It was a beautiful setting in a medieval castle, and it was sold out – good preconditions for an enjoyable night. I had never seen Rens before and I was not sure if Rens had own material which could be performed or if his role was only accompaniment for Andy. The latter was the case. The duo started with A Prince Among Men. Andy’s Bouzouki was quite dominant while Rens‘ skill on the guitar were applied as a solid background. Surprisingly for me Lintheads was changed a little bit; it didn’t finish with Goodbye Monday Blues but with Aragon Mill. The set has never belonged to my favourites because in my opinion the pieces musically don’t fit together very well. Anyway, Pride of Springfield Road was the song when the mandolin delighted my for the first time that night.
Andy asked the audience to sing along ,“Her lips were red as roses...“ but there was hardly any voice heard. Andy seemed to have noticed this which was evident because he didn’t explain very much afterwards. There also were not many whose voice blew the fascists to Hell in Never tire of the road. My personal highlight in the first set was Suleman’s Kopanitsa. It was breathtaking to see the two perform it live with mandolin and bouzouki. The Highwayman followed and led into the break.
During the break a seemingly important man asked anyone in the audience who had taken photographs to stop it!
The second half started with My heart’s tonight in Ireland. Again, Andy did not lose many words about the background of the lyrics which I regret. It was followed by a fantastic mandolin duet in Blacksmith. In the middle of the second set Rens left the stage „to tune the mandolin“ and Andy performed a new and very autobiographical song called O’Donoghue’s, named after the pub where he had spent so much time in the early sixties. It was the only song that I had not known before. Unfortunately the stage sound was not very good. I would have loved to understand more of the lyrics. After Rens had returned they continued with West Coast of Clare, very much to my pleasure. But somehow it didn’t work – the audience seemed so indifferent and distant, and that killed my enthusiasm. Plains of Kildare was the farewell song. The applause afterwards seemed to be a matter more of politeness than of real longing for more. Luckily Andy and Rens didn’t leave the stage after the first encore Come with me over the mountain. They let You rambling boys of Pleasure follow. I had never heard this one live before and it was breathtaking. Andy and Rens had not even reached the door (which was about 15 meters from the stage) when the applause quickly faded.
It was really embarrassing! It seemed to me as if a lot of the people were
members of a local cultural organization who visit any kind of event that
takes place there but are not really interested in this special music.
After the disappointment on Wednesday I was happy to have the chance to see Andy and Rens again. I had to cycle this time – 22 miles from Sarstedt to Salzhemmendorf and 22 miles back late at night. But it was worth every meter of it!
When I arrived I was kind of an attraction myself! What a difference! The concert took place in the dance hall of a village inn. The disadvantage was that there were some people who kept drinking and talking even during the slow songs. But the audience in general was much more joyful and really paid attention to what was going on.
The set list was mainly the same. In the second half Andy and Rens seemed to enjoy it more and more. They explained more and laughed quite a lot. By the way: again the mandolin was said to be out of tune (which of couse was rubbish) to allow Andy singing O’Donoghue’s solo. They replaced Martinmas time by Come with me over the mountain. Plains of Kildare and You Rambling Boys were the encores that they had planned to perform. But this time the audience was still hungry for more. So Andy and Rens did me a very big favour and played the beautiful Autumn Gold which I had never experienced live before.
It was such a wonderful night among friendly people, and I even had the chance to talk a few words to Andy and Rens. While I cycled my way home there was a tune coming into my mind. It sounds quite Bulgarian and I named it ,44 miles for Andy !
Peter Lindwedel