Waking The Witch: Live

Introduction

Waking The Witch, who may just be named after a track on Kate Bush seminal album Hounds of Love, are a four piece acoustic band from God's Own County - Yorkshire. The band consists of Patsy Matheson, Rachel Goodwin, Becky Mills and Jools Parker, who all play various acoustic instruments as well as sing. Having all been solo performers on local circuits, the girls decided to give it a shot as a foursome and it's worked so well that the band have so far released three albums; Hands, Bridges and Boys From The Abbatoir.



Extensive touring has built up a nice following for the band and this live document catches them prior to the release of last album Boys From The Abbatoir, playing on their home turf at City Varieties in Leeds on January 25th 2007.

With some purely acoustic songs in the set, the band are also backed by Jon Short on bass and Mick Bedford on drums for the majority of the set. Also joining in on a couple of songs are Jonny Burr (he's a doctor, y'know) on harmonica and Fluff on both cello and violin (but not at the same time…).

Visual

Small stage setup that is nicely filmed and edited. The good thing about acoustic music and this band in particular is the sense of intimacy.

Audio

PCM soundtrack that nicely accentuates both the music and the gorgeous harmonies by the four girls of the band.

Extras

Band Interview - nice and long interview backed by music from the band. The girls are all interviewed separately against a set question list, but then it's all edited together so that it feels like a band interview but without the awkward silences and interruptions.

Overall

Well I have to say that I'm being slowly exposed to a nice rich variety of music in this 'job', something a little different from the norm of synthesisers and drum machines that I'm more comfortable with. I have to confess that I've never heard of Waking The Witch before, but that's clearly to my detriment as they are quite fantastic.



The music is acoustic in style, albeit with band backing sometimes, and the four compliment each other perfectly with some quite beautiful and catchy tracks in turn. This is the kind of music that I'd be quite happy listening to in a pub setting or at the few outdoor festivals I've attended but not something I'd normally consider putting on my iPod or TV. This DVD has changed my mind and I'm almost certainly going to look to pick up their last album at least in the near future.

So what is it about this group? Simply put, they are a joy to watch and listen to; simple melodies, beautiful playing (particularly from Becky) and quite gorgeous harmonies from the four. Some of the stories they tell in their songs are stunning in their simplicity and earthiness (Jenny Thornton And The Boys From The Abbatoir a case in point), but also some really catchy tracks like Horse To Water, which is probably my favourite track although sublime Rock n Roll comes a close second.



If you get the chance to see Waking The Witch, then don't hesitate. This DVD beautifully captures the live experience, though it's clearly second best compared to seeing them in the flesh.