The 2011 Festival Season

29th May: The Pie & Pint Music Festival 


This was a new one for me.  Serena had spotted it somewhere and I was expecting her to be there but she wasn't.  It was not quite what I expected, there being very little beer left, not an awful lot of pies (though they were good) and limited music.  When I got there there were probably more dogs than people (even though dogs weren't allowed).  There were a few 'local' bands but one that did stand out was Silent Republic who had hints of Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam and others.  No CD to buy unfortunately though they have a My Space page.  I only stayed a few hours and headed into Cheltenham to see what their pubs were like.  Not very good as it turned out.  The Royal Union on Hatherley St was good: the rest didn't do much for me.  I did get an excellent pizza in Pizza Express though.  Different I guess but I doubt I'll bother next year.

The Pie & Pint Music Festival

Silent Republic - very good!

Photo Map.  Pie & Pint bottom, Cheltenham pubs top

16 July Marlborough Jazz Festival


As usual, Helen & Mark came down and we met Tony for the bus to Marlborough.  Our first port of call was the Crown for Ray Harris Fusion Experience.  They were great as usual and I went into a bit of a trance and dreamed of being a fighter pilot.  I do this a lot these days...  Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir in the Church were good.  We only saw one African band this year and the music overall wasn't the best but it is always a great day wandering the streets and attractive pubs of Marlborough.  I'll be back next year.

Ray Harris with his Fusion Experience at Marlborough 

Mark, Me, Helen

Marlborough Jazz Photo Map

29-31 July WOMAD


WOMAD is my second favourite event of any year, after my annual Grand Tour.  Somehow I messed it up this year though.  Usually I spend three days wandering round with a huge grin on my face as I'm having so much fun.  I struggled to get there this year though.  I had trouble with my legs, probably trouble with too many painkillers and almost certainly trouble due to too much cider.  I also made some disappointing music choices and missed some great stuff (there is too much to see to see everything - you have to make a choice).  I did see some fabulous stuff though, as evidenced buy the CDs I picked up there and the others that I got from Amazon after.  These were:


The amazing Bomba Estereo  - a trance band from Columbia - I only caught the last song or two but this was probably the gig of the festival.  You don't quite get the atmosphere on the CD (Blow Up) but its still great.

Bomba Estereo!!!

Vieux Farka Toure (I'm listening to it as I write this) is African jangly guitar and soufull singing at its best and was fabulous.  The CD I got is Fondo which is equally fabulous.

Vieux Farka Toure

El Tambura are good time party people from Egypt and put on a great set.  They are quite an old bunch and wear some interesting gear but the smiles on their faces say it all.  The CD Friends of Bamboute doesn't quite capture it but is worth having all the same.   

El Tanbura

Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal played Kora (like a huge gourd with a guitar neck) and cello respectively and played a beautiful set.  The album Chamber Music is also beautiful.

Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal

Then there was Rodrigo y Gabriella - a guitar duo from Mexico who do things you wouldn't believe were possible on acoustic guitars.  The Siam tent was packed to the gills and we were at the back but this was a stunning set. Pick up their self titled album from 2006 (Its got an crocodile's eye as its cover) and prepare to be amazed.  Make sure you get the bonus DVD with it which has their backstory, some songs and an amazing tutorial on how they make their sound.

The astonishing Rodrigo y Gabriela

AfroCubism are exactly what their name suggests (ish) - Cuban music a la  Buena Vista Social Club with an African tinge.  A great gig and a great (self titled) CD too.

Africa meets Cuba

Samuel Yirga is a young pianist from Ethiopia who played mellow, proper jazz with his band.  I particularly loved the sound of the 6 string bass.  Great EP called Hagere.

Samuel Yirga

The band I came to see were Baaba Maal and he was, as always, fabulous with his haunting voice.  I have some of his CDs already and must get more.

You have to dance like this when Baaba Maal is playing

Ayarkhaan are a spectacular trio from the Sakha Republic in the Arctic Circle.  These women throat sing and play oversized jews harp things.  They make a sound that has to be heard to believed.  Not something I want to have on CD probably but it was a brilliant gig.  It was on the Radio 3 stage.  If you are prepared to listen you will always hear something that is worth hearing on this stage and you will be left the better for it.  This is why I love WOMAD so much.

Ayarkhaan

The last band we heard were Blitz the Ambassador  who were a sort of Blues Brothers meets rap and were great fun 

Blitz the Ambassador

I also picked up the Songlines CD of Music Awards 2011 which is always great and has songs from some of the people I saw this and last year.  Fabulous value at £5.  Plus I took out a 4 month trial of Songlines magazine which comes with one or two compilation CDs each months.  Always great.  


All this plus excellent company from Serena, Tony, Carla and Janet, some great food and some great beer (especially from the the Bristol Beer Factory) and cider, plus I got my face painted.  Twice.  Hmm.  Not so bad after all it seems.  Excellent :) 

WOMAD Photo map.  You can see where the fun was to be had.

11 August: Cropredy Fringe


Serena joined Tony and I for our annual day trip to the Cropredy Fringe.  We haven't been to the festival-proper for a few years now - WOMAD and Beautiful Days have spoiled us I guess - A single stage festival with a somewhat eclectic line up just doesn't have the draw any more.  Its a pleasant train ride to Banbury where we headed to the excellent Reindeer Inn for a pint before getting the bus to Cropredy where we met up with the usual gang at the Braesnose.


Tony and I particularly wanted to see Rachel Gittus at the Red Lion so we went to check the timings (having missed her a couple of years previously).  Not even the sound man knew when she was coming on so we resolved to come back at the previously published time of 2pm.  When we got there she had almost finished her set.  Doh.  We did meet up with Dave and Molly from last year though :)


The rest of the afternoon was the usual chilling and wandering round the stalls, enjoying the beer while sitting on the grass at the Cricket club and so forth.  We did see one more band at the Brasenose: Sam Kelly's Station House by the looks of things. We finished the afternoon chilling in the graveyard with a pint (its OK - everyone it here) before getting the bus back to Banbury and  a pint in the Bell in before getting the train.


We interrupted our journey at Oxford for a quick walk up the canal path to the marvellous Old Bookbinders in Jericho and then home.  A great day out as always.

It does tend to rain at Cropredy (actually this is Banbury)

Rachel Gittus

At the cricket ground.  Mmm, Old Hookey

Sam Kelley's Station House

Chilling in the graveyard

Pondering in the Old Bookbinders...

...Cracked it!

19-21 August Beautiful Days


Beautiful Days is almost an extension of WOMAD for me.  They have a lot of similarities - both three days, we camp at both, great music, beer and food.  However, they are also quite different.  WOMAD is all about exotic new music for me.  The site is really nice (especially the arboretum)  and there are all manner of interesting stalls to look round.  Its is quite 'middle class' and there are lots of charity/campaigning booths.  Its really about the music though.  BD is more about the experience.  It certainly has great music, most of which tends to be new to me but it is mostly British.  The site is just beautiful and the hill separates the spaces out so it seems bigger than it is. We tend to sit and chill at BD and are less worried about seeing all the music (though we do see a lot).


I'd always struggled to compare the sizes of the two.  I was sure that BD was smaller but this year I was struck by how much smaller it actually is.  They both have a big red music tent - WOMAD's is 3 times the size.  They both have an open air stage - WOMAD's is twice as big.    WOMAD seems to have a capacity of 22000.  BDs is variously reported as between 12000-14000.


Anyway, the trouble I had getting in 'the zone' at WOMAD as thankfully absent at BD.  I spent virtually the whole time with a big grin on my face, hugely enjoyed the site, saw some great bands, had spectacular pizza (amongst other things) and wonderful Otter Beer. Highlights:


Day 1 was mainly orientation , enjoying the site and chilling (which we needed after an unfortunate episode with a missing entry ticket!). 

The girls found this alarming

Day 2 - Punk band The Mob take the Saturday early afternoon slot which always seems to have proper old stye punk on, and is always great.  They were no exception and sounded a bit like Hawkwind.    The Blockheads were excellent, putting on a great show as always.  Adrian Edmonson & the Bad Shepherds were very good - which I wasn't expecting.  The musical highlight of whole festival were Afro Celt who may well be my favourite live band ever.  They were brilliant at WOMAD last year seen from a bit of a distance in the Siam.  This year, in little BD, I was able to get within a few rows of the front at the open air stage.  There was a particularly memorable drum battle between the Indian and African drummers and I loved the contrast of their styles.  The African style was all smiles and big movements and dancing.  The Indian was typical (humorous) macho big poses.  Worked brilliantly together.  With the flute holding it all together.  If there is a better live group I haven't seen it.

The marvellous Bimble Inn

The Mob

The Young Coppers.  Mmm, folky.

These guys make the worlds best pizza, IMHO

A couple of Blockheads

Dave Brock being interviewed (it was his 70th birthday)

Ade Edmondson.  A bad shepherd.

The scary guy with the piano bicycle

The girls in big knickers

Afro celt.  Goddamit they are tremendous.

Shiny

Day 3 starts as always with The Fabulous Good Time Party Boys who are always a riot.  Sort of Sean of the Dead meets Rocky Horror.  The find of the festival though are a young band, Wolf People who are again in the excellent early afternoon open air stage slot.  They sound to me like a reworking of classic Quicksilver Messenger Service and that is compliment indeed.  Brilliant.  I got right to the very front for them.  They had no CDs for sale but I picked up one when I got home.  Its excellent. 


System 7 are Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy and were doing a 90min electronic set at the Little Big Top on the hill.   It wasn't too busy and I went right down the front.  Steve still had the strange accountant haircut he had with Gong a year or so back, was wearing a fashion T shirt that didn't suit him and looked awkward fiddling with the dials, checking his Macbook Pro and playing riffs on his headless Steinberger.  But he (they) were great.  He, after all, was in there really early with the electronic trance stuff and is still a renowned producer.  One punter told me that I'd just missed a couple of members of Hawkwind who had been there.

A Fabulous Good Time Party Girl...

...and some of the Good Time boys

A couple of Wolf People

Chilling at the Over the Top bar

Chilling on Bimble hill

Bimble Inn from an unusual angle

A nice tree

System 7 giving it some

Go Steve!

BD always finishes with fireworks :)

Commiserating the end of the festival with (fabulous) hot chocolate at the pizza place

All this interspersed with chatting and eating and drinking and wandering made for a most excellent festival - the festival of the year for me this year.  And that's that until next year.  It can't come round again too soon (BD Tickets are already on sale).

We always camp near this tree

BD Photo Map.  The campsite is bottom left, Big Top upper mid left, main stage middle, Bimble Inn Bottom right   

Same time next year then :)