To the Big Garage On The Hill (aka the Wiltshire Music Centre - see blog of 18.12.11) for Québecois trio, Genticorum.
The auditorium looked slightly less stark than at our last visit as the tastefully pastel-coloured acoustic panels had been put up to give the place a more intimate sound. But it still feels more car maintenance than concert hall. The band was good - technically highly proficient with oodles of good humour in their presentation. But only the a capella numbers gave the hairs on the back of my neck any exercise. This was perhaps more to do with the very nature of the French-Canadian music they play which, stripped of the big band arrangements of the likes of La Bottine Souriante or the more eclectic style of La Volée d'Castors, comes across as rather relentlessly repetitive.
It didn't help that for the whole of the first half Yann Falquet's guitar was virtually inaudible. I mentioned this to him in the interval (someone had to) and matters improved somewhat in part 2.That was until Yann whipped out his Jew's Harp (!) - which we couldn't hear either.
There's not much point in playing a hall which trumpets "the best acoustic outside London", if your sound engineer has Van Gogh's ear for music.
www.genticorum.com
www. wiltshiremusic.org
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