Every show The Unthanks perform is something special but add a sprinkle of December magic into the mix and it becomes the greatest carol concert you’ve ever attended.
The night begins with Adrian McNally walking to the piano and playing a gentle solo before being joined by his fellow musicians. From offstage there is the sound of jingle bells and the Unthank sisters, Rachel and Becky, enter to huge cheers, joyfully shaking their sleigh bell sticks. Without a break they continue with ‘O Tannenbaum’ giving us the English ‘Oh Christmas Tree’ version.
Their usual set up is embellished with Will Hammond’s vibraphone tonight, fitting nicely with Faye MacCalman’s tenor sax. For the midwinter song ‘Gower Wassail’, the music is driven by Dan Rogers’ foreboding double bass, sounding like the “here comes the chopper to chop off your head” climax of the ‘Oranges And Lemons’ nursery rhyme.
Rachel is still banging on her bell stick as the ensemble sing backing “ba ba bas” on ‘The Holly And The Ivy’ which melts into a slow piano solo, the band motionless, staring into the auditorium, before softly bringing to life a beautiful ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’.
It wouldn’t be an Unthanks show without a little death and strife, which are duly delivered within the lyrics of Joan Baez’s ‘Carol Of The Birds’, which Rachel solos on, while Becky plays harmonium before returning to centre stage to duet on Pete Seeger’s ‘Carol Of The Beasts’, which begins with a menacing Bernard Herrmann/Hitchcock-esque violin solo by Niopha Keegan. The song builds to a cacophonous crescendo before gently subsiding to its end.
We are halfway through the set before the first break in the music where Rachel greets the audience and tells of her successful shopping expedition earlier in the day. She informs us that the following song ‘Greatham’, is a reminder of Boxing Days past when their dad George would take them to the County Durham village to re-enact a Mummers play where he gets killed and revived by beer. This ‘calling on’ song features an introduction by guitarist Chris Price, followed by the whole band singing and swaying to Keegan’s beautiful violin solo.
The sustained vibes gives an ethereal feel throughout ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ while the lone drone of the harmonium provides the sole accompaniment for a stunning vocal harmony from the sisters and Keegan on ‘Coventry Carol’. Adrian begins to play through ‘Jingle Bells’ on piano but this is merely the backing for ‘The Cherry Tree Carol’ in which Joseph questions the paternity of Mary’s child – as Rachel describes after, “a carol with attitude!”.
Becky takes the lead on ‘Bleary Winter’, her soft, breathy voice joined by Rachel and Keegan to make a perfect harmony. There’s another ‘mash up’ as they take the music of ‘O Holy Night’ as the base for ‘Nurse Emmanuelle’, a heartfelt tribute to health workers and the NHS.
Another staple of an Unthanks show is clog dancing and Rachel has already changed into hers before ‘Leaping And Dancing’. Becky sings with piano and violin and steps aside to allow Rachel to dance and play out the song with a 123, 123 rhythm. This is followed immediately by an Unthanks Christmas standard written by their dad. The gorgeous ‘Tar Barrel In Dale’ features all four females on vocals before the boys join in, and eventually the whole audience after Rachel encourages them to “give it a go”. This slightly muddies the beautiful lingering sound of the vocal harmonies but is made up for with the warming feel of a communal coming together, and to be fair, the crowd did make a fair fist of it.
For the encore, Becky introduces a “parting song” written by herself and partner Ainsley, where she freely admits to nicking the melody from a traditional song. ‘Dear Companions’ results in another singalong and the perfect way to send the crowd out into the cold night, full of warmth.
This festive song cycle will hopefully become a regular Winter event, with the promised forthcoming album sure to be a future Christmas classic.
Katherine Priddy was the well-chosen support act tonight and delivered a set of original, folk-tinged songs that quickly grabbed the attention of an invested audience. A wide vocal range and skilful fretwork on her acoustic guitar guided us through eight songs from her EP ‘Wolf’ and the forthcoming album ‘The Pendulum Swing’ which will be released next February. The appreciative reception after closing number, ‘Father Of Two’ written for her dad during the Covid lockdown, looks likely to make her headline gig at The Ropetackle in Shoreham next May a hot ticket. Details of this show can be found here.
Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Monday 18th December 2023
