Posted by Christopher Friedenthal 03 September 2011
Pilgrims’ Way were a welcome sight during their many gigs over the first three days of the festival. They held a respectable crowd at the open-air village stage despite the light drizzle, played a delightfully relaxed set to a packed Sabrina Marquee and won many new friends when crammed into the cover of the pub later in the evening. Their repertoire consists of well-chosen trad songs interspersed with a few tunes. They had a good rapport with the audience and were confident performers. Their closing tune, Framus/Jig Iolo saw Lucy Wright deftly swapping between two Jews harps and Edwin Beasant playing melodeon and harmonica at the same time.
It is sad to see Uiscedwr go, this being their last year of touring before calling it a day. As their showing on Friday night demonstrated, their live show remains compelling and Cormac Byrne’s drum solo is still the most entertaining out there. Catch them while you can.
Our sadness can be tempered by the much heralded arrival of Bad Anna. The core of Uiscedwr, Anna Esslemont and Cormac Byrne, have formed a four-piece band (with Anna’s sister guesting on backing vocals). This, their first ever gig, was a grand opening, in front of some 1,500 people. The band is formed around a collection of original songs Anna wrote based around the last seven tumultuous years of her life and mine an emotional depth only hinted at by Uiscedwr songs such as "Prescription Junkie". What they lack in the “you must get up and dance” power that their previous band was famous for, they make up for in mature, well-thought out song-writing. To provide some levity after a series of emotionally raw songs, they polished off their triumphant first set with a song about alcohol, which got the funkiest members of the audience up and dancing. The band has no plans to record yet, and doesn’t even have a website (only a Facebook page) so the only chance of hearing them for the moment will be live gigs.
Open mic sessions continued though most of the weekend and despite covers from the Kooks, Elton John, Coldplay & Maroon 5 (that’s just one artist) they contained some real gems. David Gibb & Elly Lucas showed more intelligence and charm in their two songs than many of the artists billed on the bigger stages and the startling youth of Seamus O’Boyle belied a wry sense of humour. Despite a stripped-down line-up, Hedgepig still made a glorious layered sound and Rosie Hodgson’s sweet voice carried an unusual confidence in one so young.
Unaccompanied singer Rosie Hood’s arresting (and winning) performance was three well-chosen songs that, despite a rich serving of misery, left us with a smile on our faces. As a reward, she sang a lovely selection of mainly traditional songs with great confidence opening for the Cecil Sharp project on Stage 2.
An excited buzz had been following Lady Maisery around the festival site and when the headcount in the Bird & Hand swelled (from “snug” to “every inch covered”) for their performance it was easy to see why. Their spellbinding harmonies held the audience rapt.
Review by Shelley Rainey & Christopher Friedenthal
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