desertedvillage
Well-Known Member
'Live At The Colchester Arts Centre' On Bandcamp
Recorded live at the Colchester Arts Centre, Wednesday 12th September, 2012.
'The night culminated in the carefully controlled United Bible Studies, who skirted the knife edge of improv with a control that belied the size of the group. Possibly because core member David Colohan wasn’t present, there seemed to be a real traditional Irish Folk cast to the songs, with Alison O’Donnell delivering plaintive ballads and animalistic screeches. As band members seemingly took it in turns to lead the songs, there was a palpable sense of these performances being organic, one-off moments, none more so than the encore that somehow morphed into an Irish Jig. Complete with ill-advised dancing.
Some of the most powerful moments came when Michael Tanner’s guitar drones washed over everything. Gathering the other instruments together and transforming the delicate trickle of Aine O’Dwyer’s harp melodies into a crashing waterfall of sound that threatened to overwhelm at any moment.
Too often, an experienced musician will gather a band of young lackeys to do the heavy lifting (as anyone who saw the Jubilee or Olympic ceremonies will know). But United Bible Studies proved that this mixture can be invigorating and rewarding for the group and the audience.
What could have been a potentially awkward straddling of Psych, Folk, Post-Rock and Drone turned out to be a beautiful synergy of all of those elements, without ever being beholden to one particular sound. Indeed, the disparate ages and backgrounds of the performers married experience and technical ability with a youthful playfulness and experimentation that I’ve rarely seen. An essential gig.'
- www.colchesterarts.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/review-united-bible-studies-simon-finn-lost-harbours-wed-12th-september-2012/
Recorded live at the Colchester Arts Centre, Wednesday 12th September, 2012.
'The night culminated in the carefully controlled United Bible Studies, who skirted the knife edge of improv with a control that belied the size of the group. Possibly because core member David Colohan wasn’t present, there seemed to be a real traditional Irish Folk cast to the songs, with Alison O’Donnell delivering plaintive ballads and animalistic screeches. As band members seemingly took it in turns to lead the songs, there was a palpable sense of these performances being organic, one-off moments, none more so than the encore that somehow morphed into an Irish Jig. Complete with ill-advised dancing.
Some of the most powerful moments came when Michael Tanner’s guitar drones washed over everything. Gathering the other instruments together and transforming the delicate trickle of Aine O’Dwyer’s harp melodies into a crashing waterfall of sound that threatened to overwhelm at any moment.
Too often, an experienced musician will gather a band of young lackeys to do the heavy lifting (as anyone who saw the Jubilee or Olympic ceremonies will know). But United Bible Studies proved that this mixture can be invigorating and rewarding for the group and the audience.
What could have been a potentially awkward straddling of Psych, Folk, Post-Rock and Drone turned out to be a beautiful synergy of all of those elements, without ever being beholden to one particular sound. Indeed, the disparate ages and backgrounds of the performers married experience and technical ability with a youthful playfulness and experimentation that I’ve rarely seen. An essential gig.'
- www.colchesterarts.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/review-united-bible-studies-simon-finn-lost-harbours-wed-12th-september-2012/
