Idle Beggars One Foot In The Grave Tour

*****

Concert at the Royal Oak, Edinburgh - 27th May

See myspace.com/idlebeggars

Review by Tom Harland

The Idle Beggar's One Foot In The Grave Tour was unleashed on Tuesday night to a group of hardcore Martin Boland and Ian Robertson fans downstairs at the Royal Oak. Folk-guru and former Garden Sessions featured artist - Boland's rich voice and intuitive finger picking style drove the evening, adding soaring harmonies to Robertson's renditions of classics such as Simon & Garfunkel's 'Only Living Boy In New York', 'Black Is The Colour' and 'The Jolly Beggar Reel'.

Augmenting 'The Beggars' were slide guitarist Bruce Hogg and bassist Billy Craib who added depth and finesse to the sound. Hogg and Craig both doubled as excellent supporting acts during Martin's cigarette/oxygen breaks. Though, the support was pretty much overshadowed by an abrasive performance of 'The Long Grey Line' by a sitern weilding and well lubricated Alan Hunter (former Garden Sessions featured artist). Hunter lightened the evening by providing an impromptu running commentary on some of the songs, to Boland's light hearted chagrin.

Overall, a great testimony to the talent regularly on show for free at Scotland's premier folk venue - The Royal Oak in Edinburgh.

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