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Last updated 05:37, Friday, 29 August 2008
TARRASIf the point of a reunion is to see how far you’ve come, then Cumbrian folk heroes Tarras aren’t a million miles from where they began.
After splitting in 2002, the Mercury Music Prize-nominated band seemed consigned to their place in folk history.
Yet Tarras breathed life back into their line-up and bill in the wee small hours of Sunday.
With roots still plumbed deep in gutsy folk and blues, the sound that earned critical acclaim and a global fan base is still there.
Original members Ben Murray, Rob Armstrong and Joss Clapp remain. Some of the fans are the same too – several came especially to witness Tarras’s rebirth.
But there’s the new alongside the familiar: a revised line-up included drummer Theo Clapp and singer/songwriter Rory Connor. There’s new material, and a fresh tour with festival dates for this September.
A good-humoured, closely packed crowd of hundreds hung out in intermittent sheeting rain when technical trouble held back Tarras’ opening bars.
But there’s nothing like anticipation to sharpen appreciation – after all, it’s been six years.
As sound welled into a new take on Rising from their debut album of the same name a newer, full-bellied sound rolled forth - perhaps reflecting the metaphorical music miles the band has travelled since its creation.
Old favourites such as Mainstreet flowed into newer songs after rumoured hours of practice in Alston’s town hall offered up contenders such as Murray’s She Won’t Wait.
Friend and fan, Dave Baker, 33, of Alston, said: “It takes something special to bring people together in this way - Tarras are that something special. It’s good to have them back.”
Jane Templeton, 32, of Keswick, added: “They are great – just brilliant. I heard them first in 2001 and they sounded good then. But they’ve really matured over the years.
“The long break has done them proud.”
With no fireworks, frills or frippery to announce their rebirth – just timeless music played to a genuine crowd, Tarras are back and they’re even better than before.
SARAH NEWSTEAD
