o’hooley+tidow at st george’s…

Can’t really believe that it was four years ago that Moira and I last saw O’Hooley+Tidow at the Folk House. Well, last night, they were ‘roughing it’ at Bristol’s wonderful St George’s – complete with its Steinway grand piano… and they were simply brilliant (again).
Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow are very impressive singer-songwriters who tackle thought-provoking issues such as racism, animal cruelty, poverty, vulnerability and child abuse with remarkable, understated clarity. Their voices combine quite brilliantly (and St George’s is just a perfect venue for such gifted people!). Belinda O’Hooley clearly relished her evening on the Steinway and I was amused by the St George’s blurb indicating that “Heidi shares lead vocals with Belinda, and also provides foot percussion” (when I launch my own music career, foot percussion will be my instrument of choice... obviously!).
It was a really lovely evening (they’re very amusing too!) – they played for two hours and only stopped for 20 minutes to sell their CDs during the interval.
One of the highlights for me was when they sang Joni Mitchell’s ‘River’… that moment when two of your favourite singers begin singing a song that you instantly recognise as perhaps your favourite song in all the world (by your very favourite singer-songwriter)… that sense of “please don’t mess this up”… immediately followed by that nerve-tingling feeling when you realise that it’s going to be ok, they’re going to perform the song in a quite exquisite way.
Yes, feeling very blessed…
PS: I think they’ll be appearing in Frome on 12 March (with other performers, in the guise of “Coven”)… if you’re in the area, I suggest you book tickets!