Faustus played at Helmshore Mills Textile Museum last night (18th March). It didn't seem to be the most obvious place for a gig but it turned out they'd played there before in 2019. The acoustics were good, with Saul thanking himself at the end for doing the sound, but there wasn't any lighting specifically for the band so instead the house lights were left on.
I had heard two of their albums before the gig but this was my first time seeing them live. They hardly needed any time to warm up and get into their stride with Benji Kirkpatrick's acoustic guitar and mandola driving many of the songs along with Saul Rose's melodeon adding bass and sharing the melodies with Paul Sartin on violin and cor anglais. Add to that some fine 3-part harmony singing and I'd say they are one of the best live bands I've seen in quite a while.
They were promoting their new release "Cotton Lords EP - Five Songs of the Lancashire Cotton Famine" and played selections from their three previous albums as well. There was one slightly freaky moment when a lightbulb blew during one of the songs from the Cotton Lords EP. It happened just before the interval so they carried on in semi-darkness!
They kept the audience entertained with some amusing and informative chat between numbers and for me the most memorable songs were 'Blow the Windy Morning' and their take on Nic Jones' The Humpback Whale which they recorded as 'Ballina Whalers' on their self-titled debut album back in 2008. I hadn't heard their third album "Death and Other Animals" but enjoyed the tracks they played from it and bought a copy at the end of the evening.
A great night out and we are planning on going back when the museum is open.
