It seems as if little has changed for Bellowhead as they return to The Regal a year to the month since their last performance here, touring with the same album and an almost identical set list. It’s tempting to use this as a criticism but in all honesty, when you know they’ve found a formula that’s working and selling out venues, that would be wholly unfair.
You also have to give them credit that the furious run of festival appearances they made over the Summer doesn’t seem to have made any dent in their enthusiasm or ability to give the audience a good time, although...
Photos of Bellowhead at The Regal, Oxford on 27th November 2011. Taken by Jo Cox – www.jocoxphotography.co.uk
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Bellowhead’s set seems to come around full circle at the Regal tonight as they romp up the country from Yarmouth Town to London Town on their aptly named Hedonism tour. Aptly named not just in relation to their recently released third album but also because lyrically there is no small amount of drinking, prostitution and casual sex in which to indulge. Add to that the thousand pints of specially brewed ale that’s been ordered in and the fact that the venue is packed to the rafters with revellers and hedonism seems to be a pretty fair entitlement.
Don’t be fooled that Bellowhead are in...
Photos of Bellowhead at The Regal, Oxford on 18th November 2010. Taken by Jo Cox – www.jocoxphotography.co.uk
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I’ve spent the past two weeks trying to come up with criticisms of Bellowhead but I just can’t do it. I love them. They’re uninhibited, joyous music producing monsters that leave you with a guilty smile from ear to ear. And although their albums have always fallen short of replicating their live energy I still struggle to find any real fault. When you’re dealing with a band who’ve won Best Live Act at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards an unparalleled 4 consecutive times you almost have to accept that capturing this essence in a studio is impossible and also, somewhat...
Paul Sartin of folk supergroup Bellowhead took the time to talk to More Than The Music about the band’s third album, Hedonism, due for release in October.
More Than The Music: How did such a large ensemble come together and did you all know each other before Bellowhead?
Paul Sartin: The idea of an English ‘big band’ had been floating around in the folk ether for some time, until the the two Jo(h)ns had a now legendary epiphany on the M1 on the way to a gig. There they drew up a hit list of folkies, most of whom knew/had worked with/slept with each other and invited them to join up....
