When you have been dazzled by an artist who makes such sublime music it’s hard not to let the anticipation of seeing them in concert build up so much it could never live up to those expectations. This was not the case with Cerys Hafana’s show at St. George’s, Bristol as the enjoyment far outstripped the expectation. It is one of my live highlights of 2025.
Having spent a lot of time with the new album Angel for my recent review I had appreciated how much the Welsh Triple Harp they play is a difficult instrument to master. There are around 90 strings arranged in three parallel rows of strings which include the sharp and flats (classical harps have foot pedals to change the pitch). Such strength and precision as Hafana commands comes from years of playing in order to make everything sound effortless, but I discovered it is one thing to know this but another to see it happen live. Watching Cerys Hafana play is completely spellbinding; arpeggios and motifs are locked in with one hand while the other adds bass lines, melody, glissandos, and even a beat played out on the harp’s soundbox as on the spectacular ‘Helynt Ryfeddol’, one of the show’s highlights.
The night was split into two 45-minute sets which drew heavily from the albums Edyf (2022) and this year’s Angel. The first half of set one slowly unfolded, starting with Hafana on guitar and singing the traditional song ‘Pan Ow’n y Gwanwyn’ then moving through ‘Crwydro’, ‘Cilgerran’, ‘Comed 1858’, and ‘The Wife of Usher’s Well’ before being joined on stage by double bass player Ursula Harrison. Their musical union was bordering on telepathic with Harrison’s playing being no mere root note accompaniment but a bravura display of bowed and ghost notes, harmonics, and even breath-like susurrations teased from the bass with her hands. Watching Harrison move around the frets it was hard to tell where they ended, and the bass began.
St. George’s is a perfect setting for Cerys Hafana, formerly a 200-year-old Georgian Church now converted into an independent music venue. The décor being mainly wood allowed for the wood of the harp and double bass to resonate with the hall as if made for each other. Cerys Hafana’s unadorned voice rang out with a mellifluent beauty that is so clear and unforced it would hardly cause a ripple on a pond. The new album draws on the tale of an old man who goes for a walk in the forest and hears an angel singing so beautifully it makes him fall asleep for three hundred and fifty years, and this is similar to the effect Hafana had on this audience. After every song there was a long pause with barely a breath heard as the audience woke from their reverie and realised it was time to applaud.
Cerys Hafana’s melding of the traditional and modern creates exceptional music that is as enthralling live as it is on record. I went along to this show with friends (thank you Ruth for introducing me to Cerys Hafana in the first place) including Welsh fellow writer Ani Collier. I asked if she would contribute her thoughts about the show to this review and she kindly obliged:
Ar ôl byw yn Lloegr ers wyth mlynedd, mae’r cyfle i brofi rhywbeth sy’n fy atgoffa o adre yn beth werthfawr iawn.
Wrth gau fy llygaid a gwrando ar berfformiad Cerys Hafana, teimlais enaid hynafol y gerddoriaeth yn fy nhynnu i nôl tuag at y tir fe adawais tu ôl. Wrth i gytseiniaid alawol yr iaith ddawnsio gyda symudiad cymhleth tannau’r delyn, teimlais y straeon a’r natur â bu’n eu hysbrydoli yn dod yn fyw.
Roedd y partneriaeth rhwng y delyn a’r bas dwbl yn undeb berffaith hefyd. Bu gwead cyfunol y ddau offeryn yn creu awyrgylch dwfn a hudol, yn cyfleu naratif y gerddoriaeth mewn ffordd hynod o atgofus.
Diolch Cerys am ddod a darn bach o Gymru i fy narn bach o Loegr.
Cerys Hafana: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | YouTube
More live dates in 2025 and into 2026 – see those dates on Cerys Hafana’s website here.
Review by Paul F Cook and Ani Collier.
Keep up to date with all new content on Joyzine via our
Facebook | Bluesky | Instagram | Threads | Mailing List
1 comment