Steeleye Span at The Sage

FOLK LEGENDS Steeleye Span played an excellent set as they celebrated their 40th anniversary in Hall One of The Sage in Gateshead.

Steeleye were formed in 1969 and spearheaded the folk revival in the UK during the late 1960s and early 1970s along with Fairport Convention.

The band even briefly flirted with the mainstream when 'All Around My Hat' reached number five in the charts in late 1975.

Since then, Steeleye has toured with various guises as members have come and gone.

Indeed, only Maddy Prior remains from the original line-up, though her ex-husband Rick Kemp and Peter Knight have been involved since the early days.

For the record, the line-up now consists of Maddy Prior on vocals, Ken Nicol on guitar/vocals, Rick Kemp on bass/vocals, Peter Knight on violin/piano/vocals, and Liam Genocky on percussion.

The quintet were joined on stage by the impressive multi-instrumentalist Pete Zorn who had replaced an ill Kemp earlier in the tour, and - for one of their songs - Kemp's daughter, Rose.

The gig was split into two parts of just over an hour each with an interval lasting just long enough to sink a Black Sheep ale.

In the first half, Steeleye played a broad range of songs from over the years, including 'Seagull' and 'They Called Her Babylon'.

As a bit of a history buff, the latter greatly interested me. The 'Babylon', to which the song refers, was Lady Charlotte Stanley who successfully protected her property from the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War.

In the second half, three seasonal songs introduced a festive feel to proceedings but, surprisingly, none of the three songs was 'Gaudete', their second most famous hit.

At least the encore was reassuringly familiar with crowd-pleasing renditions of 'All Around My Hat' and 'Hard Times of England'

The show ended with a big ovation before the audience shuffled out of this fine three-tier venue on the banks of the Tyne into the ever-worsening wintry weather.

Finally, it felt that Christmas was here.