And whilst everyone else stayed to see The Divine Comedy, I wandered back to Cherry Hinton campsite to loiter with intent in The Milkmaid Folk Club, as they like to call it. And, like last year, we witnessed something that won’t get mentioned anywhere else, but should. I think they were called the Haslan Brothers, or something similar (answers on a postcard please…correct me if I’m wrong) who played one of the most impressive sets of the weekend for the second year running. I saw them before, and this year they were bigger and better, playing their jimby drums and fiddles. They’ll be on Stage 1 in a few years. You heard it here first.

Anyway, it was Saturday that was the beginning and the end of me that weekend. Yet another trip into the city centre, this time with my younger brother, and this time consisting of a shockingly high number of trips into computer game shops and a long time hunting through poster-racks for a poster of Keira Knightly (his current flame). And back to the main site, where to my disgust, I had missed Mindy Smith and caught only the last few notes of Susana Seivane. My brother’s fault, I might add. Typical. Men and their Keira Knightly posters.

We were, thankfully, back in time to see Mr Josh Ritter and his teeth. Have you ever seen one man smile so much?? I like to think he was laughing with us, and not at us, but it was good to see someone so pleased to be onstage and performing for you. And it was even better to see him perform, because he was so breathtakingly good that my family bought his album within a few hours of returning home.

I have never “discovered” The Levellers, as it were. I don’t own an album and haven’t seen them perform before, so it struck me as quite unexpected to be surrounded by so many obviously very dedicated fans. I don’t think it was a particularly good performance to lose my Levellers-virginity at either, because I think you need to know the songs for an acoustic set by a band who usually play otherwise. They’re an anthem band, and I just didn’t know the anthems. Not to dampen the fact that they were still excellent musicians, and if nothing else, the audience sang-along so well that it was worth seeing just to watch the crowd perform. I missed most of Jim Moray 4, but saw enough to be utterly freaked by how scarily identical he is to a friend of mine…

I think I should make a comment on the food at Cambridge, however. Don’t try the baked potatoes, but DO try the spicy wedgies with chilli. Damn fine, if you ask me. Food at festivals is always expensive; you’re a captive audience. But it’s almost always good. And the chilli was excellent. Even the food at the campsite was good, with a little trailer selling fantastic vegan food and a marquee selling everything else. Cambridge is so different to other festivals because it’s so much more civilised. The swimming pool, complete with showers, is a short walk in one direction; 24-hour Sainsbury’s and their café is a short walk in the other; and the toilets are (generally) far too clean to believe that they are festival loos. Even the camping is quiet enough to actually get some sleep.

Continued