Posted by Eleanor White 17 September 2010
The sun does always seem to shine on Bromyard (although sometimes after the rain) and thus it was on Saturday. We awoke to the sounds of Whapweasel rehearsing in their tents. There were a choice of activities to start the day, from relaxing t’ai chi to an energetic clog workshop. Kids were already hard at work on Jan’s Painted Van, aiming to decorate every inch of the blackboard van it seemed.
Up at the main stage the more dedicated concert-goers enjoyed an early concert featuring Issy and David Emeney with Kate Riaz on cello. The trio play a lot of self-penned songs, mostly sung by David. Amongst these, one of the standouts was ’The Bird Scarer’ - telling the tale of one of the less grim jobs done by victorian children
Meanwhile, out in the town every pub seemed to have sprung a session, with more musicians that is feasible filling the bars. As ever there was a large programme of morris dancing in the market square, including one side who took the opportunity to do an impromptu parade up from the camp site. Great fun to watch, though I’m not quite sure what the drivers behind it thought!
The afternoon concerts provided a great mix of acts. In the Arts Centre young groups Tri (featuring Niamh Boadle, winner of last year’s Fred Jordan Memorial Competition), Dave Bordewey & Dave Young and Tipsy Jazz all impressed with their musicality and confidence.
It seemed fitting that they should precede James Findlay, winner of the 2010 Radio 2 Young Folk Award. Listening to his set it was easy to see why the judges were impressed. James has a stage presence beyond his 20 years, and a fantastic repertoire of mainly English songs, many from his home county of Dorset. He was joined onstage for a few numbers by Alex Cumming on accordion (of Dyer:Cummings). The duo sound was rich and exciting. In wilder moments I imagined I was watching a proto-Spiers and Boden. Where tuning necessitated some time filling special mention must go to Jon Dyer and his truly appalling jokes.
Meanwhile, at the Falcon Mews in town Tom Kitching and Gren Bartley were headlining with their American-influenced folk and self-penned tracks.
Belshazzar’s Feast were last up at the arts centre, with their trademark wit and musicianship. The smaller setting of the arts centre tent was better suited to their visual humour than the main stage which they played on Sunday. Old favourites (songs, tunes and jokes) were mixed with material from their new album ’Find the Lady’.
For those wanting to be a bit more active the Sambassadors of Groove were running a samba dance workshop, followed by a samba session to put all the new skills into practice. Meanwhile Speake and Lowe were treating the football club to some tall tales at the story telling workshop.
As dinner time came round, and the inevitable trouble in deciding between concessions. Decisions may have been difficult, but once made there was plenty of entertainment on the showground. Samuel Walter could be heard singing shanties, whilst various morris sides continued to dance.
Having filled up it was time to head to the Whapweasel ceilidh. Favourites at many a festival, Whapweasel delivered their ska-influenced dance tunes with bags of energy whilst Martyn Harvey gave the dancers a great selection of dances. Great fun, even with boots encased in mud!
The evening concert saw Rosie Doonan and the Snapdragons performing mostly self-penned songs, followed by Belshazzar’s Feast. The highlight of the evening though was seeing The Watersons - it’s not often now that they are all on stage together, and listening to their harmonies is nothing short of wonderful.
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