You are hereCambridge Folk Festival 2010 (Sunday)
Cambridge Folk Festival 2010 (Sunday)
Northern Sky in partnership with Fatea
SUNDAY
It's something of a tradition to sit in front of the main stage to hear the omnibus edition of The Archers, whist reading the Sunday papers. The weather looked promising once again and now that the two large screens on the outside of the main stage make it less essential to fight for a place right at the front, the focus is on choosing a prime place in front of the screens. Before midday, a nice gathering of seats and blankets made up an orderly, if somewhat chaotic looking sea of bodies. Gretchen Peters opened up proceedings earlier in the club tent with her songwriting workshop, enlightening those eager to learn something of the finer aspects of the art of songwriting.
One of the recent aesthetical improvements to the Cherry Hinton grounds during the festival weekend is the gallery of amusing artworks by graphic artist David Owen scattered around the site. Whether it be Morecambe and Wise in Morris kit or a HSO warning that we should definitely not meet on the ledge, Owen's pop art has become a familiar attraction to the site and long may it continue.
The young Jackie Oates is featured in one of Owen's posters, coincidentally and justifiably merged with another famous first lady. I can't think of any other adjective than 'delightful' to describe anything and everything Jackie Oates does. There's an inherent professionalism in everything she turns her hands to, whether it's a collaboration with other musicians, a fiddle workshop where she shares her knowledge of tunes from her own neck of the woods, or whether fronting her own fine band. Accompanied by the diverse talents of Mike Cosgrove, Tristan Tsume and James Budden, Jackie held her audience spellbound at this main stage appearance and at other appearances over the weekend, all featuring amongst other things, songs from her current album Hyperboreans.
Wearing a peculiar hat isn't unusual at the Cambridge Folk Festival, so today's campaign for wearing even more adventurous forms of head gear, endorsed by festival manager Eddie Barcan, brought a smile to most. There was indeed the young lady with a 45rpm vinyl record worn as a sort of fascinator, or the bloke with a wicker basket on his head, not to mention the kettle hat. It's all part of the Cambridge experience. I spent some of the afternoon talking to festival regulars, whilst Salsa Celtica endeavoured to get everyone on their feet dancing as a grey cloud hovered threatening to break the spell of fantastic sunshine since Saturday noon. Writer and broadcaster Ian Clayton was happy to reminisce about his thirty-odd year association with Cambridge from a single happy go lucky music loving Northerner of the Seventies to his more recent family oriented visits.
For Gretchen Peters' second appearance of the day, the singer-songwriter was joined by her partner Barry Walsh to perform a selection of favourites from her repertoire. Introduced as a brilliant songwriter, Gretchen's warmth as a performer was tangible as she performed songs such as Independence Day, Germantown and the stunning Tom Russell song Guadalupe with Barry's sensitive piano and accordion accompaniment.
The unexpected surprise of the festival came with Jamaica's sixty-year-old trio The Jolly Boys, masters in the art of Mento, which is neither a martial art nor a lozenge to make your breath sweeter, but the indigenous music of Jamaica and predecessor to both Ska and Reggae. Starting with a couple of authentic Mento folk songs, no one could have foreseen how the set would have developed. Cambridge has witnessed a full orchestra of ukulele's playing the Theme From Shaft and David Bowie's Life on Mars; Cambridge has also bore witness to a former Comic Strip actor attempting to be serious whilst playing London Calling and Up the Junction on a mandolin; but who could've imagined a Cambridge set list containing classics by the likes of Lou Reed, The Stranglers, The Doors, Blondie and Steely Dan, albeit in Mento style?
Forty-six years ago almost to the day, the young Paul Simon appeared at the very first Cambridge Folk Festival, banging out a thirty-minute set of Sixties Soho scene songs at the beginning of the Saturday evening concert. Almost five decades later, the young offspring of said folk superstar almost died on stage it has to be said with a mediocre performance, and believe me this is kind. Harper Simon's debut album warrants a place on the bill of any festival but something went horribly wrong tonight. Opening with The Buzzcocks Ever Fallen in Love, already covered more successfully in stripped down form by Thea Gilmore, was thoroughly bewildering. Losing his thread midway through the first chorus caused the loss of focus from which he couldn't recover sadly.
From class geek to class act though, as Mali's Rokia Traore delivered a beautiful set on the main stage. With four outstanding albums to select songs from, Rokia delighted the audience and saved the evening's concert from its dodgy start.
Over on Stage 2 the enigmatic CW Stoneking brought a taste of his own unique take on the blues, drawing from the Mississippi and Piedmont blues traditions, with the help of the Primitive Horn Orchestra. With a memorable performance on the BBC4 Folk America: Hollerers, Stompers and Old Time Ramblers, the Australian blues singer brought to Cambridge some of that evocative spirit of a bygone age of jazz.
Established festival enthusiasts will recall Kris Kristofferson's memorable performance at the Isle of Wight festival in 1970, when at one point the singer/actor leaned over towards band mate Norman Blake and quipped 'I think they're gonna kill us', responding to the unrest in the crowd. No such reception tonight as the country giant growled familiar song after song such as the timeless Me and Bobbie McGee, including a nod to former girlfriend Janis Joplin and the delicious Help Me Make It through the Night, which couldn't help remind us all of his unforgettably intimate Whistle Test performance with Rita Coolidge in the Seventies. I wasn't sure how this performance was going to work, but fortunately it went well. In view of the fact that he is one of our great songwriters, the least it did was tick a box.
A choice of finishing act this year with either Lunasa on Stage 1 or Show of Hands on Stage 2, whilst Jackie Oates finished off the featured artists in the club tent including performances throughout the day from the likes of Jonny Kearney and Lucy Farrell, Megson, Sean Taylor and the Hub band.
I must mention in closing though that had the group of revellers, who had gathered in front of the closed Guinness tent to hear some late night drunken rebel singing, moved slightly to the right towards the campsite entrance, they would have witnessed some of the most delicious bluegrass music, courtesy of the young Devon siblings Carrivick Sisters, together with an extraordinary young mandolin player called Joe. The main stage for you one day me lad.
.JPG)
_0.jpg)
.JPG)
