REVIEW – Peter Knight’s Gigspanner @ Pound Arts Centre, Corsham – Friday 3rd May 2024

A Knight To Remember

Andy Fawthrop

Gigspanner are in the middle of their UK Spring Tour 2024, and the Pound in Corsham has become one of their regular stopping points….

I last saw them here in November 2022, but I also caught them several times over the last twelve months at other venues and festivals around the country. And plenty of musical water has flowed under the bridge during that time. Apart from forays with their GBB (Gigspanner Big Band) format, which includes the Edgelarks duo of Philip Henry and Hannah Martin, and the wonderful Saltlines tour, Peter Knight has been fully occupied with a wide range of solo and duo side projects with other artists. The man never seems to stop working.

But, last night, we were back in the old familiar and original trio format. Gigspanner, if you weren’t already aware, is the full-time musical project of ex-Steeleye Span’s violin genius, Peter Knight. Having gradually become slightly exasperated with the repetitive nature of Steeleye’s musical repertoire, despite the occasional new album, Peter left in order to pursue his own musical interests. His trio, which includes guitar and technical wizard Roger Flack, and percussionist Sacha Trochet, can now only be described as being at the very top of their game. The trio format gives the three musicians the time and the space to explore the themes in their music more deeply, to extemporise with flowing solos, and to make even the regular material sound fresh every time they deliver it.

Last night was no exception. I was perched right at the front, almost on the stage itself, in front of more than a hundred fans, and it was more than obvious that there has developed between these three guys a deep personal harmony, and an almost telepathic musical understanding. Their two sets were based deep, deep in the heart of the most traditional of folk music standards, and yet developed and explored in a way that took you a very long way indeed from the “originals”. There’s an almost jazz-like feel to the way the three guys take these songs and tunes, and move them along into an almost completely different genre.

We had the folkie-based classics of their repertoire like “She Moved Through The Fair”, “The Bows of London”, “The Bonnie Birdie” and (as a grand and sweeping finale) “The King Of The Fairies”, but leavened and interleaved with other old favourites such as “Seagull”, “The Butterfly”, the spell-binding “Sharp Goes Walkabout” and the stunning party-piece of “Louisiana Flack”.

The latter has to be seen to be believed: whilst Peter plays the basic tune on his violin, Roger simultaneously plays a fast staccato rhythm on the frets of the same instrument using drumsticks. The two guys have to absolutely trust each other in terms of timing and movement in order to carry out this difficult trick, and their joint concentration, staring into each other’s eyes as they knock out the rapid tune, is really something to behold. I’ve seen them do this a dozen times or more over the years, but it never ceases to capture the imagination, and (as always) elicited a huge cheer from the audience as they finished it. It’s a breath-holding moment, and watching them carry it off from just a few metres away was even more amazing.

Peter interspersed the tunes with his usual laconic, comical style, talking to the audience as if they were old friends. And I guess a lot of them were. There was a lot of love in the room, and just the same warmth later as the three guys manned the merch table and chatted away to the fans.

They’re a band, and a grouping of superb individual musicians, who are continuing to explore the boundaries of their music, developing even standard numbers in their repertoire with every new performance. They never seem to stand still, and they never seem to stop working. They’ve reached a stage now where I’d say that they are very difficult to categorise or to pigeon-hole. Their musical interpretations continue to evolve, and long may it be so. If you’ve never seen or heard them, I’d urge you to rectify that omission as soon as possible.

Absolutely top night of entertainment.

Their future gigs are listed on www.gigspanner.com/. Next chance to catch them locally, in the Saltlines format, would be in Marlborough on 30th May. Definitely worth the trip up the A4 I’d say.

And, finally, just a word about Corsham’s The Pound Arts Centre. It’s a small, but beautifully-formed venue with a complete programme of events across drama, film, music, comedy, children’s activities, art exhibitions, workshops, and classes. It also has an excellent café & bar just off the foyer. Look on their website for future music artists and online ticket information.