Reiver Divas at The Cause,
    Chippenham, Sat 18th March, 2006

Review by Nigel Owen.

It’s great to see and hear one top class trio of women harmony singers, but when two come along, you have the makings of an unmissable concert.

Craig:Morgan:Robson and the Tabbush Sisters each performed two sets, to a great reception from a large and enthusiastic crowd at the Cause. The venue is a restored chapel, and its beautiful acoustic makes singing a joy, so the carefully matched harmonies seemed to float endlessly and soar round the room.

Craig:Morgan:Robson produced a well balanced, varied first set starting with a cheery We’ll be all Smiles, and Fare thee well cold winter, a Scots version of Twa Magicians, contrasted by Dave Goulder’s desperately bleak and harrowing Easter Tree, then proved they can deliver comedy as well, with the second World War song Rob ‘em all.

The harmonies of Craig:Morgan:Robson (call them C:M:R for short) are crafted with great skill and applied with a delicacy of delivery, and subtle interchange. The overall effect is a wonderful, powerful mix of three great individual singers, each conscious of how best to use their talents to produce a single, unified approach which enhances each song.

The approach of the Tabbush Sisters is quite different. They have the certainty which only comes with the familiarity of close family singing together. They each have their part in the arrangement, but the harmonies are closer, more three parts of one voice, than three voices in unity. It’s instinctive and unique, and the end result is a sound of staggering beauty and purity.

The Tabbush Sisters opened with a traditional number, Ten Thousand Miles, followed by a distinctive contemporary make-over of Died of Love. The highlight of their set, was Where do you lie?, Karine Polwart’s heart-breaking song of loss written after the massacre at Srebrenica. This concert was on the day Slobodan Milosevic was buried, adding topicality to the poignancy of the song. They followed with lighter numbers, a Swedish song, called, possibly, Dar Stood, a rousing, hopelessly fast version of the drinking song Old Sir Simon, and their complex woven interpretation of Lavender’s Blue.

C:M:R opened their second set with the wonderfully evocative Snows of Winter Fall, followed by the title track of their album, the Ralph McTell song Peppers and Tomatoes, which again evokes memories of war in Yugoslavia. A beautiful Shetland lullaby followed, with next a Hampshire comic song The Wonderful Sucking Pig (careful about the pronunciation there). Their delivery of the Tennyson poem Crossing the Bar, put to music by Rani Arbo, was subtle and under-stated. C:M:R choose their material well, and whether it is traditional or contemporary, serious or light, it always adapts excellently to their interpretation.

The Tabbush Sisters delivered another lovely set of mixed songs, from the traditional Wild Goose Shanty, through the glorious modern Your Love is better than Ice Cream (by Sarah McLachlan), then back to more traditional songs for a measured, mournful rendition of Flandyke Shore. Just when you think you have heard everything, they can still deliver the unexpected, this time with a great straight version of the old Elvis classic (I can’t help) Falling in Love with You. They finished with their trademark version of Elsie Marley, impossibly fast and with all three swapping lead vocals.

For an encore they sang the Tracy Chapman song, The Promise, then brought back mum Carolyn (the Robson of C:M:R) and Sarah Morgan and Moira Craig to finish the night with a good old sing, with lots of audience participation in a couple of songs from the shape note hymn tradition, Only Remembered, and Down to the River to Pray.

This concert was a wonderful object lesson in the fine art of good harmony singing, performed by two superb and contrasting groups, with a wide variety of material and great consistency of quality. If you get the chance, see whichever group come your way. If you get the opportunity to see both in one concert, then sit back and think yourself very lucky indeed.

Nigel Owen   Devizes, Wilts   22.3.06