| Bastard Children Of Australian Folk: Ed Fringe 08 ** |
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Perhaps a better title for "The Bastard Children of Australian Folk", would be "The entirely legitimate children of country rock with an aussie accent and an accordion". Similarly C Venue's "Cabaret Bar" would be better described as a "dingy function suite in the basement of a hotel". Although by Fringe standards it was perfectly acceptable. However the "Bastard Children" failed to grasp the restricted size of their venue and the show was made literarily uncomfortable by the extreme volume they decided to plough through their PA system. The mandolin was so shrill that I found myself constantly wincing every time its owner so much as stroked it. Their act seemed designed for a stadium, and they never really embraced the potential for intimacy. I was hoping for an interesting re-working of that elusive, but surely interesting traditional music of the antipodes. Immigration and varying strands of tradition mingling together in a single country must make for fascinating listening. However this group did not share any of their roots with us. There was little or no explanation of the "folk" (albeit bastardised) that their name suggested. I should point out that these are a group of very talented musicians. Chris Winterton has excellent ability on harmonica and accordion, and the band he fronted was exceptionally tight. However this tightness, rather than being put to good use became a vehicle for bashing out crescendos after crescendo in the majority of their songs. At moments there were glimmers of a Fairport like approach to finishing a song with a blistering tune based rampage. Sadly these moments were few and far between. They had also decided to indulge in the apparently obligatory uniform of the Australian at the Edinburgh Festival (hats, ties, braces, waistcoats etc). Sadly however the taste displayed by the quality of their vintage garb was not apparent in their music. Attempts at a bit of theatricality were ham-fisted and consisted of fairly pointless wanderings amongst the audience, that criminally overdone "what shall we toast to?" routine, and asking if there were any Australians in. In their blurb the group promised: "A multi-instrumental globe-hopping jaunt through Australian musical landscapes with wheezing accordions, bleeding harmonicas, tearing guitars, scraping mandolins and more." Someone should let "The Bastard Children of Australian Folk" know that if their instruments sound like a list of medical symptoms, they should either turn their PA down substantially, or re-brand their music as a matter of urgency. The scraping of that mandolin will remain with me for a long time. |