Martin & Eliza Carthy @ Sweetwater Music Hall, Mill Valley, CA, USA, 05/14/2025

[concert_goer]

Martin Carthy with daughter Eliza at Sweetwater. They opened the set with the traditional tune Her Servant Man. Martin's playing and singing were quite fragile at the very beginning, then improved a little. Well, he's turning 84 years old on May 21st, or, as Eliza joked, 21 on May 84th. His technical abilities have certainly diminished with age, but the folk music delivered on Wednesday evening was still spiritually powerful and deeply relevant. Eliza sounded fantastic, both singing and playing fiddle.

The lengthy Blackwell Merry Night came with an introduction to match. Yes, as expected, there was a lot of talking throughout the set. Martin delivered a couple of tunes solo. I especially enjoyed High Germany, which brought back strong memories of his debut recording. The duo is releasing a new album soon, titled Transform Me Then Into a Fish, the name taken from the lyrics of the traditional song Ye Mariners All, which was also part of the set. And they delivered a great version of Bold Doherty from the first Waterson:Carthy album.

There were definitely glimpses of old magic in the air. I am glad Martin is still performing and that I finally had the chance to see him live. The Carthys finished the set with good ole John Barleycorn. Awesome!

Set list (8:06 PM — 9:28 PM): Her Servant Man, Blackwell Merry Night, High Germany (Martin solo), Ye Mariners All, Pulling Hard Against the Stream, Dream of Napoleon (Martin solo), Bold Doherty, Died for Love, John Barleycorn

Comments

[guest_informant]

fragile, yeah, but still a legend