Mediaeval Babes concert review, Birmingham Cathedral

Dec 21 2009 by Diane Parkes, Birmingham Mail

Mediaeval Baebes

BIRMINGHAM CATHEDRAL

THE city’s historic cathedral is the perfect setting for the Baebes whose music is largely made up of medieval music sung in a host of different languages including English, Spanish and Gaelic.

In a two-hour set, the Baebes, whose current line-up of six includes two Brummies, Esther Dee and Sarah Kayte Foster, took the audience through classics such as Undrentide, Kinderly and Sunrise, while also dipping into their most recent album Illumination.

Tracks such as Sunrise, which asked for audience participation in the shape of clapping, The Blacksmiths and Desert Rose were all crowd pleasers. There is a touch of self-consciousness about the girls as they play the part of sirens, opting for plunging necklines and plenty of seductive dancing, which may be the image on which they have sold their performances, but in many ways it only distracts from the talented singers they are.

VERDICT: HHHII

DIANE PARKES