POPULAR acoustic duo Steve Knightley and Phil Beer showed why they are one of the best live music acts around when their informal Upclose tour stopped off in East Yorkshire.

They thrilled a capacity audience with their virtuosity on guitar, fiddle, mandolin, mando-cello and cuatro, humorous on-stage banter and heart-felt tributes to musical heroes, including Bob Dylan, The Band, Dire Straits, Leonard Cohen, York-based Nic Jones and fellow folk legends Cyril Tawney and Sydney Carter.

Their tribute to Tawney, the former submariner who died recently, became one of those magical folk moments: an a cappella version of The Grey Funnel Line. Knightley's compositions, inspired by the English folk tradition, focus on individuals.

The Bristol Slaver, cleverly links the experiences of a slave ship's captain with those of an inner-city immigrant.

Cousin Jack, with its mighty chorus, looks at the harsh life of Cornish tin miners, while The Keeper deals with the trauma felt by a Devon gamekeeper returning to the land after surviving the slaughter on the Somme in the First World War.

A rural rascal takes centre stage in Red Diesel, while the economic upheaval that's rocked British farms and villages inspired Knightley's controversial rant Country Life.

Knightley moved from the parish pump to global politics with his sinister Crooked Man, an atmospheric percussive song with a hint of menace.

His transformation of Widdecombe Fair into a Dartmoor ghost story succeeds brilliantly, with Beer's eerie fiddle enhancing Knightley's thumbing cuatro.

Show Of Hands, thanks to their versatility, are difficult to categorise; but they certainly make folk music rock.

Updated: 10:32 Friday, April 29, 2005