Joshua Burnside - Live at the Elmwood Hall (2019)

The Elmwood Hall is a special place for me. I saw The Frames there in their hay day, a young Tommy Emmanuel set the place on fire, and a host of incredible acts I managed to get entry free of charge in my skint student days after bluffing my way into working for the Festival at Queen’s University when it was in its prime. With next door’s iconic Mandela Hall in the process of being flattened, the Elmwood is finally thankfully back to being one of Belfast’s leading venues, and here that noted Northern Irish record label Quiet Arches have decided to have their ‘show of strength’ on a cold December’s evening.

The evening features performances from the top drawer of Quiet Arches roster including a recently bagged and golden signing, Malojian. But the headliner is the golden boy of the folk scene and recent Northern Irish Music Prize winner, Joshua Burnside. I couldn’t stick around for Joshua’s set, but thankfully I get a chance to live it in his live album release of that performance.