Exfolk review (page 2)

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Mark Robson and KANGAROO MOON have been around for sometime, once upon a time we’d travel to festivals far and wide to see their fusion of Aussie rhythms and Celtic beats. But I’ve not seen them for sometime and I’m a bit shocked to see the effects of time upon these once youthful men. But the music has matured with time and they know exactly what folk, world, rock and dance to mix with flutes and keyboards to create a mesmerising sound. A vintage performance with local boy bass player Nick Marshall joined by side project ‘Sunreturn’ member Faith Rhodes on saxophone and over the didgeridoo and Kangaroo sound it sounds terrific as ‘Away To England’ spirals into a jam, Faith dancing in the crowd before joining the band onstage. The songs may be few but they are lengthy, developing into the familiar acoustic/electronic wall of sound.



As the band launch into crowd favourite ‘Sally Sandwich’ I wander out to the bar area to sample some of the Northbridge Inn’s open mic stage. I’m very glad I did as LEO JAMES is playing. The songs and his delivery completely captivate me. Playing songs from his album ‘Songs of Solace’ he receives great applause from the crowd in the bar and I manage to buy a copy of his CD.

I remain by the NBI Open Mic Stage for SCRABBLEBAG two members of Acoustic Stew. With guitar, cello and kazoo they bring us sing along cover versions such as ‘I don’t want to go to Chelsea’ by Elvis Costello and ‘Sunny Afternoon’ by the Kinks. All get the outside garden area singing along.

There’s just time for a quick pint of Adnams Broadside and a quicker listen to the singer who follows on, he’s playing a ska version of Radiohead’s ‘Paranoid Android’ and I’d love to hear more and catch his name but the auditorium awaits!

Time for the headline act 3 DAFT MONKEYS! Watch out Levellers there's a new band preparing to steal your crown! They really are very very good! Really! They have a crowd who vary in age from kids to pensioners dancing like loons! The rhythms spiral from the fiddle, bass and12 string/foot drum and the room heats up to a cauldron of mixed traditional folk and European rhythms with a foot spinning twist! With ‘Hubbadillia’ getting us in a frenzy. Their mix of dub, reggae, crusty and folk has evolved over the yearsw, but now their sound has come of age. Tonight they are on top form with ‘Astral Eyes’ and ‘Weird-Id’ leaving any vestiges of dignity behind as daddy dancing spills from me! 3-3 time and the waltz infused ‘Social Vertigo’ has couples dancing. ‘Faces’ is punk styled and now we’re dancing with abandon. All too soon, they’ve finished, the time has flown by and they return quickly to squeeze in an encore, ‘Mazaltov’ to get us all seriously sweaty! Which we’re told is good for us.


And that’s it! The main even of Exfolk is over, but not the festival itself. There’s plenty more at venues around the city. I’m particularly interested in seeing some of the North Bridge Inn’s open mic stage bands again. Exeter has a vibrant folk music scene! About time, I just wish a few more of the venues catered for families so that kids can get into folk instead of the commercial dross hard sell that’s forced upon them. But that’s a minor complaint in an otherwise awesome evening.

A low entry price, a dozen or so acts of quality entertainment over two stages and only one night there’s still two more weeks of entertainment, fantastic! It’s bound to be busier next year as word of mouth extols the extraordinary quality of musicans we had this evening.

Nuala and the Alchemy Quartet and 3 Daft Monkeys are surely set to become infectious crowd favourites at festivals like veterans Kangaroo Moon are. Acoustic Stew may be less immediate with their laid back sounds but they too would fit right in on smaller more intimate stages and their versatility showed with them returning in various forms on the Open Mic Stage.

I wish the organisers every success in the future and hope Exfolk becomes a regular festival event that attracts not just locals but folk fans from further afield too. I hope they continue to showcase local talent. The future’s bright the future’s folk!

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