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''Live at the Royal Albert Hall'' is a 1996 live album by English acoustic roots duo Show of Hands. It was performed live at the Royal Albert Hall on 24 March 1996, following the success of their studio album, ''Lie of the Land''. The album is also known as ''24 March 1996'' as the album cover hints. It is their second live album and eighth album overall. The performance of the duo at the Royal Albert Hall in London came about as an attempt to gather the duo's fans, a fan base that had built gradually but quickly grew following the release of ''Lie of the Land'', and to raise profile in the duo. The duo were ridiculed for booking the hall, people saying the performance would not sell out. Nonetheless, the performance sold out with advance orders, and raised the duo's profile. Producer and manager Gerard O'Farrell recorded the event for a live album on the cost of £200. The album was released in August to positive reviews, and for many years was the duo's best selling album. ==Background and live performance== Show of Hands became a collaboration for Devonian folk musicians Steve Knightley and Phil Beer in 1987, although the two had walked together several times before. The duo recorded the cassette-only albums ''Show of Hands'' (1987) and ''Tall Ships'' (1990) whilst Beer was still a member of The Albion Band, but Beer left The Albion Band in late 1990, allowing Show of Hands to become a full time partnership. They recorded their last cassette-only album, ''Out for the Count'', in 1991, and formed Anglo-Chilean band Alianza with Dave Townsend with three Chilean musicians, exploring world music. Alianza released a self-titled album in 1992, becoming Knightley and Beer's first CD release. Knightley and Beer soon returned as Show of Hands and, with engineer Mike Trim, recorded a performance of Show of Hands from 8 June 1992 at Bridport's Bull Hotel, and released it on TWAH! Records in 1994 as ''Show of Hands Live'', the duo's first CD, but by the time of its release, the band's previous three albums were out of print,〔''Roots: The Best of Show of Hands'' liner notes〕 leading to it often being referred to as the band's album.〔Though the cassette albums have not returned to print, selected tracks from them were released as the compilation ''Backlog 1987–1991'' in 1995.〕 The band liked how the live album sounded and hired Mike Trim to produce their first CD studio album, ''Beat about the Bush'', released on TWAH! Records in February 1994, an album that helped build on the band's success, although "despite Mike Trim's best efforts",〔''Roots: The Best of Show of Hands''〕 the album did not receive the radio attention it intended, and the duo simplified their sound for their subsequent album, ''Lie of the Land'', released in 1995 on Isis Records. Prior to the release of ''Lie of the Land'', the band hired Gerard O'Farrell for live performances supporting ''Beat about the Bush'', but he soon became the band's manager, and produced ''Lie of the Land''.〔http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Show-Of-Hands.html〕 Whilst the duo had gradually built success, ''Lie of the Land'' was seen as a major turning point, having been given attention by major publications such as ''Mojo'' and ''Q'', the latter naming it "folk album of the year".〔http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Show-Of-Hands.html〕 The duo received more attention and, by early 1996, they had by now built up a considerable fanbase through their mailing list.〔http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Show-Of-Hands.html〕 But despite the escalating fan base, they still could not command any London gigs. Knightley, Beer and manager O’Farrell took the gamble of hiring London's famous Royal Albert Hall for an performance on the evening of 24 March 1996, in attempt to gather all of the duo's fans, and to raise the duo's profile.〔http://tomrobinson.com/writing/soh.htm〕 The duo hired the hall "to the amusement of the media and the cynicism of sceptics" and was considered a huge gamble.〔http://www.showofhands.co.uk/about/show-of-hands-full-biog/〕 Nonetheless, the performance sold out in advance. Selling out the hall was unprecedented for a folk act.〔http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/music/preview-show-hands-sage-gateshead-1423155〕 One biography said that the success "proved that for this enigmatic, indy duo anything was possible."〔http://www.showofhands.co.uk/about/show-of-hands-full-biog/〕 Knightley said in 1997 that "people still talk about it in glowing terms."〔http://tomrobinson.com/writing/soh.htm〕 He also noted that "quite a lot of people now know Show Of Hands as 'Those guys who did the Albert Hall'. So it's opened a lot of doors. In India there was a tremendous cachet - we were checked out by people who came to see us just because of having played the Royal Albert Hall. In America as well. So it exceeded all our expectations in that sense."〔http://tomrobinson.com/writing/soh.htm〕 O'Farrell commenced producing the performance as a live album, whose production work on ''Lie of the Land'' pleased the duo, who also liked the live sound of their previous live album ''Show of Hands Live'', produced by Mike Trim. The album cost £200 on the night to record.〔http://tomrobinson.com/writing/soh.htm〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Show of Hands album)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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