Saturday review

Cambridge Folk Festival 2001

26th-29th July 2001
Cherry Hinton Hall Grounds, Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge.

Friday review | Saturday Review | Sunday review

Saturday dawns and once again fabulous weather is guaranteed, probably hotter than Friday but who's complaining, I've been in the Festival music zone 10 minutes and already I'm recognising faces/families from Friday, such is the capacity of the fest. It's not a bad thing and I suppose if you keep eyeballing the same people and end up plotted up next to them at some point you're more likely to be engaging in conversation. This is not the type of event where the aroma of the 'erb and communal passing of the 3 skinner would break the ice. Yes it happens but not as frequently as other fests.

A chance to see what's on offer around the venue: The Mexican Hammock Co, funny hat stand, some homeopathic remedies, assorted musical instrument sellers, joke stand, Indian paraphernalia, A CD record stand which is manned by about 6 people who seem to be rushed off their feet, you get the idea, some of the usual all seemingly doing a good trade. Food stands: once again nothing out the ordinary, but prices are average for this type of event and portions seemed to be quite generous from what I saw. Beer: very reasonably priced, you could even purchase bottles of chilled wine. You may scoff at this, but the market that this festival caters for doesn't have rows of security men confiscating glass bottles and cans off of you when you enter the venue. I heard of one arrest in the 'Guinness tent' who, rumour has it, did not have a wrist band and refused to leave so Cambridge Bobby was left no option but to apprehend the miscreant and slap him in irons.

Music-wise what was happening? While I was getting monged on the grass or should I say beer, because I was sitting on the grass near the beer tent I just let the afternoon drift by with the music providing the background to my afternoons drinking, it was only about 18.00 hrs when I bucked my ideas up and headed over to the main stage with Show of Hands on stage playing to a packed crowd, 95% of whom were contented to sit and absorb the performance which was professional and entertaining. Following on was the Michael McGoldrick Band, who with 12 or 13 people on stage made me think I was in for some big band performance, again the music was excellent but I lost interest after about 15 minutes and decided to go for a wander before returning for Loudon Wainwright III. One act I had to see, mainly because of my preconceived negative ideas about him, and he was one of the few performers I was already aware of. If I want to see a singer I'll go to a concert if I want to see a comedian I'll go to a theatre and watch someone like Al Murray, I don't like comedians that sing and singers that tell jokes. What is Loudon? Well he kept the jokes to a minimum, they were contained within the songs a few witty anecdotes between songs but all pretty snappy, a very polished performance which pleased the crowd and earned my respect. The feedback I gleaned from fellow festi's made me think that he was on everyone's must see list and hailed as a demi god. Everyone enjoyed it, even me.

The Campbell Brothers
(photo from Sunday)

Time to head over to the Radio 2 stage. Me at the Radio 2 stage, what's going on? Well my mum would be proud of me. The place is pumping, The Campbell Brothers are going full throttle, I can't even get in the tent, it's rammed, hands in the air, massive crowd response between each song and during each song. If this was going down in church every week I'd be religious. I kick myself for not getting here earlier and missing what appears to be the best set so far of the festival. I catch the final 3 songs. I make a mental note to look out for them in the future as a not to be missed. This is African-American Gospel at it's finest. Praise the Lord, Praise the Campbell Brothers, and Praise the Lord for the Campbell Brothers!

Peatbog Faeries
(photo from Friday)

You'd have to be good to follow that and a recommendation to see the Peatbog Faeries is why I'm now in the Radio 2 Tent. As the masses stream out at the end of the Campbell's set I make my way in, it soon fills up again and the Peatbogs take the stage to another packed tent. Having played the previous day on the main stage people obviously knew they were worth watching again. Guitars, keyboards, pipes, loops and a good light show all make for tunes which in no time had the crowd going ballistic, hands in the air mad for it, all ages from 12 year olds upwards to 60 odd. Now I've been around a while and seen all types of performances and I have to say that that tent was like a rave. A second opinion on that performance would be most appreciated because I'm beginning to wonder if I made it all up, was it really as good as I think it was? Either way it now resides in my Top Ten of live performances. The encore was a repeat of their first song, which was still spinning round my head first thing next morning. The Peatbog Faeries met the standard set by the Campbell Brothers then took it higher. The night was still young I was pumped and ready for a few more hours' entertainment, but with all official performances now ended it was time to explore.

Clusters of people dotted around the fast emptying site normally signalled a group performing in the middle, small groups, large groups all types of instruments being played, fellow festival goers were only too happy to provide history lessons about this and that group who have been coming here for the last 8 years etc etc etc. It all adds to the closeness of the festival and provides a novice like me with instant wisdom. It's intriguing. I check out a few more clusters before heading into the campsite, it's about 1.00 am and I stumble across Allan's BBQ. There must have been about 150 people around with a guitar player in the middle. So it's play a tune or two then move along, who's next, a duo with a female vocalist, the quality of all and sundry who perform is respectable, the BBQs smoking well and then some bloke looms around the fringe of the crowd offering us all veggie hotdogs courtesy of Allan's BBQ, "Yes please, how much?" "Nothing it's free." What?" "Yes it's free" "Don't you want a quid towards it?" " No it's free" "Okay, thanks a lot." I enquire with one of my neighbours who was performing earlier. "What's the crack with free scran?" "Well, Allan's BBQ is an institution, he camps every year and hosts 'gigs' around the BBQ, food is free, he has a 'budget', Saturday night is a free for all Jam. Fridays is a bit more organised ….." It's getting surreal but I'm enjoying it. I stay a while longer enjoy the entertainment, The 'erb also makes an appearance or two, I decline further offers of free food, share my beer with my wizened new friend and pass on a few three skinners.