Slow Thrills

GIG REVIEW: Tunng + Jill Barber, Belfast Festival Spiegeltent 3rd Nov 2006
It was a bit of a highlight of the Queen's Festival to bring the Spiegeltent to Belfast for the full 3 weeks. Although tonight was my first time here, I gather that a lot of people have been impressed with it and the wide variety of acts it has played host to. It is completely circular with mirrors on the walls, tables and chairs in the centre and snugs around the sides. Not only is it visually impressive, the music sounded great too.
Jill Barber is up first. She is a singer-songwriter from Canada with a lot of folk and jazz influences, she has a neat line in between song chat and she soon wins the crowd over. Comparisons with Madeline Peyroux are inevitable, but I have to say that she has enough originality to rise above that and forge her own identity.
I only really know Tunng from some tunes that Rob Da Bank has played on his prog over the last 18 months, and their live show confirmed that they are a bit of a weird bunch. They kinda remind me of a strange hybrid of the Beta Band, Lemon Jelly and the Incredible String Band. They have three acoustic guitars, lots of electronics and some unusual percussion, and their bizarre mix suits the exotic feel of the venue. I wouldn't have been surprised if they had made use of the trapeze attachment in the centre of the roof. The only song I knew well was 'Tale From Black' (the first single apparently) and it is probably the strangest song they play - all electronics and trippy 'Who's Sorry Now' samples. I was surprised by how catchy some of the other songs were, to be honest they didn't really fit in with this whole 'neo-folk' movement they've been associated with.
Enjoyable enough though, and it would be great to see this venue making a return here next time.
Of course, that depends if there is a next time. I had momentarily forgotten that universities are such money making machines these days. Go on, email them!