Most of us will never do great things, but we can do small things in a great way

At the first weekend in September Off The Tracks festival extended its traditional warm welcome to us. As always, it took place at Donington Park Farm House, right next to the famous race track. It remains small, but perfectly formed, with the music starting Friday evening around 7pm and finishing on Sunday around 6pm. And it is so pleasant to have a proper camping site with all the facilities for washing and showering at a festival! The weather forecast was a mixed bag, but most of the music there takes place under a roof or marquee, and anyway, the forecast turned out way too pessimistic, it was mostly fine and mild. In his goodbye speech on Sunday, Boz, one of the main organisers, said he prayed to the weather goods after seeing the forecast. I am not religious, but I guess most of us have done some such thing at some point, and hey ho! It seems to have worked!

 

As usual, the line up was made up from some good old favourites and lots of local talent, the latter being plentiful in the Midlands (must be something in the water).

 

Seas of Mirth opened at the main Marquee stage, they are a young looking band from Nottingham and play an interesting mix of genres – jazz, funk, a bit of rock, some Latin influences, and that’s only half of it. Good energy, great starter. Later, I noticed the band members dancing at the from of the Ozric Tentacles gig, making the most of this.

 

Over at the Black Barn stage, Marseille are even younger looking, and they are from Derby. They sound a bit like – Oasis? Not sure I am ready for that revival of the arch revivalists yet. But always good to check out something new.

 Transglobal Underground are headlining Friday night, they go back more than 3 decades now and have had many line up changes. No Natasha  Atlas these days, but they have an amazing back catalogue and their mix of, well, almost anything makes for a great live performance. Fab for dancing, which leads seamlessly on to performances by Keepers Brew and Ozric Tentacles Electronic.

The Ozrics are on of this festival’s regular performers, and over the years, I have seen them play with more line-up changes than I have had haircuts. Yes, really. They played the Threshing Barn stage and right now, they are mostly a family affair (father and son), plus Paul Rankin on percussion. And there are interesting new vibes coming from Saski, who joined them not that long ago. Splosh sounds good in its electronic version! There are by now so many musicians who used to play with the Ozrics at some point that they could set up their own small orchestra, and Keepers Brew, the band playing at the same time (midnight) at the Black Barn Stage did indeed feature Greyum May, a former Ozric member. Decisions, decisions,  and why are they booked at the same time? It’s nice to be spoilt for choice of psychedelia, though.

 

 

 

Saturday offered some morning workshops in the Energy Orchard, but I was in not fit state to attend them. This is a music and beer (and cider!) festival, just saying, and the years when a young family member’s needs would curb my enthusiasm for the drinking part are now behind me. One of the few upsides of getting older. The main bar is open until about 4.00am.

There’s a spectacularly dressed up group of Morris dancers performing before the bands start, and at some intervals, also a lady with a tenor saxophone who roams around and responds to requests. All fun to watch. As is the small  “Introducing” stage, where unsigned bands take turns during day time.

Saturday starts with Afromanding, a West African band lead by Njega Sohna in a splendid green dress, who sings beautifully and dances and explains the fascinating background stories of the songs. Funke and the Two Tone Baby turns out to be just one talented man and his instruments. The Troy Redfern Band – are another regular showing off great guitar skills. These Wicked Rivers reminded me a bit of ZZ Top , although they are from Derby, definitely influenced by Southern blues, and they finished with a great Neil Young cover.

 

Over at the Black Barn stage, Silas and Saski who are half of the Ozric team but also have their own thing going played a set that was quite ethereal and enchanting.

 

Back to Leatherat at the main stage for some rapid rock and then there’s the Neville Staple Band headlining Saturday, a good old favourite and crowd pleaser, very well received by the splendid looking crowd (Saturday is dressing up night).

 

Not being the biggest fan of silent disco entertainment, I finished off the night with Starscreen at the Oak Room midnight session. During the day, this area is given over to children’s activities and entertainment, but after midnight we got treated to a live set of favourite rock covers.  

 

On Sunday,  Counter’s Creek played a lovely intricate set of lesser known folk at mid-day, which was just perfect for this moment of the festival. I remember a great African  band doing a lively set during that very slot last year, they wanted everyone to dance and the crowd just wasn’t ready yet. This year, we had something gentle to get us ready for Linos Wengara Magaya, Zimbabwean mbira music, which was on next. Much better this way round!

 

Then, another repeat crowd pleaser, the Lancashire Hotpots; they are still teaching everyone the correct terms for meals (Breakfast-dinner-tea! There are no lunches in their part of the world).

 

Finally Gary Stewarts’s Graceland gave a pretty perfect rendition of , well, Graceland. He even looks a bit like Paul Simon (spooky). Given that we probably won’t get a chance to see the latter performing it live again, this is the next best thing and very well received. How they can break even taking such a large ensemble on the road is a mystery to me. 

Off The Track is still a great event, and a really good budget alternative to pricier favourites in the local area (Shambala, I am looking at you).

I’d like to think that things will get easier for small festivals now, but with the squeeze on incomes, who knows. Next year’s Off The Tracks is scheduled to take place 1^st – 3^rd September 2023, and early bird tickets will go on sale pretty soon, in October. See you there?

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