POP MUSIC REVIEW : June Tabor at McCabes: Folk Songs at Safe Distance

A concert by English folk singer June Tabor has more in common with a trip to the museum than with the average pop show.

At McCabe’s on Saturday, her spare, distant style held no room for the audience to revel in the show as participants; they were left to listen and observe, clearly admiring the art on display but also one step removed from it. She even thanked the crowd at the end of the set “for sitting so absolutely still”--barely a foot had tapped or a head bobbed for the entire 90 minutes.

None of this is to detract from Tabor’s talent. Where others thrill by drawing listeners in, she astonishes them at a safe distance. Tabor methodically and tenderly showed off a repertoire drawn from more than three centuries of songs, including Celtic music, American Indian writings and numbers from her current album “Angel Tiger,” among them a song written for her by Elvis Costello.

Tabor may not be the most involving performer around, but with her rich alto, masterful use of silence as emphasis, and historian’s focus, she’s one of the most compelling.