The Hayley Griffiths Band - Tavistock Review

Having recently seen her previous band Karnataka play at The Wharf in Tavistock at the beginning of September, it seemed fitting to be returning to the venue so soon to catch Hayley Griffiths and her band on their first run of UK shows since releasing their album Melanie back in January. Griffiths was a member of Karnataka between 2011 and 2017, and was a big part of 2015's excellent Secrets of Angels. Following the previous Karnataka line-up's disillusion at the end of 2017, it was unclear what Griffiths would do next - but the following year she launched The Hayley Griffiths Band with two of her former Karnataka colleagues. Whilst I seem to recall that the band's first show was at a festival somewhere in Europe, their first UK show took place in 2018 at The Robin 2 - when they replaced Touchstone on a double bill with Mostly Autumn. I was at that show and, despite the band clearly being new and still finding their feet, they delivered a strong performance opening up for Mostly Autumn. Since that 2018 show the band has undergone some changes, with a new guitarist and bassist having solidified the line-up, but the core of the three former Karnataka bandmates remains - and the power of the band was fully realised on Melanie, which I have listened to a lot this year. Melanie was not the only album Griffiths released this year, though, as she also released the Celtic solo album From from Here back in January. In 2011, Griffiths released Celtic Rose - an album full of her favourite Celtic folk songs. Before joining Karnataka, Griffiths toured in both the Riverdance and Lord of the Dance productions - and become known for her interpretations of Irish folk songs. These essentially made up Celtic Rose, but the pandemic prompted her to produce a sequel. With her and the band writing for Melanie, I imagine recording some more of her favourite folk songs for Far from Here was a nice distraction - and the simultaneous release of two different albums allowed Griffiths to showcase both sides of her career. As such, then, Griffiths' current tour, dubbed Metamorphosis, was similarly set up to showcase these two sides. Promoting both her Celtic solo album and the debut album from The Hayley Griffiths Band, the Metamorphosis tour was supposed to cover much of the year - but getting the tour off the ground has not been easy. The Tavistock show, along with some of the other shows, was supposed to take place back in March, but a family medical emergency meant that the March shows were postponed. With regular keyboard player Çağrı Tozluoğlu unable to make the October dates, Griffiths had to find a replacement - but this also seemed to cause issues. Inglorious sideman Rob Lindop handled the keyboards at some of the shows, but he was not available to cover the whole tour - and it seems that Touchstone and Fish alumnus Liam Holmes broke his wrist just before he was scheduled to join up with the band. The show must go on as they say, so the band rolled into Tavistock without a keyboard player - which is never ideal for a band with a sound as lush as The Hayley Griffiths Band. They did not let this last-minute hurdle derail them, however, so it was all systems go by the time The Wharf opened its doors.

As was to be expected, the show was split into two halves. The first set focused on Griffiths' Celtic music, so was made up of a collection of her favourite folk numbers - with one original song from her latest Celtic album included. Drummer Jimmy Pallagrosi did not feature too much during the first set, but he did add some drums and percussion to a handful of the songs - so it was guitarist Mathieu Spaeter who drove everything with his delicate acoustic guitar playing, which included a few rather fluid folky leads and solos. Bassist George Price added depth, which included playing his bass with a bow at times, but of course the star was Griffiths - as the sparse arrangements really allowed her voice to shine. Much of the set was quite laid back, with the delicate She Moved Through the Fair kicking things off, but there were some moments that rocked a little harder such as the faster-paced Star of the County Down. As there was plenty of rock to come, the more laid back opening set was welcome, though. Folk music is not generally my thing, but it is clearly a passion of Griffiths', and that came across during the set. She often took time to address the crowd, which was not that large but was pretty enthusiastic throughout, and told the story of her association with Celtic music. With many of her favourite Irish songs already being on Celtic Rose, Far from Here featured folk music from throughout the UK and Ireland - and she seemed to enjoy getting to pay some tribute to her Scottish roots with a few numbers from 'up north'. Before that, though, the title track of Far from Here - the only original song in the set - impressed. Written by former Pallas keyboard player Mike Stobbie, the song merged folk and progressive rock - with a strong piano-driven arrangement and lots of beautiful vocals from Griffiths. Spaeter also cut loose with quite a lengthy guitar solo during the song, and it was the first of many excellent moments from him throughout the night. He is a real find for Griffiths. When I saw the band for the first time they had a different guitarist, but Spaeter has taken them to the next level - and his virtuoso precision was a big part of what made the whole show so enjoyable. He was generally more reserved during the first set, but Far from Home allowed him to cut loose. It was really the only moment during the first set that had that vibe, though. Given that folk songs are often quite short, the first set flew by. Classics like Scarborough Fair and the more plaintive When You Were Sweet Sixteen helped to create a laid back atmosphere - and a stripped back version of Loch Lomond, made famous by Runrig, was one that likely everyone knew. The first set then came to a close with Caledonia, and this led up to a 20 or so minute break - and what was to follow would be somewhat different.

If the first half of the show was laid back, then the second half was much more energetic - with the 10-song set featuring all of the songs from Melanie. The album was not presented in order, but it was great to hear all of the songs performed live none-the-less - and the set kicked off with a dramatic Haunted. Haunted was one of two songs which were repurposes from Griffiths' 2010 release Silver Screen, and the two work well in a more rock arrangement. Haunted in particular has been morphed into a spiky, gothic rocker, and it worked well to kick off the second set. As much as I enjoyed Griffiths' early singles, which were all included on Melanie, the seven songs specifically written for the album are a better representation of the band in my opinion. The slightly lengthier and more dynamic Dust to Gold was the first of the songs played, and the song mixed big riffing and more melancholic sections together nicely - before another older song in the form of Separated by Glass was dedicated to the late Jared Hancock, Griffiths' co-writer and producer on Silver Screen. The ballad helped to return some of the first set's energy to the second set, but this was soon changed with the harder-hitting Broken Lullaby, with its excellent chorus, and the more guitar-driven Perfect Lie - which was another showcase for Spaeter. The band did miss having a keyboard player during the second set, even though the keyboard parts were being played over the PA. Click track keyboard parts are never a substitute for a real musician for the band to bounce off - and it was strange hearing the synth solo of Broken Lullaby when no-one was playing it! The band soldiered on, though, and the dramatic Aurora was another strong moment. This was the song with which Griffiths' relaunched her career post-Karnataka in 2018, and the poppy, gothic number came across really well live - with Spaeter handling the aching solo perfectly. The more musical hall Made My Bed was later repurposed to encourage some audience participation, with Pallagrosi putting the crowd through their paces, before another somewhat Lloyd Webber-meets-hard rock piece in Little Star showcased a bit of a different side to the band with its slight Big Band arrangement. It was left to a couple more convention symphonic rockers to close out the main set, with the melodic Last Goodbye and the stomping hard rock of Melanie bringing the show to a close. The latter came across particularly well live, with Spaeter's big riff driving everything - and Griffiths sounded pretty gritty during the catchy chorus. After a brief step off the stage, Pallagrosi returned to perform a lengthy drum solo - and was joined at the end by Spaeter who added some shredded soloing of his own. This solo section acted as a rather lengthy introduction to the Karnataka song Borderline, and the upbeat, hooky number proved to be a great way to close out the show thanks to its bouncy atmosphere and excellent chorus. The setlist was:

She Moved Through the Fair [Traditional Irish folk song]

Siúil a Rún [Traditional Irish folk song]

Star of the County Down [Traditional Irish folk song]

Far from Here

Scarborough Fair [Traditional English folk song]

Black is the Colour [Traditional Scottish folk song]

When You Were Sweet Sixteen [Traditional Irish folk song]

Loch Lomond [Traditional Scottish folk song]

Caledonia [Alan Roberts & Dougie MacLean cover]

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Haunted

Dust to Gold

Separated by Glass

Broken Lullaby

Perfect Lie

Aurora

Made My Bed

Little Star
Last Goodbye

Melanie

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Drum/Guitar solos

Borderline [Karnataka material]

Whilst I am sure that the band would have liked to have seen more people turn up to the show, particularly on a Saturday night, The Hayley Griffiths Band put on a great and varied show in Tavistock which those who did attend certainly enjoyed. The mix of folk and rock music worked well, and it allowed Griffiths to cover a lot of ground throughout the night. As Melanie is an album that I have been enjoying a lot throughout the year, it was good to hear all of it live - and I am looking forward to seeing where the band go from here, as I hope there is more to come from this group of musicians.