Friday 2

Having missed The Broken Family the night before, it was time to catch up with them here. The band play a country based music which it blends with other styles, rock, blues and even pop. At times there is even a hint of old timey.

There’s plenty of life in the sound, a good energy in the music. If only the band’s lead singer, Steven Adams, didn’t come across as such a miserable git. He’s got a great voice; his sense of style is at one with the sound. Arguably he should learn to smile more and get a bit more dynamic on stage.

For me his stage persona is detached from the set to the stage it distracts from it. He probably cares passionately for the music, you don’t believe it.

That aside, I enjoyed the set. Once again Inga joined the band for a guest slot, which made me wonder how close this was to yesterday’s set.

Next up there is a switch Ezio are now leading Amparanoia into the fray, rather than following them.

Regular visitors to this site will know that I’ve not been a big fan of Ezio Lunedi and Booga over the years. They’ve never lived up to the hype around them. The same was true the year, but, and it’s a big but, I really did enjoy their set this year.

A new studio album and a live album seem to have revitalised their performance. They looked like they really enjoyed themselves and the crowd responded.

This was a set of finely crafted songs delivered with a good level of passion. It sort of lacked texture. As I said earlier, I enjoyed this, but I’m not sure I enjoyed this as much as a large chunk of the crowd.

Amparanoia, fronted by the charismatic Amparo Sanchez, hail from Spain and had been delayed in their arrival by having to circle over Standstead, as it was they cut it very fine for even their delayed set.

This was a band making its debut at the festival, in fact only their second UK gig and they were determined to make the most of it. This wasn’t a band that was going to work their way into a forty minute set, this was a band very much with an up and at um attitude.

The band play a style of music called Mestizo, which is a Spanish term for their blend samba, rumba and gypsy rhythms. Throw in some salsa, hip-hop and perhaps even a little Cuban and you start getting a sense of the sound that this band produces.

It’s one of the most energetic performances I’ve seen on the stage. Amparo is an active ball of energy, bouncing and dancing through the set. She also seems to perform with her eyes closed a lot of the time.

As well as her vocals, Ampora also throws a guitar into her performance. The rest of the band comes close to her energy levels. The audience have no choice but to respond. To give you an idea of the sense of movement in her set, some of the photographers in the pit are racking up the asa equivalent just to get a sharp image.

There’s loads of dancing at the front of the stage area as well as further down the tent. Sung in Spanish, I’m not going to even attempt to say I understand what they were about, but at times you got a sense that this wasn’t just about a goodtime, there was something deeper in a lot of the songs.

Continued