Posted by Christopher Friedenthal 07 May 2011
Mark Abis was a last minute replacement for Elephant Talk and the all too small audience at the Fred Wedlock stage was given a genuine treat. With outstanding guitar work and the occasional smattering of harmonica the songs were at times touching, with gentle in-between song humour.
Cornish trio Three Daft Monkeys always know how to get the most out of an audience, and were the first of the acts on the main stage to get the seated crowd on their feet and waltzing down the aisles. With a borrowed drummer for the summer, the band took the opportunity to perform tracks from their latest album alongside some of their older material.
After an extended break from the folk scene, Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman were welcomed back by a sizeable crowd, despite being the first act of the weekend. After seeing them perform at Shrewsbury Folk Festival in 2009, it was brilliant to see the pair clearly enjoying being on stage together, as well as the chance to hear some new material from the duo.
Competing for an audience with Cornish shanty singers, Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends, people were thin on the ground at the start of Inu’s headliner set, but they soon won over the passing crowd with their infectious tunes and traditional song. With a clear rapport between the performers it wasn’t long before the audience were on their feet and clapping along with the reels.
Warming the crowd up for Bellowhead on the final night were the raucous Sheelanagig. With a quick wit to rival Belshazzar’s Feast, they kept the growing crowd entertained with their unique mix of folk, klezmer and jazz. With the floor now clear of chairs, the audience were more than happy to pogo along to the beat.
A variety of workshops were on offer, from Kathryn Roberts’ calm and reassuring style to Luke Concannon’s inspiring bundle of nervous energy. Elfynn’s Louisa Davies (daughter of bones player Len Davies), kept her father’s memory alive running a beginners bones workshop twice during the festival. Guiding the various beginners through the basics, she had the whole group clicking along to the reels played by fellow band member Pete.
Welsh folk group Mabon brought their unique ’interceltic’ folk to a seated main hall, but nevertheless had the audience waltzing in the aisles by the end of their set. Taking us all on a musical journey which encompassed reels and jigs with Balkan inspired klezmer, some truly awe-inspiring fiddle and subtle vocal harmonies.
No folk festival would be complete without a ceilidh, and so with the chairs in the main hall packed away, Spiers and Boden took to the stage with caller Phil Bassingdale to put those brave enough to dance through their paces.
Nonsuch Morris cleared the floor before the final polka, to show us all how it was really done, performing two Morris dances to a packed crowd.
Now a regular fixture at Sidmouth folk festivals, the two Jims (Causley and Moray) battled it out for supremacy on the decks of the Silent Disco until the early hours on Saturday night. As strange as it must have appeared to an outside observer to see groups of people bopping around seemingly without any musical accompaniment, it didn’t take those with the headphones on long to get into the spirit.
Review by Mary Stokes and Christopher Friedenthal
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