Lawrence Heath gets out of his seat to the sound of Warsaw Village Band who made their intentions clear as soon as they hit the stage .....this was going to be EXHILERATING!

Kicking off with “In The Forest” the power of the voices, the relentless drive of the fiddles and cello and the atavistic percussion made it clear that they were not prepared to take any prisoners (and shook the dust from the lofty rafters of the Great Hall). At the start of the opener a quarter of the audience were standing and the remainder were seated. By the end the ratio was reversed and throughout the evening more and more people flocked to the dance floor.

And they carried on in much the same vein up to the interval, pulling out one ancient Polish song or dance tune after the other from their previous recordings – each one given an urgency and immediacy by the sheer uncompromising wall of sound they produce. So visceral is one’s initial response to their music that you need almost to step outside the immediate experience to be able to look on and appreciate the musical inventiveness of their arrangements and the skill in their performance. The frenetic dexterity of Magdalena Sobczak’s hammered dulcimer, slightly back in the mix on the night, was impressive throughout the concert.

By the interval the audience were exhausted, and the evening was only half over! Fortunately the second half showcased WVB’s new CD, “Infinity”, and there was greater light and shade in the material which provided the audience the opportunity to stand and listen – which they did with even greater intensity than when dancing! They stood spellbound as the band incorporated numerous “World Music” influences into their arrangements. The pan-African-inspired call and response vocals of “Is Anybody In There?” confirmed the potency of Maja, Sywia and Magdalena’s voices in combination – not that that was ever in doubt - and Maja Kleszcz’s solo vocals and cello on “Heartbeat” was truly epic. Indeed it came very close to my high point of the evening – that award finally going to Sylwia’s playing of the suka on “I’ve Met The Girl” – you could have heard a pin drop.

And then it was back to the dancing with Maciej Szajkowski and Piotr Glinski’s irresistible percussion and Wojtek Krzak’s compelling fiddle re-invigorating the audience and leaving them gasping for an encore. They got one but shout and stamp as much as they might they didn’t get a second. The band was exhausted. The transfusion of energy was complete.