Review: The Demon Barber Roadshow, York Theatre Royal, York

8:32am Tuesday 13th May 2008

AS FAR as musical fusions go, you don't get much more extreme than when The Demon Barber Roadshow came to town.

This English folk powerhouse and one of the most dynamic bands on the scene is renowned for its lively, imaginative and charismatic performances and this spectacle didn't disappoint.

The five-piece band, fronted by Damien Barber, provided a lively sound, with unusual arrangements of traditional folk songs penned by the likes of Peter Bellamy, but like you've never heard them before - think drum and bass combined with traditional fiddle and guitar playing and you might get somewhere close to their sound.

The band was accompanied on stage by talented young clog, Morris and sword dancers, but again all of this old English tradition was brought firmly into the 21st century (sword dancing with glo-sticks and acrobatics anyone?).

The show was also the first performance of a collaboration between The Demon Barbers and Yorkshire Dance, with a brave fusion of break beats and clog dancing with beat box and percussion opening the second half.

On paper, this could all have gone horribly wrong, but the reality was a stunning and totally mesmerising performance by all concerned, with dance-offs between the traditional clog and the modern, urban acrobatics of the break-dancers.

Folk has somewhat of a clichéd reputation as being for bearded, beer swilling, tankard toting older types, but The Demon Barbers proved that folk's often fusty reputation, certainly in this case, is more than undeserved.

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