Seth Lakeman

Fences and hoardings abound in central Edinburgh as the city prepares for the onslaught of thousands every night for the Fringe, but on the Assembly side of George Square Gardens they’ve been working earlier so their venues and bars are ready for Edinburgh’s Folk & Food Festival. It’s only the second year that Folk has been added to the cooking demonstrations of the Food Festival and it is already a highlight of Edinburgh’s July, offering the feel of the festivals a month early. So after drinks on the square you can enter the beautiful Palais Du Variété, an enchanting Spiegeltent, all wood and glass panelling — a much finer venue than most permanent ones let alone those used for festivals.

Support this evening is from Paper Sparrows, a local band returning in what they jokingly describe as “much the same role as last year” after supporting The Unthanks in 2025. Given I am also returning in “much the same role as last year”, it’s interesting to see how their sound has progressed. A year ago I described them as sounding more like an English folk act than a Scottish one, and as if in umbrage towards that comment the songs of their new album have a distinct Americana vibe to them. Ross, Colin and Dave make for a friendly warm-up with amiable on-stage banter and pleasantly plucked out tunes across a changing combination of guitars, mandolins and an always-on-time double bass. Maybe it’s time for them to headline their own show at Edinburgh Folk & Food Festival 2027.

Seth Lakeman has been celebrating 20 years of his hit album Freedom Fields with a full-band tour, but for this standalone gig we are treated to a more balanced career retrospective in a stripped-back style with former Bellowhead multi-instrumentalist Benji Kirkpatrick as the only backing required. Benji is adept at hopping between bouzouki, guitar, mandolin and banjo as the set list requires. Seth’s youthful good looks were first mentioned by Paper Sparrows’ songwriter Dave Hershaw, who mused about having first seen him perform whilst he was still at school, yet on meeting him today he somehow seems younger than Dave himself. His boyish face and strong jaw do make him an unquestionably handsome man, and a striking presence when he gets on stage, But there’s a dusting of grey across his hair to prove he is mortal after all, even if it’s hard to believe he’s almost 50.

They open with ‘The Giant’ from 2021’s Make Your Mark, Seth on guitar stripping the song of its violin for a simple, gentle start to the performance. But it isn’t long before he does pick up the fiddle for a haunting rendition of ‘The Bold Knight’, his feet producing a low drone from his effects pedals and keeping time with the bass drum. For all he can write a tune to get toes tapping, it’s in these darker moments that you feel in the presence of something really special. 

The first track we get from the anniversary album is ‘The White Hare’, and it’s also the first time the audience starts to sing, and this lifted mood is carried through ‘The Rambling Sailor’ and ‘Blood Red Sky’, whose arrangement of two electric guitars prompts some wit in the audience to shout “Judas!” towards the stage.

Benji leaves Seth on his own to perform ‘Lady of the Sea (Hear Her Calling)’ solo on his fiddle. It is beautiful, and with these surroundings you can feel yourself transported to some old village pub where songs like these feel an integral part of the place and its community. 

Benji returns to the stage for their Dylan-style electric arrangement of ‘The Ballad of Josie’, a story of murder. More tragedy follows — a song mourning the lives lost on the lifeboat Solomon Browne — tenderising the audience for the highlight of the evening: a goosebump-raising rendition of ‘The Colliers’, the tale of the Gresford disaster. Seth brings the audience singalong of its refrain — “There were many lost in the dark and dust when the colliers called out...” — down to a whisper, before raising it back up to an anguished shout. 

There is some relief from the tension with talking of how much Seth had enjoyed a bluegrass band on the outside stage and an upbeat bluegrassy rendition of ‘Blood Upon Copper’ before Benji left the stage again for Seth to finish things off with a solo rendition of ‘Portrait of My Wife’ performed completely unamplified from the very front of the stage, so moving a song that a well-spoken gentleman blurted out “Terrific” in the moment’s silence between song ending and applause starting. It’s hard to argue with him. Having shown his skill with the violin on its own the set finishes with him back plugged in with accompanying drones and the pounding of the bass drum for a solo rendition of the title track from 2005’s Kitty Jay that is simply superb.

They both return to the stage and beg the audience to stay upright and dance away for an encore of ‘Change’, another upbeat number to send everyone away happy after a fantastic evening showing off the remarkable range of song writing and performing from the incredible career of one of the 21st century’s greatest folk artists.