REVIEW – Devizes Arts Festival– Anna Ling – St Andrew’s Church – Thursday 5th June 2025

Another Little Sweetie In The Jar

Andy Fawthrop

Well the Devizes Arts Festival is in full swing now, with several events already under its belt.  There’s stuff cropping up every day, so I took the chance to pop in to a much-underused venue in the town St Andrew’s Church on Long Street.….

After several big-ticket shows in the programme, it was a pleasure to settle down to something a little more modest, a more bread-and-butter item if you like.  Mid-week lunchtime isn’t going to be a time to attract a particularly large audience, even on market day, but a good few hardy souls turned up to at least create a good audience atmosphere.

Anna Ling, a performer I’d not personally come across before, is a guitarist and singer/songwriter.  Her creative work and sense of purpose are deeply rooted in her love of bringing people together through song. This passion shapes her life, guiding her from leading community choirs to performing at venues, care homes, and world-class festivals.

In a concert co-promoted with the charity, Live Music Now, Anna delivered a professional and engaging 50-minute set which featured both her own material along with a few covers.  She worked hard to engage the audience right from the kick-off, inviting us into her world.  The performance was light and humorous, heartfelt and intimate.  And she was determined that we were not just going to sit back and listen to her, but to join in as well.  She had a lovely clear, strong voice, and used it to particular effect when she came down from the stage and abandoned her guitar in favour of an unaccompanied song right from the middle of the audience.

Her lyrics were simple, her guitar chords straight-forward.  This was not a set filled with new arrangements or presenting anything particularly challenging, but an opportunity to listen to a set of songs simply delivered and largely unadorned.  She filled the gaps between the songs with little stories and anecdotes, never lifting her voice very much, and thus drawing you in.

Plain, simple, and thoroughly enjoyable.  Just another little sweetie in the jar from Devizes Arts Festival.  And there’s plenty more to see and hear yet, so do make sure that you get along to experience something soon. It’ll all be over before you know it!

Devizes Arts Festival continues until Sunday 15th June at various venues around the town.  Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online HERE

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