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stonehavenfolkfestival.co.uk
Review by Tom Harland
The picturesque village of Stonehaven in
the North East of Scotland makes an ideal setting for a
folk festival and I was not dissapointed by three days of
fine weather, quality acts in the town hall, raging sessions
on the harbour-front and general folkie debauchery.
Opening the 19th festival was the enchanting Kate Rusby
(pictured) who, despite seeming to grudge the distance she'd
had to travel (by air!), supplied a delicate and beautiful
set including two brand new songs, "Awkward Annie"
and "The Bitter Boy", which will be featured on
her upcoming album. Interspersing filthy sea shanties such
as "The Wild Goose" with driving classics such
as her own "Elfin Knight" and a fragile solo encore
performance of "Underneath the Stars", it was
little surprise that the concert was sold out weeks before
the festival commenced.
Friday was headlined by the Godfather of Folk, the great
Archie Fisher who gave a solid performance and revelled
in getting the crowd singing along with numbers such "The
Broom". The festival is intimately linked to Danny
Kyle who was on the scene at its' inception and remains
(in plaster cast form) in the festival office. The tradition
of featuring Danny Kyle award winners is a shrewd one and
this year's victors "Wingin' It" were no disappointment.
Dazzling interplay between guitar and mandolin and mezmerizing
jazzy riffs are the band's hallmark and they had the balls
to knock out a fantastic acoustic version of Pink Floyd's
"Another Brick in the Wall" to a folkie crowd
champing at the Fisher-bit - respect! Pete Coe opened the
evening with a number of well crafted ballads played on
an exciting range of instruments including the dulcimer,
yet I felt that the Canadian Morris dancing was a bit indulgent
- stick to the songs Pete!
Alas I missed GiveWay, Kristina Olsen and Ally Bain and
Phil Cunningham on Saturday due to some unfortunate wranglings
with the Festival Committee over press coverage. Nevertheless,
the Stonehaven committee members proved to be both helpful
and friendly and I cannot fault them for that.
The last night of the festival went down a treat with Orcadian
duo "Saltfishforty" bringing an entertaining set
which at one point included reading the chords for a new
tune from a paper plate! The highlight of friday was African
singers "Black Umfolosi 5" who were magnificently
tight singers and wonderfully rhythmic dancers (even with
Firemen's helmets and wellie-boots on!). Wolfstone were
a poor choice to close the festival as their changed line-up
makes them sound more like "Busted" than a Folk-Rock
group.
Nevertheless, the event was brilliant and is definiately
worth the trip for any folkies out there who have not been
to this beautiful seaside town at this special time of year.
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