Programme notes:
Incredible String Band
"If there is one set of people who can fairly be credited with lifting folk music, or at least certain aspects of the music that hides under that blanket term, away from its roots and bringing it to a wider audience, then it must be the Incredible String Band.
They have never sheltered behind a purist tag and their music has gradually developed over the years through many changes to become a unique blend of forms and ideas from as many different cultures as you can imagine - from America through British to Far Eastern.
But the operative word is unique, because you could never find a formula running through their work and apply it to anyone else.
From the days when it was Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron, through the time when Mike and Robin were on their own, to the slow growth of the band to a four-piece including Rose and Licorice, to the present day with Robin, Mike, Licorice and Malcolm Le Maistre, the Incredibles have brought a freshness of approach to music that has delighted and enriched a scene that so often lacks delights or riches.
Their recent tours of Britain and America should have brought to their latest incarnation of the family closeness that is always a mark of the Incredibles at their best.
If they play as well today as they did at the Festival Hall earlier in the year, their set should be one of the highest in a day of high spots.
Enjoy them."