Cat On The Prowl
Cambridge Folk Festival 27-30 July
There’s something reassuringly familiar about the Cambridge Folk Festival. A tiny haven in a chaotic world, it is delightfully predictable yet wonderfully fresh almost every year.
Cherry Hinton defies the laws of physics, where time is warped and everything
appears to be frozen at a particular moment. The tents were camped out,
cider drinkers were staked out in their usual spots under the old tree, the
Caribbean and veggie stalls were primed for business and the Portaloos lined up
awaiting their fate. All delightfully predictable.
The
freshness on the other hand arrived in an unexpected way this year with an
almighty thunderstorm which appeared without warning late Thursday afternoon and
masqueraded as the end of the world. But we survived. And thankfully we
were able to enjoy a great festival.
Renowned for its ever widening definition of folk, it’s often said that the main "folk" aspect of the festival is the audience, not the performers, and this year was no exception. Joining the traditional ‘folkies’ such as John Tams and the all-female Anna Massie Band, were the more energetic rhythms of Salsa Celtica latin jives, Swap’s Swedish playful polskas as well as the country-rock of Emmylou Harris and soul of Bettye Lavette.
The festival also manages to develop each year and although it may be 42
years old, it is still attractive enough for the best names in folk from around
the globe. This year saw representation from as far a-field as Mexico with
Rodrigo Y Gabriela and Los De Abajo, the USA with Marcia Ball and The John
Butler trio and even Mali with Amadou & Mariam.
But it was the Celts who dominated the line-up this year. Gaelic super-group Capercaille, Brian McNeill, Croft No 5 and Bodega were amongst the gathering of the Scottish clans and The Chieftains were joined by Cara Dillon representing Ireland. Even Wales got in on the act this year with indie chart-topper Cerys Matthews strutting her stuff.
There were rumours abound this year. John Paul Jones was to be joining Nickel Creek on stage, Mark Knopfler would be making an impromptu guest appearance with Emmylou Harris. Sadly neither materialised but there were signs of Britney Spears…albeit in the form of Nickel Creek’s performance of Toxic!
Nevertheless, the music was as good as ever with some stand-out performances,
so here’s the pick of the litter……