Show of Hands, St Andrew’s Church, Wensleydale

ALL 200-plus church pews were occupied by people waiting in anticipation for this pre-tour concert by folk rock duo Show Of Hands.

Steve Knightley and Phil Beer formed the duo in 1991, have toured extensively and enjoyed sell-out shows four times at the Royal Albert Hall.

Knightley is one of England’s greatest singer songwriters and Beer’s fiddle playing, and on many other instruments, is second to none. His session work for mainstream bands includes The Rolling Stones.

For a small Wensleydale village to host such talent is a result of their friendship dating back to the 1970s with Carperby Concerts organiser Steve Sheldon, who persuaded them to perform a fundraising gig for the church.

They opened with The Oak and went on to play many excellent songs, to name a few: Crow On The Cradle, The Preacher and The Lads In Their Hundreds, the lyric of the latter being a First World War poem penned by A E Housman.

Beer’s solo rendition of Jethro Tull’s Weathercock was one of the outstanding moments of the evening. This was followed by Widecombe Fair, with the duo wandering around the audience, Knightley’s phenomenal voice filling the venue with harmonies.

The second set began with Requiem and included well-known tracks such as Are We Alright, The Keeper, Bob Dylan’s Don’t think Twice It’s Alright, Santiago, Country Life and, much to the pleasure of the audience, Cousin Jack as encore.

Humour and banter between performers and audience further served to make it an extraordinary night.

Fans came from far and wide, including France and Belgium, and some had seen the duo close on 200 times. One declared it was the best venue/gig she had been to in more than 14 years of concert-going. The evening raised £2,200 for the church.

Nigel Hodgson