The pair launched into an acoustic You Held The World In Your Arms, but this show wasn’t about Idlewild, and it’d be an entire album’s worth of epic folk before the pair found themselves back in their usual guise.  | | John McCusker (pic: Shirlaine Forrest) |
In-between, they were joined by some of the musicians that have made Woomble’s solo excursion such a wonderful album. The immensely talented (and sharply funny) John McCusker leant his fiddle and mandolin to everything and Andy Cutting took up squeezebox duties with his usual charm and ease. It wasn’t the myriad of talent that made the night though, it was the relaxed air of enjoyment. By song three, Woomble had taken his boots off, explaining that next time he’d go for "comfort over coolness"; two songs later, his socks had left the scene too. Live, Woomble’s voice takes a deliciously deep timbre and never was that more entertaining than when it played off his various guests. Mrs McCusker, the inimitable Kate Rusby, arrived to add her sweet sounds to Waverley Steps and Play Me Something, while Jenny Bell and Michael Angus (who also showed off some impressive guitar picking) surged through the chaotic From The Drifter To The Drake.  | | Rod Jones (pic: Shirlaine Forrest) |
It wasn’t just Rusby’s presence that made this a family affair. Bass for the night was Roddy’s wife, Ailidh, who brought drummer David Gow with her from their band, Sons and Daughters, and the pair added an impressive weight to the likes of My Secret Is My Silence and As Still As I Watch Your Grave. Beautifully, it’s not the new stuff that Woomble and Jones have a problem with. "Can we start that again, I’ve just played completely the wrong chord," admitted Rod at the start of the closing song, a beautiful Goodnight, much to the glee of the rest of the performers. All that was left was for a couple of reels from McCusker, one written for his sister’s wedding present "because it was cheap", that came complete with Bell and Angus spinning at the back of the stage, and an ensemble work-through of Woody Guthrie’s Way Over Yonder In a Minor Key. "You don’t get stuff like that at a Thom Yorke solo gig," smiled Woomble after watching the dancing. He’s right, you don’t, and this was all the better for it. | 
