Review 2009

And thanks to Spiral Earth, where the review was copied from...

Friday

The 24th Ely Folk Festival got off to a fine start on a hot Friday afternoon and evening with the Dog Roses, Strange Folk and the highlight of Something Nasty In The Woodshed, who went down a storm. Baka Beyond set the scene for the wide range of musical styles to come over the weekend.

Saturday

As the morris dancers stream back onto the site, after their city centre procession, The QP, one of the weekend's first surprises, take to the stage. Comprising of a large group of fresh-faced agile players they manage to reference such names as Mawkin:Causley and Jethro Tull from our musical memory banks; and that's just in the first number!

Flute, harmonica, whistle and soprano sax trade solos on some great instrumentals. All dense with ideas the rhythm section keep an admirably funky pace, even with it being the bassist's debut.

Their set is nicely balanced as they repeatedly show their skill with a narrative. Not shying away from some weighty subject matter, 'Banks of the Nile', is a biting anti-war tale and 'Hexham Farmer' has all it's necessary tight-vocal harmonies in place. We're going to keep an eye on this Midlands based bunch.

Toy Hearts are a family affair plus one - they have new double bass player - and they produce some of the tightest, most uplifting bluegrass you'll hear on the current UK scene. Two sister, Sophia (guitar) and Hannah (Mandolin), both handle vocal duties are backed by Dad who plays dobro and banjo.

The music veers from more trad pickers territory to their own contemporary numbers, with Hannah's vocals cutting through on her self-penned 'The captain' and on the slow shuffle they produce for the Elvis classic, 'When It Rains it Really pours'. Then, just when we thought we had the measure of them, Sophia reaches for her Gitane guitar and the spirit of Django is evoked with an engrossing display of western swing - the highlight being her own tale of her adventures in nashville on 'Tequila And high Heels'.

The Spiral Team drift around the site having our heads turned by the dancing displays and impromptu jams before returning to the main marquee for the bombastic folk-rock shenanigans of 'Something Nasty In the Woodshed'. The group's pulsing electric sound gets one of the biggest reactions of the day as we all adopt our best rock pose and let our hair down to the highlights of their recent album, 'In The service Of The King'.

It's still rocking when we get over to the other marquee, albeit with a less celtic edge, as Strange Folk take us through their 70's style riffs and enlighten us with their tales of mother earth. Fuelled by some of the best local ales we half expect to see Stonehenge as we emerge from the tent with their powerful vibe still ringing in our ears.

Amongst all this mayhem Flossie Malavialle seems almost quaint with her tales of secondary school teaching and oxymoron's - my favourite being her observation that we were drinking from a 'plastic glass'. Her refined singer/songwriter stylings could have been misplaced if it wasn't for her great stage presence and her searing bluesy voice. This French artist only got involved in the UK scene by chance via a job placement Newcastle and it's resulted in a Geordie French accent and several fantastic albums.

The marquee is packed and the crowd are up on their feet for the reformed Edward II with their roots/reggae brew, and the crowd stays on their feet for the Peatbog Faeries.. The perfect acts for the end of a hot Summer day.

Sunday

I overheard a couple walking across the festival field; 'I prefer this to Cambridge, there's much more room to get around and relax'. Although Ely is tiny in comparison to the Cambridge Folk Festival in terms of capacity, proportionally the festival goers do indeed have more room to wander about at will.

There is also a wonderful informality to the Ely Festival, rather than rigidly defined areas for kids entertainment, performances and sessions, their boundaries blur. you can walk through a gaggle of laughing kids being entertained by Jan and her Van, step through an imposing Morris side and enter the bar and be entertained by an impromptu session whilst waiting for your beer.

This relaxed vibe spread throughout the day, with all of the performance venues close together and the programming so well organised you didn't end up feeling you were missing out on anything.

Pending our more in-depth review the highlights for me were Adam Brown and Alan MacLeod who played trad Irish tunes with incredible energy. The side of the marquee was open and I watched as their music drew a larger and larger crowd spilling onto the grass alongside.

The QP continued with the vigour of Saturday. Having seen them yestedrday on the main stage, in the 'meet and greet' tent for an improv session and then in a session in the bar where they still just carried on bashing out the tunes, I still wasn't tired of them and wanted more.

With the tree shadows dappling the roof of the marquee and with the sun beating down it was heaven. The ale helped, I'll admit, but with such a well stocked bar of real ales it would have been churlish to abstain. Flossie Malavialle was again stunning, bringing the likes of Janis Joplin and Edith Piaf into her performance, incredible vocals and stage presence.

Over on the main stage Eric Bogle and John Munro had a great set. The audience was noticably more chilled than on Saturday, the headliners Tanglefoot didn't get get them all dancing despite a great performance, their last ever in the UK.

Next year is the 25th Ely Folk Festival, put the dates in your diaries now, the 9th to 11th July 2010.