It was impossible to know what to expect from Roy Harper’s return to the Festival Hall. This is the venue where, five years ago, he gave a memorable 70th birthday concert; two years later he returned to perform songs from his impressive album Man & Myth. But since then his life hasn’t been easy and he stopped performing as he battled to clear his name of allegations of historical sexual abuse, which were then dropped.
So how would he respond? He has written angry new songs, but they weren’t on display tonight. Instead, he gave his still-devoted audience exactly what they wanted. Almost all tonight’s setlist was drawn from his classic 70s albums, now performed with help from a string quartet, three horn players, double bass and a second guitarist, the versatile Bill Shanley. But Harper was in control, with his fingerpicking guitar work and acrobatic vocals as impressive as ever.
He started with Commune, a lyrical song of love and lust from 1974, before switching, after a rambling introduction about ageing, to January Man, from his last album. Then came Hors d’Oeuvres, an attack on judges “written a long time ago and especially poignant right now”, and Hangman, sounding far more bitter than the version he recorded with Jimmy Page.
He ended with an epic Me and My Woman, and a poignant When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease. He deserved the standing ovation.
.png?w=600)
