Live at the Royal Albert Hall is the second live album by English acoustic roots duo Show of Hands. Following the success of their stripped-down fifth studio album Lie of the Land, the duo experienced attention from major publications, who praised the album, and the duo's fan base had built. Nonetheless, the duo were unable to commerce any performances in London. Their duo and their manager and producer Gerard O'Farrell took the gamble of hosting the city's historic Royal Albert Hall for a concert on 24 March 1996. The concert would be an attempt to gather all of the duo's fans and to raise the duo's profile. The duo were ridiculed for booking the hall, with many saying the performance would not sell out. Nonetheless, not only did the performance sell out, but it did so with advance orders, and it raised the duo's profile.

Producer and manager Gerard O'Farrell recorded the event for a live album on the cost of £200, and the duo released it on their own label Hands on Music in August 1996. It was released to positive reviews, with one review stating that it "stands alone as a showcase for the best of the band's repertoire over the last couple of years." The album became the duo's best-selling album to date, a title it would hold for many years, and had sold 4,000-5,000 copies by mid-1997. The duo have since performed at the Royal Albert Hall on three other occasions.

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 continued performing as a duo 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 The Road Goes on Forever in 1992 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, leading to it often being referred to as the band's album.

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