Cat On The Prowl
Cambridge Folk Festival 07
Time traveling is a reality, not just something that happens in sci-fi films and Dr Who. Honestly, I know...it happened to me.
The day before the Cambridge Folk Festival I started work as usual at eight thirty, nothing particularly interesting just the usual media stuff, but after what must have only been 3 minutes, I glanced at the clock to see that 3 hours had past. 3 hours! I swear it was only 3 minutes, no desire for my usual litre of water and 2 trips to the ladies facilities, but 3 hours HAD past in 3 minutes and at that point I knew the Folk Festival this year was going to be universally unpredictable.
And I was right, the time warping continued. The pit at stage 2 was so familiar, but not in the usual deja vu way kind of way but the kind of way you feel where time was continuous and I was sure that I really had been there only yesterday. But a year is a long time so my conscious mind was actively competing with my subconscious to make sense of it all.
The time warping phenomenon continued when Sunday morning’s sudden arrival shocked me …surely it’s only Friday? Perhaps Cherry Hinton is sitting along the conjunction of ley-lines or had fallen into a black hole. Very odd indeed.
Time warping may be a strange phenomenon but it wasn’t the only strange thing to be experienced over the weekend. Seasick Steve's most unconventional entrance through the crowd, over the barrier and climbing onto the stage, was a delight for the opening night of the festival. With his friend Jack Daniels in hand he obviously can't get those past hobo days out of his system!
The hobo surprises kept on coming with Steve Earle's new image complete with comb-over and scruff-pot beard. Steve may have had the visual shock-value but it was his wife Allison Moorer who revealed all to me over a hot cup of tea…
The bookers at Cambridge have never been adverse to stretching the definition of ‘folk’ to the limit when selecting the line-up and this year was no exception. The traditional folk of Joan Baez rubbed shoulders with the reggae of Toots & The Maytals and The Ukulele Orchestra’s unique re-working of rock ‘n’ roll, jazz and even punk added to the mix. But here are a few of those artists who made the festival worthwhile for me this year…