Ninebarrow in Guildford - Bringing the Rainbow to Our Cloud
- joahughejh
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Ninebarrow in Concert
Friday 14 November 2025
St Nicolas' Parish Church, Guildford
Ninebarrow defied Storm Claudia this month to make the journey from their Dorset home to Guildford. Rolling into St Nicolas’ Parish Church more than 4 hours before show time, Jon Whitley and Jay LaBouchardiere worked together with practiced precision to transform the 19th century splendour of St Nics into a welcoming, rainbow-washed sanctuary, to be later filled with their glorious, uplifting music.
The reaction of the church’s cleaning lady during the sound check was our first evidence of Ninebarrow’s profound impact on an audience. She put aside her broom for a moment and stood transfixed by Jon and Jay’s perfect blend of vocals, whispering a short prayer before exclaiming, “What beautiful voices!”
According to Ninebarrow’s website, their last visit to our town was in 2022. It seems that the three-year wait had heightened the sense of joyful anticipation in our audience. Early arrivals started gathering 20 minutes before doors, others persevered valiantly through Guildford’s notorious Friday rush hour, and our little bar and bake sale was never so popular.
As house lights in the nave dimmed, the colourful spotlights lit up the Chancel making a beautiful arc for Jon and Jay’s arrival on stage. Standing on the sidelines, looking out towards the audience, we could see every face turned towards the stage. For two hours of Ninebarrow’s entrancing performance, our metaphorical dark clouds seemed to part and just over there, beyond the stage, is that a rainbow shimmering?
Ninebarrow's rainbow inside St Nicolas' in Guildford
(image credit: Jo Hughes)
Ninebarrow at St Nics (image credit: Jo Hughes)
Thank yous!
Thanks firstly to our audience and everyone who bought tickets. Thanks for supporting Ninebarrow and live music in Guildford.
Big love to Jon and Jay for their music, and for the care and attention they put into everything, including helping someone to make a dream come true.
Postscript: It was absolutely extraordinary to see the huge amount of work behind the scenes that these two amazing musicians put into a two hour concert. Jon and Jay were in perpetual motion for at least 10 hours, travelling, loading in, setting up, breaking down and packing up before making the long journey home.
Thanks to Carole and Mike for helping out at the bar, front-of-house and with all the unglamorous jobs of putting away chairs, collecting glasses and cleaning up afterwards. It is impossible to put these gigs on without the generous help of friends.
As always, to my Mum for the brownies, which helped to raise £78 for arts charity, Creative Response, and for her unconditional love.
Set list:
Walk With Me, composed by Jon Whitley
I Shall Be Released, by Bob Dylan
For A Time, by Jon Whitley
Hey John Barleycorn, Trad
Teignmouth, by Patrick Wolf
To The Stones, by Jon Whitley
You Who Wander, by Jon Whitley
Ride On, by Jimmy McCarthy
Names in the Sky, by Jon Whitley
The Weeds, by Jon Whitley
Row On, by Tom Laycock
Under The Fence, by Jon Whitley
Marching Feet, by Bob Whitley
Farewell Shanty, Trad.
(All arrangements by Ninebarrow)
If you enjoyed Ninebarrow, check out our next concert with 2 absolutely stunning instrumental duos at St Mary's Guildford, Thursday 11 December at 7:30 pm.
Next Spring, join Miranda Rutter and Rob Harbron for Miranda's exquisitely crafted suite of Bird Tunes.
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