Review: Martha Tilston Colston Hall by Keith Clark 8/10

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Monday, February 25, 2013
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The Bristol Post

ACROSS in the main hall was the energetic folk dance and hip hop show The Lock In Meanwhile in the smaller hall something a little bit similar was going on thanks to Bristol's Clayton Blizzard who opened this show with a set that also fused folk and rap. And very effective it was, too, as well as being very entertaining.

Headlining act Martha Tilston, making a welcomed return to the city of her birth, has the rare ability of being able to write songs that contain powerful messages but which still manage to be quietly beautiful.

Sympathetically backed by her trio The Scientists, many of her songs dealt with the now only too obvious consequences of allowing the big corporations free rein to control our lives. In her opening song Survival Guide she hoped that there was an alternative to "the mad world" that "the ones in power" have created.

Wall Street was about the Occupy Wall Street movement but the tune was so beautiful that the capacity audience sang along on the chorus as if it was a lullaby.

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More was about being approached by advertising firms who want to use her songs. An old favourite Artificial gave a voice to anyone dreaming of escaping from a dull 9-to-5 office job.

She didn't get far into Shiny Gold Car, about the music industry, before announcing that she was enjoying the gig too much to do that song and instead launched into a homage to Joni Mitchell called Butterflies.

It wasn't all so message-driven for Martha Tilston can also write delicate, thoughtful songs like the exquisite Winter Flowers, Wave Machine, and Helicopter Trees. Her folk background was only too evident in her stunning version of the traditional song Willie O'Winsbury. She closed the night with her infectious anthem Good World.

The mood of most of the songs may have generally been rather downbeat but there was a lot of humour, her clear voice with its slight vibrato never fails to hold your attention and overall it was a delightful gig..

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