Joshua Burnell

Queen's Hall, Hexham

6 March 2026

My Joshua Burnell concerts are now in double digits, and obviously he never disappoints, but more importantly for someone I've seen this many times he makes every one different. Even in the few short months since I last saw the trio line-up of his band (Nathan Greaves on guitar and vibraslap, Kat Hurdley on violin and whistle), he has completely re-jigged the set list so that although many old favourites are still there, there are still plenty of surprises mixed in, including several from Lend an Ear (Revisited). His between-song chat is refreshed too, making all the song explanations and other anecdotes entertaining even though I know them already. He seems particularly relaxed, and there's a lot of good banter between the trio.

He gets around the lack of a full band by having a pre-taped rhythm section (which doesn't always work successfully), but there are still some favourites he can't play without Frances Sladen to sing them. So he picks a set that only needs him as the lead vocalist, and Kat steps up to take a lot more backup vocals than I think she normally would in the full band, so there's still a full sound. The surprise of the night, though, is Nathan taking lead vocal on Played My Part, and doing a tremendous job. It's a great song anyway, and his delivery really suits it. Might actually have been the best song of the night.

Overall it's a great concert. It's a shame that the audience was so small, but there appeared to be a lot of first-timers who will now be fans and will be back next time—I know this, because when the music is this good how could you not?