Gig review: Way to Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake

Published on Thursday 21 January 2010 18:06

WAY TO BLUE: SONGS OF NICK DRAKE **** GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL

THIS painstaking but compassionate tribute to the music of cult folk-pop icon Nick Drake pledged fidelity to the original string arrangements of the late Robert Kirby, which were beautifully complemented by Zoe Rahman's cascading piano parts, Neill MacColl's dexterous, melodic guitar, the mournful woodwind contributions of musical director Kate St John (formerly of Dream Academy, whose hit single Life In A Northern Town was a tribute to Drake) and the plangent double bass of Drake's contemporary and colleague, Danny Thompson.

Although this was not the forum for radical re-interpretation, there was still room for artistic licence. Rahman teased out the classical lyricism of One Of These Things First with her instrumental version, Lisa Hannigan turned Black Eyed Dog into a junkyard blues with the help of an antique squeezebox and Krystle Warren, the only "big" voice in the company, received the best reaction of the night for her soulful but rather affected version of Time Has Told Me.

Robyn Hitchcock brought anecdotal levity and a self-penned Drake tribute to the table, as well as a polka dotted guitar to match his shirt, and Green Gartside and Teddy Thompson both excelled on their respective renditions of Fruit Tree and Riverman. Vashti Bunyan wisped her way through her nervous contributions, while Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch was right at home with his sensitive Drake-like tones.

Introductions and context were only supplied after the fact by curator Joe Boyd, who produced Drake's recordings, and appeared as moved by the ensemble as the audience.