Gig played on 22/08/05

Alongside the equally enigmatic Smog, Will Oldham is widely regarded as one of the leading lights of alt.country, a hopelessly unsatisfactory tag that, at the other end of the scale, could just as easily describe the cheesy hokum of Kenny Chesney. Oldham has worked his way through numerous aliases, but fixed on Bonnie 'Prince' Billy some time ago now and its overtones of Celtic mythology and backwoods tribalism chime well with his deep-rooted respect for and love of traditional folk music.

To that effect, Billy and band - featuring younger brother Paul Oldham on bass and erstwhile Chavez and Zwan axe-slinger Matt Sweeney - launch in tonight with the traditional "Idumea", a shape-note tune with early 19th century Methodist hymn text, probably best known to the worshipful congregation gathered here from its appearance in the movie "Cold Mountain". It's a sombre, almost sepulchral piece, but Billy and the gang give it a distinctive, blood-thickened swing.

Alongside the vast back catalogue of various Palace incarnations, a good proportion of tonight's set is drawn from the LP "Superwolf", for which Billy engaged long-time collaborator Sweeney to write music to match his own extraordinarily vivid imagery. It's a perfect pairing; Sweeney's guitar work has a gnarled and bluesy, visceral power which vivifies Billy's striking poeticism, such that snatches of lyrics rise dramatically from the music like rocky outcrops from night-darkened waters.

"I have often said that I would like to be dead in a shark's mouth, a woman swimming under," he sings on the tangy "My Home Is The Sea", further revealing his sense of humour (he certainly has one) with "What are you waiting for if not for me, to take you over my knee, and spank you mercilessly" - the keening, Crosby, Stills & Nash-like "What Are You?".

In among Palace Brothers' gems such as "Riding", Bonnie 'Prince' Billy classics like "I See A Darkness", "Raining In Darling" and the poignant, confessional howl that is "Wolf Among Wolves" are studded a couple of covers (of The Mekons' "Horses" and Kenny Rogers' "Buried Treasure") and "Ohio River Boat Song", Billy's rewrite of the traditional "Loch Tay Boat Song".

Strongly bound to folk music's rich history he may be, but Bonnie 'Prince' Billy is nobody's idea of a purist. Were his roots not set as deeply as they are, his dark and dramatic journeys to the edges of 'alt.country' would be infinitely less enthralling. Long may he wander.

by Sharon O'Connell