Clearly the Proms appearance had a big influence on them and today they teamed up with the London Contemporary Orchestra to bring us a matinee concert at the Barbican. The matinee meant parents could bring their kids. PSB are an ideal gig for children with their rich visuals and very parent friendly band. While, I’m not sure the orchestration added much of an extra dynamic to their sound, it is always great to see PSB try new things.

The Hermit was my favourite song from last year. Quite unlike anything else. The song is a work of genius. Completely unlike anything else I heard last year, or any year.

Tonight, was another masterclass of how Dawson can weave stories that seem timeless. Surely these are long lost English folks songs?

This was the first time I have seen Richard with his own band, performing as Richard Dawson. This wasn’t his foot stomping solo performances that can keep a festival enchanted. This was something new. Sublimely beautiful. Every instrument adding accents to Dawson’s guitar and vocals. Never overstepping and coming to the fore. Dawsons songs can have an other-worldly feel to them. Tonight, his band seemed to be playing from behind the veil. It was like they were echos from the past.

It is hard to explain a Richard Dawson performance to those that haven’t seen him. Rooted in folk. Richard manages to avoid all folk’s generic musical patterns. His songs could equally be amped up and be prog or even a metal piece. With it’s musical movements, Hermit could easily be a piece by a classical composer as a reflection on folk traditions. When combined with his distinctive vocals, his music genre hops without ever leaving folk.

Tonight was simply sublime. Perfect in every way.

After the release of her third album, she gained a band and although I wasn’t convinced by this new lineup. I bought tickets to both nights of her performing at the Barbican. That was in 2019. One pandemic and a fourth album later. I finally caught up with her again.

Sometimes I hate nights like these. Watching two evenings of clearly good performances, I left both nights bitterly disappointed. The change in dynamic seems to mean songs from Party have been relegated to encores. Her ‘intense but slightly awkward’ folk persona has been replaced by a new lead singer persona. With it comes a different charm. But the intensity is lost and awkwardness slightly overplayed. With her dragging chairs across the stage making scraping noises and a running gag of a stage hand very precisely plugging her guitar in. The ‘persona’ is too much of a persona for me. She doesn’t need to do any of this. She has some fantastic songs that stand on their own.

Sadly the band dynamic seems to drive the song choices. With songs from the last two albums dominating the set list and I’m not a fan of these albums. When she has such an amazing presence, I want less band and more Aldous.

However, I am not going to decry her this success. I have seen her work so hard to get here. It is her choice as to where she takes her career and clearly many, many people are enjoying her more expansive sound. Sadly, for me. It is time to move on. These band performances just don’t have the charm of her earlier work.

Tonight, accompanied by the London Contemporary Orchestra and her own band, her second album FIBS was played in full. Followed on the Sunday by two live performances of her score for Eighth Grade. Meanwhile downstairs at the Barbican, Anna curated the DJs playing music for a roller disco.

If you have lived next to somebody practicing a classical instrument, you know how loud they can be. That loudness is rarely used by composers. Anna’s work makes use of how loud these instruments can be to create dance tracks. The first time I saw her band, she was playing at the Great Escape and it was amazing, even amongst at the indie bands, her band was the loudest thing I heard that weekend. Tonight, with an orchestra in tow, the driving dance beats of the tuba(?) and drums were enhanced by the LCO adding extra dynamics, really bringing alive her FIBS album.

The great thing about an Anna concert is how she makes things fun. She always seems to love performing. Standing at the front of the stage behind her keyboards and drums, she is less conductor and more house DJ. Closing the evening off, she had the Barbican audience join her in karaoke versions of Elton John songs covered by her band and the orchestra. A fun evening.

The first half of the evening passed me. But the second half, his Desert Songs was outstanding. A really interesting piece beautifully played by the London Symphony Orchestra.