19th April 2023
I first heard Fran & Flora on a BBC Morning After playlist (I think) some years ago. I liked it and thought I’d investigate further. I got really interested when I spotted that one of the tunes on their unfurl remix EP was mixed by Portico Quartet, the band I’ve seen more than any other. I made contact and we had a drawn out email conversation over many many months (as is often the case) before eventually finding a date that worked for us both.
As often happens I quickly flipped from a sense of exhilaration that I’d managed to book a brilliant act, to one of panic. Described as playing “modes and melodies of Klezmer, Transylvanian, Romanian, Greek and Armenian music, [with] deep dives into archival recordings and live electronics” would anyone else be as excited as me?!
Well I needn’t have worried. As so often recently the concert was sold out. Fran and Flora were a captivating pair, with big personalities, great stories (including life in a super cool Margate and bumping into artist, Tracey Emin) and their music was mesmerising.
We aren’t set up for their full range of electronic delights but after a first set of purely acoustic music, in the second half the loops and pedals were added. I loved both but each set had its fans. Here are the set lists in full.
They were great company after the concern. It turns out that Fran (full and brilliant name Francesca Ter-Berg) has played strings on a number of Portico Quartet albums, including their most recent, Monument. Have a listen here, Fran is quite prominent on several tracks. They stayed at the barn, and Simon persuaded them both to go and run Woolford Wood parkrun on Saturday morning.
More fabulous food from Steve. And I actually remembered to get a photo before it was all consumed.
All in all another great night and some more lovely musicians to join our Ryepiece extended family.