The Unthanks @ De La Warr Pavilion

A dark stage, then beautiful strings came to life under soft lighting, the silhouettes of Rachel and Becky swaying and then those voices came. From the moment they opened their mouths, to sing the first line of Adrian McNally’s ‘Last’, they’ve had us. Fully immersed in their heritage, two traditional North East songs follow with Rachel singing the lead over a music box melody. ‘Lucky Gilchrist’ was transformed, with a new guitar and strings arrangement, and saw Becky taking on clog dancing duties, as sister Rachel is seven months pregnant. A truly breath-taking performance, but then you’d expect nothing less from these national treasures.

De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, 20 March
5/5
Steve Clements