| Stonehaven Folk Festival 2007 **** |
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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. |