Into the Mystic @ Folk Britannia. Saturday Feb 4th at the Barbican Centre, London.

Into the Mystic is the event which signals the culmination of Folk Britannia - the Barbican’s 3-day celebration of British folk music, coinciding with an excellent BBC4 series of the same name.

Before the main event started there were a number of acts playing for free in the main body of the Barbican. The hotly tipped The Eighteenth Day of May headlined this Folk Freestage, with an excellent set of songs reminiscent of early Fairport Convention, yet with a modern twist to them.

Opening Into the Mystic was legendary guitarist Bert Jansch. He truly is a master of the instrument – yes, he’s not the most chatty artist, and his vocals aren’t as clear as they were, but he has such presence that he brings a hushed reverence from the audience, and his guitar-playing is simply awe inspiring. I could watch him tune-up for an hour. It’s a shame, therefore, that he only got four songs (two of which were with Bernard Butler). Next up was King Creosote, who has got so many great songs that he could have picked any five from his extensive back catalogue. Particularly lovely tonight is ‘Circle My Demise’. Finally in the first half came Adem, who played a typically sweet set. New song ‘Love and Other Planets’ was wonderful, though I do doubt whether he will ever write another song as good as the set-closer ‘There Will Always Be’.

The second half was opened by the Max Richter string quintet, but I wish they hadn’t bothered. It was pleasant enough, but I did find myself drifting off to sleep at times. Next came the Incredible String Band member, Mike Heron, who only served to re-affirm my belief that the ISB are terribly overrated. A name to look out for, however, is that of his daughter, Georgia, who played with him on all songs. She had an excellent voice and was highly competent on a variety of instruments. He was followed by Vetiver, who rightly commented on the incongruity of an American band playing a few songs at Folk Britannia, but when they can pull it off with such class and depth, I for one was not complaining. The evening was completed by the return to live performance of Vashti Bunyan, and she didn’t disappoint. While she was clearly perturbed to receive such rapture from so mainly people, she was in great voice, and every song she played was translated perfectly from her records. It was a real joy to see her have the confidence to stand for the rendition of ‘Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind’, and was supported superbly by Adem, Curritick Co., Vetiver and Max Richter. Other highlights were ‘Hidden’ and the beautiful ‘Here Before’. It was a perfect ending to a great showcase of British music. While most popular music is formed on the great American contributions to the art, it is refreshing to hear traditional and modern interpretations of music from these isles, and we should do all we can to not let the flame that currently burns for folk music be extinguished.

Andrew Cleary