was back in 1972 that my eldest brother came back from University with his reel to reel tape recorder with a copy of From The Witchwood. After hearing the magical track "A Glimpse Of Heaven", me and my younger brother were hooked, and we set off a few weeks later to the Norwich Theatre Royal to see the Grave New World tour.

Now thirty years on my wife also a life long Strawbs fan (how lucky can any man be?) came back to Norwich this time the venue was the Arts Centre. We came with my elder brother and his wife and a friend that they had just met in a pub. When they told him they were going to see the Acoustic Strawbs, he said 'I've got their first album, are they still going, well I want to come' and so he did.

The venue was absolutely packed with forty something's like us, and what an atmosphere. I have never been to a Strawbs concert where the audience was so responsive. The applause for my all time favourite track "Autumn" went on for several minutes and well deserved to.

The Strawbs were clearly pleased by the way that they were received - it was genuine and heartfelt admiration for these three outstanding singers and songwriters, and they clearly enjoyed every minute of that applause.

It was also ironic that thirty years ago Dave Cousins sang "New World" at the Theatre Royal and it sent shivers down my spine. Well the Strawbs magic is still there and they can still do this to me, this time it was "A Glimpse of Heaven", it was such an ethereal performance.

I wrote in a previous review a couple of years ago that Dave Cousins voice had not been spoilt by the passing of the years, well tonight it was better than ever. He was singing like a man in his late twenties not in his late fifties.

Dave Lambert was on top form on every occasion and I was delighted with his performance on "The Winter And The Summer", "Autumn", "Ghosts" and "Down By The Sea". And as for Brian well he is just Brian an outstanding guitarist of the finest calibre. He just sits there quietly doing what he is good at and clearly enjoying every minute of it.

And as for my sister-in-law's friend after the show he was reminiscing about "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus" and "Poor Jimmy Wilson". He had not realised how the Strawbs had gone through so many style changes over the years.

My wife and I knew all the songs and every word and really enjoyed the new songs, and how poignant that the last song was called "On A Night Like This" and what a night it was.

HUNTINGDON HALL, WORCESTER, 18 SEPT 2003

ANOTHER AMAZING NIGHT - Review from Philip Gregory

At last the long awaited Worcester gig finally arrived, I'd had three sets of tickets for this one due to Dave's accident, schedule clashes with North America and finally it happened after 8 months delay. Dave apologised a couple of times during the show for the months of delay, he really didn't need to, he was there now and that was all that mattered! I'd got centre front row seats, which was a bit daunting, seeing how close we were to the two Dave's and Brian.

The atmosphere at the Huntingdon Hall is always fabulous and tonight was no exception. The set opened beautifully with "Benedictus" and then went into one of the best renditions of "Glimpse Of Heaven" I've seen, so that was two of my favourite songs in the first two numbers! "Ghosts" was superb as always. I'd been wondering what "Face Down In The Well" would be like as I'd not read much about it, and I have to say I was not disappointed. This really does seem to be a return to Dave's classic writing form and I hope it appears on the forthcoming album (or indeed, any album!). Then a welcome return for "Hangman", which was sounding better than ever, never fails to raise goose bumps! Then "Alice's Song" which Dave described as usual and said he thought they'd be back on Top Of The Pops but no such luck. Although I love the song I do prefer Catherine singing it and it's the one song I wouldn't mind being replaced in the set. Following on from "Alice's Song", Dave said that they had played the next song on TOTP but that it had bombed out of the charts the following week so they had never played it live since so they were playing it tonight to be perverse! "Shine On Silver Sun" was a welcome addition to the set and was played superbly. The first set closed with an amazing rendition of "Autumn", I never fail to be amazed at how this song can be done acoustically, all three of the band are magicians with their instruments! This song so successfully conjures up images of birds flying over windswept ploughed fields it's amazing.

I went and bought Blue Angel and Hummingbird during the interval, so I'll finally be able to give an opinion on them. Also had some of the excellent Honey and Ginger Ice Cream that is on sale at the Hall! The second half of the set was preceded by the infamous raffle - just wouldn't be the same without it, truly unbelievable prizes, so glad I didn't win one! When the band returned Dave said it was the only venue where the raffle goes down better than the band.

It was great to see "Winter and the Summer" in the set, I'd only seen this live before as a DL solo spot so it was nice to have DC and BW adding to it. "Tears and Pavan" showed yet more magical mastery of the guitar by Messer's Willoughby and Lambert, quite superb! "The River/Down ByThe Sea" had Dave L ferociously attacking his guitar; the man really deserves more recognition (as do all the band of course). Then into "Out In The Cold / Round and Round". The intro to "Round And Round" was quite incredible; the sounds that Dave and Brian made by scrapping the strings were awesome. It has to be said that the playing by these two tonight was some of the best I've ever seen. All too soon the set came to an end with a great version of "Lay Down".

A very enthusiastic show of appreciation was made by the crowd and eventually the band returned. Dave said how much they love playing at the hall and how it was fantastic just to walk into never mind play in. The band then played another superb "Hero and Heroine", Dave's new bodhran technique really sounds amazing, although he did drop one of the beaters and looked extremely fed up. Finally when he put the bodhran down it rolled away and fell over and Dave seemed to take out his anger on the guitar producing an amazingly frenzied version of the song which has to be one of the best I've ever seen. DC then joked they would probably lose half their fee for running over time, but they were going to do another song anyway. "On A Night Like This" was, well, different! I presume the "La Bamba" riff is intended to convey the atmosphere of the evenings entertainment that is the subject of the song, but I'm not sure I can cope with the Strawbs going Latino! Still every album seems to have a humorous song so perhaps this will be it on the new album. Dave then invited the audience to the bar describing it as "fantastic - but then it should be as we own it after the amount of money we spent in it the last time we were here!".

Another amazing night with the Strawbs, the set seemed shorter in terms of the number of songs but we still had two hours of superb entertainment!

Sat almost next to Fellow Witchwooder Pauline and saw Nigel Bennett in the Bar (must be one of the most dedicated followers, you are always there Nigel!).

EXCELLENT MUSICAL BALANCE - Review from Tom Comerford

Last nights session by the lads was up to their usual high standard in front of an appreciative and knowledgeable audience. Excellent musical balance with no glitches. The performance now appears as effortless as only a total command of the material can.

The new arrangements were interesting and the new material up to the usual high standard although their impression of the Gypsy Kings ("On A Night Like This", 2nd encore) is a diversion that will take some getting used to! The new treatments of "The River" and "Hero and Heroine" are however a little too radical for my taste, however; fascinating.

DC was on excellent form and his humour again added to evening as did his intro stories although there were fewer of these than normal, particularly in the first half which was executed at a staggering pace. Brian's playing seemed more prominent in the mix this year which I felt improves the fullness of the sound, which is amazing for a three piece.

I had reservations whether "Shine On Silver Sun' would work in this format having heard it live 30 years ago, and on disc ever since. I should not have worried, DC has created another enhancement to a much loved standard and his satisfaction was evident. The highlight of the evening for me was "Autumn", a beautiful rendition of an all time favourite song with DL et al note perfect. The arrangement is superb and truly captures the essence of the original, even down to the keyboard parts.

It's super news that DC is once again tapping a rich vein to produce new material, roll on next year; a future full band tour to follow perhaps?

FOOTLIGHTS, WEST CHILTINGTON, 13 SEPT 2003

WORTH THE WAIT - Review from Dick Greener

As I won't see much more now till the end of the tour (Winchester and Basingstoke), I travelled out to see Acoustic Strawbs in West Chiltington in Sussex on Saturday. Unusually, the boys were held up in appalling traffic on the A24 (I'd got there reprehensibly early having been out to Winchester first), which made them very late for the sound check. The folks at the club were understandably a bit nervous, but when the boys arrived, all efforts were made to get things going as quickly as possible, though the crowd were kept waiting a little while after the expected start time - apologies all round.

The club operates out of the village hall, which has had a nice refit and draws an extremely enthusiastic crowd. Whilst there were a few obvious Strawbs fans (t-shirts, first in the queue and making a beeline for the front row seats!) I overheard a few people who confessed in the early stages to not having a clue what they were going to see; I did wonder what folk club regulars might make of the out and out (albeit acoustic) rock of eg "Round And Round", but by the end they all seemed thoroughly converted, applauding loud and long and calling for encores.

And rightly so, as Messrs Cousins, Lambert and Willoughby were on excellent form that night, despite a few monitoring difficulties and a broken string early on which caused Dave to rearrange the set considerably whilst Neil did the necessary repairs. "Benedictus" was pushed to set two as the banjo needed to be plugged into the DI box that the dulcimer would need, so the set started with a rollicking "Glimpse Of Heaven". Highlights for me tonight all came from the Hero and Heroine album, as chance would have it - "Shine On Silver Sun", getting slicker and better, a storming "Hero And Heroine", "Autumn" and the afore-mentioned "Round And Round", where Lambert now makes scratchy noises on the intro by using the plectrum against the "grain" of the strings - very effective and different. (I think there's also been a slight re-arrangement on the early parts of "Down By The Sea", though I haven't checked back to be sure.) "Winter And The Summer" in its new clothes is also a very attractive arrangement and shows off Lambert's quieter side.

"Face Down In The Well" is becoming stronger and cleaner too, as is "On A Night Like This" (it's an old Strawbs tradition, new numbers bedding down after being introduced and then honed into shape in a live environment - no doubt some fans were there on the night that "Hangman" or "Benedictus" or other Strawbs classics first came out to play, and have seen them go through the same process).

Honourable mention too for organiser and resident Jerry Page, who opened the show with some thoughtful and melodic self-penned numbers from his debut CD Postcard from Australia. He was supported by Kev Walker, an excellent acoustic lead guitarist who drew appreciative looks from both Willoughby and Lambert. For more info on these two, see www.jerrypage.com.

And finally, another glimpse, not this time of heaven, but of things to come - another snatch of a new Cousins number played over to me on guitar in the dressing room whilst waiting for the Acoustics to go on ... again, I won't spoil what is to come, but Cousins, who says he's writing a lot at present, seems to be mining a very creative vein and I think the new album, expected for late Spring next year, will be very warmly welcomed.

WHAT A NIGHT IT WAS - Review from Mary Aitchison

Footlights' new season at West Chiltington Village Hall opened on Saturday 13th. September, 2003, with a tip-top concert from long standing trio, The Acoustic Strawbs.

Leader, Dave Cousins, has been thirty years in rock music, and recently was rewarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Classic Rock Society. On Saturday, singing and playing guitar and dulcimer, he shared the stage with Dave Lambert, who brought his own upfront rock style with vocals and guitar, and the skilled and sensitive playing of lead guitarist Brian Willoughby; a formidable line-up.

Cousins has led the Strawbs through many changes and his songs are the corner-stone of the group's appeal. His lyrics are beautiful, as I proved when playing their latest CD Baroque and Roll, but in a live concert they are often delivered with such gusto that they lack clarity; but then, as a member of the audience remarked, 'With great music like that, who cares!'. It was an evening full of light and shade, the whole delivered with skill and passion and a consummate balance between the three performers that had the audience rapt in their seats.

Numbers included "Glimpse Of Heaven", "Benedictus", "Ghosts", a build up of atmosphere in "The Hangman And The Papist", the poignant "Alice's Song", "The River/Down By The Sea", "Face Down In The Well" and an unforgettable instrumental "Autumn", that conjured up the sadness of that time of year, after which I truly saw a listener wiping her eyes! At one point Cousins interrupted the applause by saying, 'If you do that we may stay all night', and if they had no one would have objected. The concert culminated with a rousing chorus of "Shine On Silver Sun", "Lay Down", and "On A Night Like This", and what a night it was!

The evening was supported by composer/singer/host, Jerry Page, singing a selection of his own songs now available on the CD Postcard from Australia, and accompanied by the talented guitarist Kevin Walker. In all it was an acoustic guitar evening of infinite variety.

TRINITY ARTS, GAINSBOROUGH, 12 SEPT 2003

NEW LAMPS FOR OLD - Review from Dave Passmore

Have you seen the 'new' Strawbs yet?

Well, I say 'new' Strawbs, what I mean is the new way of presenting the varied archive of beautifully crafted songs that we have come to love over the years. There is an infectious enthusiasm to the presentation, moreover, an enjoyment by the craftsmen themselves, that draws you in, never failing to surprise and delight you.

Dave mentions the days when the boys would gather at each other's houses to write these pieces and perfect them. The more intimate style gigs and relaxed performance transports one into those very front rooms, where it all began.

The songs have been stripped back to basics, they way they were originally conceived, and as first presented by the then newly formed Acoustic Strawbs, but now they have been re-textured, little nuances added, slight changes in tempo, even the odd chord changed, to make new songs from old.

Now, since the original inception of the Acoustic version of the band, the songs have matured into the new finished article.

At Gainsborough they were note perfect, and, despite Dave feeling less than one hundred per cent, delivered one of the best sets it has been my privilege to see. All were outstanding. Dave Lambert, surely one of the best guitarist's ever, underrated in my opinion, and understated by nature, was superb. Not only for his work on the guitar, but for some hauntingly, moving vocals, particularly on "The Winter Long" and "The Winter And The Summer". More mellow on the delivery of those, yet more powerful than ever on the likes of "Round And Round", complimenting Dave Cousins, on this breathtaking version of a terrific song.

"Out In The Cold" was also exceptional, and unexpected! Big H, ("Hero And Heroine"), took my breath away, you know, the sort of song that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

I believe this current set offers the clearest insight yet into the highly emotive songs and complex musical structures of them, that you are ever likely to get. Brian's interplay with Dave Lambert was just the perfect balance, and you could see that they were enjoying every minute of it.

Another bonus was the introduction of several brand new songs, which were well received. "Face Down In The Well" was quite superb, building menacingly to a very strong chorus and 'On a night like This' rocked along at a fair pace and had a terrific 'feel good' factor.

Dave's anecdotal banter between songs was of the highest order. If you've not heard the one about the trainee French Jehovah's witness, you need to catch the show, it's a gem.

At the end of the show Dave graciously acknowledged his fellow musicians in time honoured fashion, by stating that the audience had made two old men and him very happy.

Add me to that, Mr Cousins, you all made me very happy too, and long may it continue.

ROBIN 2, BILSTON, 11 SEPT 2003

WONDERFUL SHOW - Review from Louise Richardson

Went to the Robin 2 to see Acoustic Strawbs on Thursday. The venue is very good although I think being as it was an acoustic set, everyone should have been seated for the show instead of standing.

Wonderful show again, the audience seemed to warm up more in the second half. "Shine On Silver Sun" is a gem, it has always been one of my favourites, and now sounds better than ever. "Face Down In The Well" went down very well and is a lovely song to listen to. "On A Night Like This" seems to be getting more popular, and really makes you feel like you want to get up and dance to it.

Dave C was in fine voice and Brian and Dave were in fine tune. As the show went on the audience really showed their appreciation and didn't want the show to come to an end, but do we ever.