Post by rob strong on Aug 23, 2006 23:59:46 GMT 1
apologies for cross-posting this in a few places if you've seen it elsewhere
Jo & Danny have done a stunning job on finding a new site, for starters. Beautiful setting on the edge of the Black Mountains, complete with man-made terraced amphitheatre around the main stage, proper surfaced tracks between stages (hence reducing the quagmire potential), all the stages with plenty of capacity, and a lovely courtyard for the third stage complete with a bar that stayed open until at least 2am. Yay!
Weather wasn't too bad after all. Thankfully we managed to get our tents up during the lengthy dry spell on Friday afternoon, and the showers didn't stop me from getting to see anyone play, as far as I can remember. That sudden heavy downpour in the early hours of Monday morning was a bit of a bugger, mind you - just got sat down with wine back at our tent, only to be forced into bed. I think a gazebo might be in order next time.
Music then.
I managed to see substantial portions of at least 10 bands on each of the three days. Personal highlights were Adrian Crowley/Gruff Rhys/A Hawk & A Hacksaw on Friday, Vito/Foxface/Voice Of The Seven Woods/Tunng/KC/JY on Saturday, Shady Bard/Archie Bronson/Viking Moses/Alasdair Roberts/Sunburned Hand Of The Man on Sunday.
The King Creosote set was 45mins of straight-up joy from start to finish, a large and energetic crowd coupled with bags of enthusiasm coming off the stage. Fairly standard set from the last year or so, KC Rules OK and Rocket DIY material in the main.
Good to hear some new songs amongst the James Yorkston set, and again a vast crowd packed into the second stage to see him and the Athletes. I can't recall having seen the girl who was doing backing vocals and playing violin before, lovely stuff, and she's all over the new album (which is sounding great on first few plays).
(One minor reservation, and this applied across the weekend - the changeover between bands on the second stage seemed incredibly lengthy at times. It took nearly an hour to swap over between John Renbourn and JY, meaning that JY's set got chopped by about 10-15 mins. This did mean we got frantic takes on the last couple of songs in an effort to fit 'em in, though)
Tunng are getting better and better all the time, lovely atmosphere for their set and some great inter-band banter between songs.
Archie Bronson were a very welcome change of pace, certainly the most rock 'n' roll set I saw all weekend. I think I need to buy the album.
I thought I was going to go home having seen loads of great shows but having not had that one 'just been blown away by someone I've never heard before' moment, but that happened with Viking Moses, who I thought was superb. I guess having James Yorkston, Adrian Crowley and Marissa Nadler as your backing singers is a good start!
Alasdair Roberts - no band this time, and a completely different set to the last few times I've seen him. Another tranche of trad songs coupled with a number of tracks from his new album. Ace. And then I ended up standing in front of the second stage talking to a mate of mine whilst Sunburned were setting up, and staying to witness an hour of meandering, propulsive freakout - the perfect end to the weekend.
Jo & Danny have done a stunning job on finding a new site, for starters. Beautiful setting on the edge of the Black Mountains, complete with man-made terraced amphitheatre around the main stage, proper surfaced tracks between stages (hence reducing the quagmire potential), all the stages with plenty of capacity, and a lovely courtyard for the third stage complete with a bar that stayed open until at least 2am. Yay!
Weather wasn't too bad after all. Thankfully we managed to get our tents up during the lengthy dry spell on Friday afternoon, and the showers didn't stop me from getting to see anyone play, as far as I can remember. That sudden heavy downpour in the early hours of Monday morning was a bit of a bugger, mind you - just got sat down with wine back at our tent, only to be forced into bed. I think a gazebo might be in order next time.
Music then.
I managed to see substantial portions of at least 10 bands on each of the three days. Personal highlights were Adrian Crowley/Gruff Rhys/A Hawk & A Hacksaw on Friday, Vito/Foxface/Voice Of The Seven Woods/Tunng/KC/JY on Saturday, Shady Bard/Archie Bronson/Viking Moses/Alasdair Roberts/Sunburned Hand Of The Man on Sunday.
The King Creosote set was 45mins of straight-up joy from start to finish, a large and energetic crowd coupled with bags of enthusiasm coming off the stage. Fairly standard set from the last year or so, KC Rules OK and Rocket DIY material in the main.
Good to hear some new songs amongst the James Yorkston set, and again a vast crowd packed into the second stage to see him and the Athletes. I can't recall having seen the girl who was doing backing vocals and playing violin before, lovely stuff, and she's all over the new album (which is sounding great on first few plays).
(One minor reservation, and this applied across the weekend - the changeover between bands on the second stage seemed incredibly lengthy at times. It took nearly an hour to swap over between John Renbourn and JY, meaning that JY's set got chopped by about 10-15 mins. This did mean we got frantic takes on the last couple of songs in an effort to fit 'em in, though)
Tunng are getting better and better all the time, lovely atmosphere for their set and some great inter-band banter between songs.
Archie Bronson were a very welcome change of pace, certainly the most rock 'n' roll set I saw all weekend. I think I need to buy the album.
I thought I was going to go home having seen loads of great shows but having not had that one 'just been blown away by someone I've never heard before' moment, but that happened with Viking Moses, who I thought was superb. I guess having James Yorkston, Adrian Crowley and Marissa Nadler as your backing singers is a good start!
Alasdair Roberts - no band this time, and a completely different set to the last few times I've seen him. Another tranche of trad songs coupled with a number of tracks from his new album. Ace. And then I ended up standing in front of the second stage talking to a mate of mine whilst Sunburned were setting up, and staying to witness an hour of meandering, propulsive freakout - the perfect end to the weekend.