Saturday Review

After the late night revelry of Friday, Saturday came as a blustery shock with high winds whipping the dust off the tracks into the market stalls and our eyes. But despite the conditions the sun shone and the farmhouse and The Roots Café offered us breakfast tea/chai/coffee and a chance to clear the head before Dulaman opened the day’s programme of entertainment.

Now, because the festival is small, two acts in the mornings of each day doubled up their sets. However I wasn’t the only one to not realise Dulaman had been the same band I’d watched before the second act Fola, when they returned to the stage. The music was accomplished and soothing and we sat happily in the strong breezes, catching the occasional table rocked by the breeze, as the sun appeared intermittently.

Fola are a duo of an Irish songstress and flautist and Black Country guitar and somehow the strong breeze gives added credence to their sound. Plus her lilting Irish voice soothes us. A nice start to the day, and I looked forward to their second set, only to be told they’re one of the bands not playing twice, shame.

By the time Devonshire’s Seth Lakeman took to the stage to sing his songs of Dartmoor, Plymouth Docks and Cornish folk tales, accompanied with his fiddle, the wind had died off slightly. Though it appeared this was mainly in the courtyard, in the campsite above us on the gentle slope the wind was much stronger and put people off venturing far from their tents until much later the weather died off.

I took the opportunity to listen to Sarah Lawton in the big barn and her captivating vocals with fantastic muted drumming accompaniment. I enjoyed the cool room, the reverential quietness, the low lighting and the chilled vibe. However, I was enjoying the day in front of the main stage too much to sample the old Buster Keaton movies on offer.

Back at the main stage The Goondocks were entertaining. The four piece have an infectious sound, we all have a bit of a boogie and they want us to buy their CD, repeatedly! It’s humorous and makes me realise how far we are from major corporate advertising here at OTT.

The five thirty break arrived and an interactive drum workshop with Inter Africa and Beatrific who rapidly got novice drummers pounding out rhythms which shook the Big Barn. Impressive stuff and he wasn’t putting up with those not towing the line in the early session, I decide to give it a miss, rather than anger him any further with my poor timing. However, his dressing down worked and with a flourish of elbow drumming, he sets the 30 or so drummers off on a swelling rhythm.

Meanwhile Seth had played his second set, more impressively this time, drawing people in to make a reasonable crowd, before handing over to Chumbawamba. Sorry, I mean Chumbawamba Acoustic a wholly different beast from the electric version, and happy to show their musical and harmonious singing talents. But they don’t play Tub Thumping, to the disappointment of the kids, and don’t radiate as much energy as their electric incarnation. Leaving the now impressive crowd a little mute.

We needn’t have worried though, the glorious Osibisa take to the stage, and within minutes the crowd is dancing. The band feed off the crowd’s enthusiasm, interacting with us and it builds splendidly and frenetically to Sunshine Day and we all sing our hearts out with this hugely recommended live band who definitely deserve their Godfathers of World Music mantle. Even the heavens are impressed as a shooting star crosses the sky over the finale.

With the events on the open air courtyard stage now over, many stream out back to the campsite, some of us however elect to sample Mask. With ethereal music the pair of them sing haunting hushed tunes to a crowd now sweltering in the well heated Big Barn as we breathe in intoxicating incense and watch soundscapes projected behind the duo. For me the heat, the joss sticks, the nightlights strewn across the long tables and the soporific music is too much and I wander back to the campsite, to burble with friends happily ‘til the early hours.

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