THE CONSERVATOIRE FOLK ENSEMBLE
Beacon, Bristol - 30th May 2026
This was another one of MrsRobster's choices via her Instagram feed. She seems to have taken a real liking to folk music of late. I had no idea who this lot were, but basically, they are a collective of musicians who in their various forms have been around for 29 years (I had no idea!). They are based at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (essentially a music university) and have an ever-evolving membership, but always led by folk musician Joe Broughton.
There were 50 musicians on stage, the majority of whom were not even born when Broughton started the project, and among them are a number of other smaller bands who formed within the collective. There were two or three points in the set when these smaller bands played songs of their own.
But the full ensemble make an enormous noise, as you might expect. They call it "power folk" and they present a mix of originals, covers and traditional tunes, all created essentially by jam sessions between autumn and spring, then taken out on the road for the summer. Bristol was the first night of the 2026 tour, which meant we got a particularly excited bunch, many of whom were playing to a decent-sized audience for the first time (I saw one of the of the cellists mutter a "wow" as she came on stage and saw the crowd in front of her.)
The main thing for me was the energy. They don't just stand there and play, there's a lot of movement, which really isn't easy given the number of people crammed onto a single stage. There was dancing, swaying, a lot of whooping and shouting. They were having a ball. Musically, very well put together, interesting arrangements and pretty tight, again considering the numbers involved.
It's not the kind of thing that grabs me, if I'm being honest. Traditional folk isn't really my bag, but I appreciate any kind of twist that makes it original. This lot certainly put a twist on it. The venue helped. This was our first visit to the place formerly known as the Colston Hall since its refurb and rebrand, and the first time we've seen any kind of show in the smaller Lantern Hall (as opposed to the larger auditorium). They've always had excellent acoustics here, so there's never an issue with sound quality. Which is a good thing because how exactly do you mix 50-odd instruments as a sound guy? Too many, it seems, have trouble making three people sound good...
An interesting night and, most importantly, MrsRobster loved it. For me, it was fun enough, but a bit too much of a novelty for me to make an effort to see them again. Though if I'm forced to tag along I guess won't complain too much...
Given this was the first show the current incarnation has done, there are currently no videos featuring all the musicians we saw on this night (I'll keep my eye out for an update), so until then, here's a clip that's a few years old but gives a pretty good idea of what they are about.
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