Gig - Circulus

Circulus, described by the Guardian as “Britain’s foremost medieval-influenced progressive psychedelic folk band”, are headlining this years Lewes Folk Rock Festival. They may play medieval music and wear outrageous Jacobean costumes, but they are also creatures of the 21st century: on their Myspace site they describe their music as “a gentle fistfight between a group of undernourished sixteenth-century court musicians and an acid-soaked bunch of hippie rockers from the early seventies”. They may have created one, but they certainly aren’t jumping on any bandwagon.

Is this folk rock? There are elements of both styles, and plenty more besides. An electric guitar vies with an echoey flute and the lovely voice of Lo Polidoro on ‘Swallow’. ‘Willow Tree’, a song about the inevitability of death, is driven by waves of psychedelic synthesiser underpinned by a funky guitar rhythm. Instruments include electric guitars, moog, bongos, crumhorns, citterns and shawms. The Age of Aquarius meets Jethro Tull on a mushroom trip in the countryside many centuries ago. The band is led by Michael Tyack, a man completely committed to the cause, who once sacked a band member because he didn’t believe in pixies. They have a brilliant live reputation. The Guardian has dedicated a whole spread to the Circulus phenomenon. Needless to say tickets, in Octave and the tourist office, are selling out fast.