The Young’uns return to the Stoller Hall as part of Manchester Folk Festival. Support comes from Maz O’Connor and Charlotte Carpenter to create a fine evening of music.
CHARLOTTE CARPENTER
UK singer Charlotte Carpenter opens proceedings with Spinning Plates. Immediately there is an edge in her playing and her blues soaked voice. She follows with a beautiful rendition of You’re My Reason Why. Both of her first couple of tracks, like most of her set, are taken from her 2023 album, A Modern Rage.
On record, these songs are embellished with the full band configuration. Here, Carpenter plays the songs solo and unaccompanied, save for an array of pedals to enhance the songs. Delores pulls inspiration from Westworld with Charlotte hitting the distortion pedal for a heavier crescendo. Robotic themes continue with You’re Free And I’m Not; it’s a song with the fear of AI at its core.
Before closing, Charlotte Carpenter thanks the audience for arriving early to see her set for her first appearance at Manchester Folk Festival. Like A Hurricane closes her shot, but excellent, set. This is a singer to keep an eye on; like Carpenter’s first appearance at the festival, it’s this writers first exposure to her music, and what a brilliant surprise. As we say, always see the support.
MAZ O’CONNOR
In contrast, Maz O’Connor has been here before. We caught her set at Gorilla all the way back in 2019. Times have changed, and Maz has been through a lot. An experimental lockdown album, a musical hiatus, entering motherhood and a reconnection with music to create one of 2026’s standout records in Love It Is A Killing Thing (our review here).
It’s the new record that is mainly on show here. And it’s the first time some of this material has been played live, certainly as a trio. Zac Hobbs and Anna Rheingans assisted with recording the new album. They join Maz for the first three-quarters of her dazzling set.
Barefooted and dressed in a red dress, Maz O’Connor has charm and confidence in spades. You can tell that there is a renewed passion in the new songs she has crafted. An enchanting Once I Had A Sweetheart opens the set in grand fashion. Whilst it might have been nerve wracking playing these songs live as a trio for the first time, it doesn’t show. Traditional folk songs are at the heart of the new album with melodies and verses added to take ownership of the songs. These are songs that ‘dyed in the wool folkies’ will recognise, but A Man Like You flips the script with the genders reversed.
FOLKIE FRIENDS
As the trio play Jenny Put The Kettle On and a stunning rendition of Silver Dagger, you can sense they are really enjoying themselves. There is a buzz around the room as each passing song is met with growing applause.
O’Connor asks for a hand for Zac and Anna. ‘To record live, you’ve got to be pretty fecking good!’ says Maz. She’s not wrong. Both Hobbs and Rheingans are top class; the latter moving between banjo and fiddle. Let No Man Steal Your Thyme concludes the ‘band’ portion of the set before a few choice solo cuts.
Cordelia is a tale of King Lear’s youngest daughter and how she stood up to her father by not speaking an untruth. Written at the height of #MeToo movement, it showcases the fragility and beauty in O’Connor’s voice in the most stripped back way. Jessica, written as a more studio based composition for 2022’s What I Wanted record, is played solo on the ukulele.
To close out, Maz O’Connor plays a sumptuous version of Loved Me Better. It is one of the jewels in the O’Connor crown, wrought with emotion and completely spellbinding. The rapturous applause speaks volumes as the set concludes. This was an absolute success.
Maz O’Connor performs a Live To Your Living Room set on Thursday 26th March. You can get tickets here.
THE YOUNG’UNS
And so, the The Young’uns. The Teeside vocal harmony trio that have ploughed their furrow for over two decades now. In that time, they have won prestigious folk awards, played around the world and put lots of smiles on lots of faces.
A Place Called England is the opening salvo. It’s been a staple of the set for a while and again, the crowd show their excitement and appreciation in a huge reception at the end. Tom Paine’s Bones follows up the brisk pace with Sean Cooney talking of the stories of each song, and paying tribute to the authors.
The stories behind the songs are just as important as the actual songs themselves. Richard Moore is a poignant tale that Cooney describes in great detail. A true tale of forgiveness and redemption, the introduction is punctuated with warmth from the crowd as the details are laid bare. With the emotion-meter set to 11, you can hear a pin drop in the auditorium. It is, not for the first time, completely spine tingling.
Whilst there is a deep, deep stream of emotion in all of The Young’uns songs, they still manage to tease out an anecdote or two that cracks the shell of the sombre tones. Whilst Richard Moore’s tale is one that tugs at the heart strings, the ‘Derry Lama’ tale of how he is referred too in Derry raises a laugh and keeps the mood lighter.
WHERE TO NOW?!
Having an actual comic in the band helps create some truly laugh out loud moments between the band. The connection and chemistry between the three is evident and when David Eagle asks ‘Where to now?!’ Michael Hughes admonishes him behind the beautiful Steinway piano. Again, the lighter shade leads into one of The Young’uns mightiest pieces. A song they have been ‘singing for nearly 10 years,’ again has Eagle chirping up with quips as Cooney introduces the incredibly emotional Be The Man. It is a song of love, loss and the turmoil of not being able to be yourself. It is emotional and rousing (see the video below).
Borrowed Boots is another from 2023’s Tiny Notes. Pique La Baleine is a blazing shanty that is a fan request. It features on 2012’s When Our Grandfather’s Said No. A turn into the bands theatre piece; The Ballad Of Johnny Longstaff; sees a great version of Cable Street. Cooney mentions that they will performing a show on Cable Street later in the year, so keep ’em peeled for that one.
MANCHESTER FOLK
For the closing strains, The Young’Uns deliver the knockout blow that is John Ball. A song that for as long as this writer has been following the band, they have always performed. Plenty of crowd participation leads to a massive ovation to close the set. The trio return for a one song encore of a ‘Manchester folk song’ in the form of a cover James’ Sit Down. Again, it’s another joyous song that has a huge singalong.
When they hit the merch after the show, the queues are massive for the bands wares; notably, Cooney’s Peter’s Field book which is available now.
The Young’uns are remain one of the finest folk bands in all the land. Their songs will live on and endure for years to come. In Maz O’Connor, we are blessed to have a wonderful songwriter who does things the right way, on her own terms. And Charlotte Carpenter is clearly one to watch. An all round splendid night of music.
The Young’uns: Website
Maz O’Connor: Website
Charlotte Carpenter: Website