Read Emma Hartley’s Daily Telegraph blog review of the FAF concert at the Southbank on Sunday here.
AIG Album of the year….
Both the Electric Ghost e-zine and FATEA website have named AIG as their album of the year 2009.
“Some of the best songs Steve Knightley has ever written – a stellar album of shattering magnificence destined to be our Album of the Year” – Electric Ghost
“Political, passionate, life affirming – this is folk of true Olympian proportions. If there’s a better written, produced and performed album released this year I’m going to have to commission someone to invent new superlatives” – FATEA Magazine
AIG on Guardian playlist
The Guardian F & M Playlist. “Our music team pick the songs or albums they just can’t turn off”
Robin Denselow re Arrogance Ignorance and Greed title track:
“There have been surprisingly few angry songs about bankers and bonuses but this stomping and furious piece from Show of Hands is the best track of their new album.”
BBC Music review
Read Colin Irwin’s great review of AIG for BBC Music.
4* AIG review on Spiral Earth
E-magazine Spiral Earth give Arrogance Ignorance and Greed a 4* rating. Read the review here.
Independent 5* Review
Show of Hands get a 5* star review from the Independent for their recent concert at UCL Bloomsbury Theatre in London. To see the review online follow this link.
Steve Knightley releases Track of Words – Retraced May 4th
A decade on, Show of Hands’ inspired frontman revamps his mainstream-nudging debut solo album, emphatically demonstrating the sheer diversity of his acclaimed songwriting.
13 tracks make up his most emotionally literate collection of songs to date with bonus track
“Rock You To Sleep” co-written with Seth Lakeman
Steve’s new CD can now be ordered from our online store.
Show Of Hands, Ely Cathedral, November 1
Show Of Hands is a musical collaboration between Steve Knightley and Phil Beer, and they have been performing together since 1991, even having a tenth birthday celebration in 2001 at the Royal Albert Hall, which was filmed by Carlton Television and later released by the band in 2004 on DVD. During their Spires & Beams tour I went to see them at a little local venue just twenty minutes walk from my house…the venue? Ely Cathedral! The show was held in the Lady Chapel and ended up being one of my favourite concerts of 2008. Steve and Phil were joined by vocalist and double-bass player Miranda Sykes. The amazing acoustics of this absolutely wonderful chapel turned out to be perfect for this talented trio of performers.
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fRoots review Tour of Topsham
Last March, in part as a warmup for their prestigious Royal Albert Hall gig, Steve and Phil performed a series of five concerts in small venues within the Devon village of Topsham (“very much “home territory” for the lads), aimed at a purely local audience (even so, they were sold out despite almost no advance publicity!). The intimate and convivial spirit of the gigs was captured “fly-on-the-wall” style by hand-held cameras, and this 90-minute DVD presents a sequence of highlights. What comes across big-time, complementing their consummate professionalism and musicianship, is the tremendous rapport the lads have with their audiences and the unequivocal support they command from all quarters (fans through to technicians, management and venues).
Guardian Review Show of Hands, Union Chapel, London
Steve Knightley and Phil Beer, better known as the acoustic duo Show of Hands, have succeeded the hard way. For the past 16 years they have played hundreds of concerts, often in tiny venues, slowly building up such a devoted cult following that they have packed the Albert Hall three times. Their current tour concentrates on churches and historic buildings, making London’s Union Chapel an ideal showcase for one of the most successful live bands on the folk scene.
