David Eugene Edwards: "That's Ordy Garrison on the drums over there. That's Peter van Laerhoven on guitar. My name is Mud." So, that’s the line-up for tonight then. Every time a Woven Hand show is announced you just have to wait and see who David has brought along. And how he’s interpreting his songs.

Well tonight from the get-go, it was very clear that he was in a scorched-earth frame of mind. Determined. As if he had something to prove. Dispensing with subtleties most of the time. Opting for a rather straightforward rock approach. It definitely was the loudest Woven Hand show we had seen so far. Woven Hand sometimes (especially on the debut album) sounds introverted; one man playing quietly in a stuffy bedsit. Tonight it sounded like David had discovered the garage and the joy of playing Louie Louie with the amp turned up to eleven.

Not that Woven Hand played that classic tonight. But they did play two new songs. Dirty Blue and Deerskin Doll. And it will be hard for David to shake this off (if he wants to do that), but Dirty Blue sounded quite Horsepowerish. Arrowhead normally evokes images of riverdancing men in tights hopping around. Tonight’s arrangement was completely different. More like bikers in leather pants revving it up. Surprisingly Down In Yon Forest, which had mutated into a 10-minute long all-out rocker on the last tour, was now kept short and concise and was rendered relatively calm.

Again relatively speaking, David was talking nineteen to the dozen and in a good humour. Twice joking that the next song was on an upcoming greatest hit record. Ordy was as reliable as Old Faithful. Peter van Laerhoven? Insecure and probably desperately trying to avoid mistakes. And therefore rather inconspicuous. The recently rebuild venue? Half full. And hot. Perhaps as a result of the scorched-earth policy. Perhaps simply because they forgot to install a good ventilation system.

All in all, this version of Woven Hand has extra horsepower and is good fun at times. And those are words not often used in connection with Woven Hand. But at other times - ­ hey, we have to have something to complain about - because of the extra decibels and the guitar-heavy sound, there's the danger of it becoming one big soundscape. The occasional acoustic interludes are definitely needed to add variety to a long - 1h. 45 min. - set.

by TYFC