I was expecting maybe a village festival in sleepy Farleigh Hungerfod? No way! "The Pump" is a huge festival - not quite as big as Shrewsbury but getting there.
The festival kicked off with "Brits Night" - one act from Wales (Allan Yn Y Fan) one from Eire (Cara Dillon), one from Scotland (Battlefield Band)and one from England (Oysterband). In practise of course, each band had a mixture of Brits in it, and some of the Irish artists none too happy about being "Brits" for the night!! We arrived half way through Cara Dillon who gave her usual faultless performance. Was disappointed with the Battlefield Band who had changed their line up and didn't seem to rock as much as when I'd seen them before at South Hill Park. Oysterband were fab as usual, but seemed to suffer from poor sound quality. Trouble was, we had to leave half-an-hour into their act, as we both had to work the next day. Disappointment was to follow on Friday as two acts I really wanted to see (Ben Paley's and Michael McGoldrick's) were on in the afternoon. A bit more consideration for us working people next time Trowbridge!!
Arrived in time for festival food and '6 Day Riot' who were OK but not my kind of music, and the lead singer's voice somehow got on my nerves (too harsh?).
Show of Hands gave the performance of the festival, with the main tent overspilling with (I'd guess) over 2000 people all of whom that were able were standing up and clapping at the end!! 'Roots' is without a doubt the most popular protest song that Steve Knightley has written, and seems to strike a chord with country folk wherever he goes. Phil introduced Little Feat with breathless enthusiasm, but they were SO disappointing! Maybe sound was a problem again, but in my opinion, only the lead guitarist was noteworthy in any way. Sadly we couldn't stay for Peatbog Faeries, both being knackered from staying up late for the Oysterband.
Saturday had some great acts on, including Richard Digance, Devon Sproule, Richard Thompson (Patrick wasn't impressed but I think he's brilliant), Vin Garbutt (relatively sober), Jackie Leven, the Demon Barber Roadshow (excellent new songs, and great clog/rapper/Cotswold morris dancing).
Sunday was somewhat uninspiring, so we spent most of the day doing things around the house.However we did pop across to Farleigh Hungerford to see Hard Travelers and Hotel Palindrone from Austria. Hard Travelers were somewhat uncoordinated, it being only their fourth gig together (why then were they given the main stage?) but have the makings of a good band - Woody Guthrie goes rock!!
The funloving guys from Hotel Palindrone noticed some French dancing experts in the audience (the same ladies who had taught us a few dances at Cyser's gig in Bath), so they endeavoured to play mazurkas, schottisches or tunes suitable for other French dances. Albin even jumped off the stage to teach us an Austrian dance! However there wasn't a huge audience as most people had gone to see Don McLean in the main tent. Wouldn't it have been funny if Steve Knightley had been invited on stage to join in with "American Pie" - he'd never live it down, given the opening verse of 'Roots'!
A good end to a superb festival, can't believe I've never been tempted to go before!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
3 Daft Monkeys/Show of Hands in Cardiff
As part of the Welsh Proms some enlightened individual had decided to book three West Country acts (although most were fellow Celts, being from Cornwall). The 3 Daft Monkeys seemed somewhat overwhelmed at being in St David's Hall, which is a grand venue and where I was presented with my degree fifteen years ago(!!) They started off with a song based on the traditional Cornish tune 'Ryb An Afon' which went down really well with the audience. The superb acoustics meant Athene's violin skills and Tim's lyrics could be much more appreciated than any other 3DM gig I've been to. The audience also dutifully swayed along to 'Social Vertigo'!
After 3DM came Fisherman's Friends, the Port Isaac male choir who were exactly what I expected - a small choir from a Cornish village singing sea shanties. Good but stage banter but somewhat risque for Cardiff!
Show of Hands were next up, and soon got the audience singing along to 'Cousin Jack' (for which Fisherman's Friends and Paul Downes joined them), 'Haul Away Joe' and even 'Roots'! They got a standing ovation at the end which has become almost expected now. 3 Daft Monkeys joined everyone on stage for the encore, which was a close-harmony rendition of 'Haul Away The Anchor' - possibly the first time Tim had sung a sea shanty?
Well worth the drive out to Cardiff once more.
After 3DM came Fisherman's Friends, the Port Isaac male choir who were exactly what I expected - a small choir from a Cornish village singing sea shanties. Good but stage banter but somewhat risque for Cardiff!
Show of Hands were next up, and soon got the audience singing along to 'Cousin Jack' (for which Fisherman's Friends and Paul Downes joined them), 'Haul Away Joe' and even 'Roots'! They got a standing ovation at the end which has become almost expected now. 3 Daft Monkeys joined everyone on stage for the encore, which was a close-harmony rendition of 'Haul Away The Anchor' - possibly the first time Tim had sung a sea shanty?
Well worth the drive out to Cardiff once more.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Finally moved house!
Yes, we're finally in! All there is to do is return to clean the flat, then post the keys back to the landlord.
It took several Micra carloads to get all of our stuff into the new house, and at the moment the lounge is piled up with cardboard boxes. We are still a little short on furniture, as we moved from a furnished flat. When book shelves arrive on Friday we should be able to put most of our huge collection of books away!
It is a lovely little house, with not much that needs doing - the back garden will be the big thing, as it's just gravelled over at the moment. Patrick is looking enthusiatically at sheds!
In breaks we managed to visit the Royal Oak Folk Music and Beer Festival (our new local). Sadly we missed Mike Scott, though we bought one of his CDs that were on offer at the bar. We also missed Kerr/Fagan/Harbron/Burton but I expect we wouldn't have got into the pub! We did manage to see Hilary Pavey and Dave Totterdell, Amy and Fiddler's John and Stanton Delaplane who were all very good.
On Saturday we met up with some of Cardiff Branch of CAMRA who were doing a pub crawl of Bath, was very good to see some of the old crowd again. Beer of the festival was definitely the superbly hoppy 'Cruel Summer' by Mallinsons, which we sampled on Sunday as we celebrated moving in!
It took several Micra carloads to get all of our stuff into the new house, and at the moment the lounge is piled up with cardboard boxes. We are still a little short on furniture, as we moved from a furnished flat. When book shelves arrive on Friday we should be able to put most of our huge collection of books away!
It is a lovely little house, with not much that needs doing - the back garden will be the big thing, as it's just gravelled over at the moment. Patrick is looking enthusiatically at sheds!
In breaks we managed to visit the Royal Oak Folk Music and Beer Festival (our new local). Sadly we missed Mike Scott, though we bought one of his CDs that were on offer at the bar. We also missed Kerr/Fagan/Harbron/Burton but I expect we wouldn't have got into the pub! We did manage to see Hilary Pavey and Dave Totterdell, Amy and Fiddler's John and Stanton Delaplane who were all very good.
On Saturday we met up with some of Cardiff Branch of CAMRA who were doing a pub crawl of Bath, was very good to see some of the old crowd again. Beer of the festival was definitely the superbly hoppy 'Cruel Summer' by Mallinsons, which we sampled on Sunday as we celebrated moving in!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Priddy Good Day
Went to Priddy Folk Festival on Sunday - I really wanted to see Martha Tilston and the Woods, as I hadn't seen them for ages. We just about got there on time for Martha, who was excellent. The crowd was quite small due to a clash with a guided walk, but she brought the house down with 'All the Angels' and 'Artificial'. Martha told us she was carrying a little person - let's hope the baby inherits the Tilston folk gene too.
Sieze The Day were the discovery of the festival - hard-hitting folk-protest with a bit of pagan mysticism thrown in for good measure. They have obviously been touring for a long while - surprised I hadn't come across them before. Patrick bought the live album which is great - my favourite track is 'Designer Baby' but you might want to cover a little-one's ears as it gets quite graphic!!
Nancy Kerr and James Fagan were very good, the sound was far better than last time we saw them. They had a very different set and some new songs for us - which were very enjoyable. Mike Scott, whom we'd seen before at the Bath Folk Club as a floor spot act, was very popular and proved that you can have a folk song about how good in bed you are!! Everyone sang along to 'Old Ones Still Doing It' too. Dubious...
All in all it's a good little festival, at the heart of the little village, with a variety of things for people to do as well as listen to music. Hope to be back for the whole weekend next year!
Sieze The Day were the discovery of the festival - hard-hitting folk-protest with a bit of pagan mysticism thrown in for good measure. They have obviously been touring for a long while - surprised I hadn't come across them before. Patrick bought the live album which is great - my favourite track is 'Designer Baby' but you might want to cover a little-one's ears as it gets quite graphic!!
Nancy Kerr and James Fagan were very good, the sound was far better than last time we saw them. They had a very different set and some new songs for us - which were very enjoyable. Mike Scott, whom we'd seen before at the Bath Folk Club as a floor spot act, was very popular and proved that you can have a folk song about how good in bed you are!! Everyone sang along to 'Old Ones Still Doing It' too. Dubious...
All in all it's a good little festival, at the heart of the little village, with a variety of things for people to do as well as listen to music. Hope to be back for the whole weekend next year!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Seth Lakeman at the Cheese and Grain, Frome
As it was pouring with rain after work, Patrick and I decided to explore a couple of pubs in Frome before the gig. The Globe was all right, and we had a cold pint of Butcombe Bitter before heading off in search of food and more beer. Heading up the hill, I spotted a Blindman's Brewery pub, the Lamb Inn, with a notice in the window displaying meal times. The Beer Nose said YES and indeed there were 8 handpumps with mostly beer from Blindman's, a couple of guests from other micros and Rich's Farmhouse Cider. We noticed the unusual pies and sausages on the specials boards - I had a prawn and spring onion pie and Patrick had a Chicken Jalfrezi pie - both surprisingly delicious. Apparently they had their pie machine specially brought down from Bolton - I bet that pleases Patrick! We also bought a 2 pint takeout of the cider to drink later but it leaked out of it's carton - we will bring the proper carrykeg next time!
We had to queue up outside the Cheese and Grain till 8pm as the rain fell harder, but the reward was a standing space almost at the front. We didn't like the support act - not that she was a bad singer or guitarist, but she played Janis Joplin style blues-rock which was totally different to Seth's style of music and not really our thing. Seth came on at about 9.30 but we had to leave at about 10.45 as I was getting very tired. I did insist on staying for 'Kitty Jay' though! I wonder how many fiddle bows Seth gets through in a tour - the bow started to resemble two pony tails on a stick by the time he'd finished! I also liked the new song 'Haunt You' cowritten by Steve Knightley - but it reminded me of a certain person's strange behaviour that I've been hearing about...obviously not that happy with her new partner if she needs to pester her ex!! I need to buy the album. It's great that it's No. 8 in the charts but we folkies need to get it to No. 1, I think.
A great evening and Seth and his band were on top form. He needs to get on the stage earlier next time though ;-)
We had to queue up outside the Cheese and Grain till 8pm as the rain fell harder, but the reward was a standing space almost at the front. We didn't like the support act - not that she was a bad singer or guitarist, but she played Janis Joplin style blues-rock which was totally different to Seth's style of music and not really our thing. Seth came on at about 9.30 but we had to leave at about 10.45 as I was getting very tired. I did insist on staying for 'Kitty Jay' though! I wonder how many fiddle bows Seth gets through in a tour - the bow started to resemble two pony tails on a stick by the time he'd finished! I also liked the new song 'Haunt You' cowritten by Steve Knightley - but it reminded me of a certain person's strange behaviour that I've been hearing about...obviously not that happy with her new partner if she needs to pester her ex!! I need to buy the album. It's great that it's No. 8 in the charts but we folkies need to get it to No. 1, I think.
A great evening and Seth and his band were on top form. He needs to get on the stage earlier next time though ;-)
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Saul Folk and Boat Festival
The weather was not kind to Saul, but kinder than last year when the Festival had to be cancelled due to the site being flooded! During the downpours, everyone crammed in to the excellent beer tent, the Drum and Monkey, and listened to whoever was playing in there (usually a blues guitarist or a skiffle band).
Oysterband and Show of Hands were headlining - two of our favorite bands! The Oysterband have apparently been playing for 30 years now - how they still find that amazing creative energy in their performance and music I don't know! The sound was excellent at their gig and we did some pretty wild dancing up in the mosh pit. Our friends Ian and Janet, who were staying with us on the narrowboat (now in it's new moorings just opposite the festival site) also enjoyed the Oysterband, despite not being folkies.
Sadly they could not stay for Show of Hands - a lot of people decided to head off on Sunday because of the weather, but the main tent was still absolutely packed when Show of Hands appeared on stage. They must have brought a lot of their fans from the West Country with them! Steve and Phil were somewhat cheeky to do a medley of about 5 songs when they'd been told they could do one more - but the stage manager was out of order to shout at them during an instrumental. The crowd were going wild and we soon drowned him out with our singing!! I hope Steve and Phil were not too offended and come back again next year.
It was also a pleasure to see Mawkin again but not too sure about Mr Causley. He had a nice voice but seemed to have a bit of a huge ego - and made quite a few mistakes. Maybe we just caught him on an off day. Ruth Notman was on very good form, she has matured as an artist a great deal since I last saw her. Poor sound spoiled Kerr Fagan Harbron's performance which was a shame (we were sat at the back which didn't help) - I know how good they can be when the sound's good! Patrick enjoyed Kevin Brown, a chap from Lancashire who plays blues guitar and composes his own songs - the luxurious location of the Cromwell paddle-steamer's lounge seemed just the right place to listen to him somehow.
Very good festival and the rain didn't spoil it at all for us!
Oysterband and Show of Hands were headlining - two of our favorite bands! The Oysterband have apparently been playing for 30 years now - how they still find that amazing creative energy in their performance and music I don't know! The sound was excellent at their gig and we did some pretty wild dancing up in the mosh pit. Our friends Ian and Janet, who were staying with us on the narrowboat (now in it's new moorings just opposite the festival site) also enjoyed the Oysterband, despite not being folkies.
Sadly they could not stay for Show of Hands - a lot of people decided to head off on Sunday because of the weather, but the main tent was still absolutely packed when Show of Hands appeared on stage. They must have brought a lot of their fans from the West Country with them! Steve and Phil were somewhat cheeky to do a medley of about 5 songs when they'd been told they could do one more - but the stage manager was out of order to shout at them during an instrumental. The crowd were going wild and we soon drowned him out with our singing!! I hope Steve and Phil were not too offended and come back again next year.
It was also a pleasure to see Mawkin again but not too sure about Mr Causley. He had a nice voice but seemed to have a bit of a huge ego - and made quite a few mistakes. Maybe we just caught him on an off day. Ruth Notman was on very good form, she has matured as an artist a great deal since I last saw her. Poor sound spoiled Kerr Fagan Harbron's performance which was a shame (we were sat at the back which didn't help) - I know how good they can be when the sound's good! Patrick enjoyed Kevin Brown, a chap from Lancashire who plays blues guitar and composes his own songs - the luxurious location of the Cromwell paddle-steamer's lounge seemed just the right place to listen to him somehow.
Very good festival and the rain didn't spoil it at all for us!
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