LIVE AT LAST

By the end of the 70's Steeley Span was a singular group: they played mostly folk material, although with modern instrumentation, but with no concession to commercialism, which gave them a dedicated following and also endeared them to critics. They managed to be well liked by a very diverse audience (including proheads), thanks to their fantastic musicanship, fine, intricated arrangements and integrity. They even manage to have a couple of hit singles, without selling out. But it also cost them a price those guys were not prepared: the grinding schemes of touring/recording/touring again was something they were not ready for. So, after internal struggles, ego battles and sheer exhaustion they decided to call it quits. They did a farwell tour and Live At last was supposed to be their epitaph (fortunatly, later they patched up their differences and got back together).

A Steeleye Span live album was long awaited, but although very good, it did not show the band at their peak. In fact, it caught them in a troubled period and two of their key members had left (guitarrist Bob Johnson and violinist Peter Knight). Although celebrated guitarrist Martin Carthy was back and newcomer John Kirkpatrick (Accordion, vocals) was good, the overall sound lost some of its strong appeal (Knight's fiddle is sorely missing here). Still they did produce a fine collecton of tunes and showed everybody they were as precise and convincing live as in the studio (if not even more so).

The record starts slowly and the first three tracks are not their best stuff. But things go very upward from the four, Hunting Of The Wren. The fifth is their best, a 15 minute version of Montrose that is a showcase of their incredible talents, with fine performances of all band members. False Knight On The road is another highlight, while Bonnets So Blue is an interesting acoustic instrumental. The recording production is great, you can hear everything perfectly. A great job of prodution helped a lot.

All in all, a very good live album, even if a bit slow in the first tracks. It could be a four or even five stars CD if they managed to have more room to expand and show their strength on longer songs (it would make a fine double LP at the time). It would be nicer to have at least Peter Knight playing with then too. But they were an outstanding, talented band even at a confused period. 2,5 stars.