Review: Bridie Jackson at St Ann’s Church

By Jule Wilson on April 20, 2010 in Music

I lived within a stone’s throw of St Ann’s Church for two years and, despite having been disturbed by its bells during frequent Sunday morning hangovers, I’ve thought many a time how pretty it is, and how incongruous it sits overlooking the speeding traffic and screaming modernity of City Road.

It’s somehow apt, then, that on Saturday it played host to the introspective yet lively folk of Newcastle’s Bridie Jackson.

Organised to mark the launch of her new website, the gig was opened by Richard Dawson whose rich and ranging vocals used the building’s unique acoustics to captivate the audience. Like many talented musicians, he made amazingly complex guitar pieces seem like the easiest things in the world.

A short hiatus gave way to Andy Jackson & the Braguesa Ensemble, led by the man responsible for helping forge Bridie’s worldly passion for music – her father, who played a passionate medley of pieces from Portugal and Latin America.

Decked out in black tulle with a striking blue sash and ribbons, Bridie took her place as the headline act and delivered a set that perfectly matched humour with melancholy.

Bridie clearly adores performing, but this gig, while featuring her familiar acoustic guitar, also demonstrated her emerging talent as a genuinely innovative musician, often accompanying her strumming with the use of bassoon, violin and vocal harmonies. It may sound sycophantic, but I doubt we’ll have to wait very long to see her define the north east vocal folk scene.

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