Gig review: Beth Orton + Sam Amidon at Halifax Minster

“This is a proper church,” Beth Orton exclaims a few songs into tonight’s engaging performance.

If ever a venue had the capacity to overshadow any performance with its sheer scale and history, the majestic surroundings of Halifax Minster – built during the 15th century – would certainly be it, especially with dramatic lighting that illuminates the altar behind the stage in different shades of red and gold. However, Orton and long-term partner in music (and life) Sam Amidon have no trouble reaching out to even the most remote of the cavernous church’s pews tonight.

Amidon opens the proceedings with a solo set of mainly traditional American folk tunes. As well as being a powerfully expressive singer and a masterfully agile folk guitarist, Amidon also picks up a fiddle to demonstrate the old timey dance tunes of his native Vermont, New England. The set is weighed in favour of songs tinged with religion (quite aptly considering the location, Amidon opens with a haunting traditional ballad called The Old Churchyard), but the proceedings properly ignite when Amidon picks up the banjo and roughens up his smooth voice for a jagged gallop through 19th century Appalachian lament of unrequited love, Little Maggie.

A winningly self-deprecating presence, Orton steps on stage in a faux fur coat and makes a quip about the insulation-related risks of organising a tour of churches in the winter. Orton and Amidon (who provides multi-instrumentalist accompaniment on most of the 15 songs aired tonight) have not had the easiest of rides to Halifax: the pair’s car broke down, and the merchandise intended for sale after the show is stuck in the boot of a garage-bound car.

There are no equivalent glitches within tonight’s performance, however. It’s been a while since Orton’s last tour, and the highlights of tonight’s career-spanning performance are delivered with the relish of old friends being revisited, radiating a warmth to match the candles lit through the Minster.

It requires songcraft of real substance for songs to sound more compelling when their original studio arrangements are stripped away. This is the case of such warmly welcomed back catalogue highlights as the beautifully downcast Concrete Sky and the introspective glide of Central Reservation. Main set closing Shopping Trolley elicits whoops and dancing, not a sight you would necessarily expect at a duo acoustic show.

Orton moves from guitar to piano for selections from Weather Alive. Even in this stripped-down format, the haunting Friday Night (with Orton accentuating the blurred edges of her voice in a way that resembles John Martyn’s jazz-fuelled nocturnal murmurs) and Haunted Satellite (which finds Orton multitasking by playing a shaker and one-handed piano simultaneously) especially provide hypnotic reminders of the justifiably acclaimed 2022 album’s excellent musical adventurism, increasing expectations for the follow-up which Orton announces is now ready.