Most singers the wrong side of 70, particularly if they were renowned for having a powerful and pure voice would surround themselves with backing vocalists and a big band to disguise the ageing of their vocal chords. Not Joan Baez; perhaps unsurpisingly given her dissident nature she takes an opposite course and the gig is all about her voice and the power and emotion it brings to songs about defiance and protest as well as to those about more personal subjects.
The band consists of Dirk Powell, multi-instrumentalist - it would be quicker to say what he doesn't play - and an understated percussionist who quiety accompanies some of the songs. A number of the songs are simply Joan however, mostly accompanying herself on guitar.
The choice of songs is impeccable but then she has more than 50 years of back catalogue to choose from. It is slightly invidious to pick out highlights from such a classy set but for me they included; "The Scarlet Tide" a masterpiece of a song from Elvis Costello which she delivers far better than him as she captures perfectly the pathos of the song, "You Might as Well try and catch the Wind", "The Ballad of Joe Hill" sung with defiance and feeling, "Suzanne" a beautiful version of the Leonard Cohen classic and the final two songs before the encore. These were a spanish song I had not heard before "Gracias a la Vida" and then an amazing version of "Diamonds and Rust".
I have seen Joan Baez a few times in the last decade and I was wondering how much longer she can hack it. Her voice may not be what it was ten years ago but she can hack it big style.
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