Sunday 5

It’s time for the charge up the home straight. First away is Beth Orton whose set can best be described as sparse. It’s a massive switch from the previous act, where there had been a full band and plenty of lighting, there is now one singer and approximately the same number of spotlights.

After a while, the lighting is brought up and Beth is joined on stage by longtime cohort Ted Barnes.

Beth is a songwriter who deals with bittersweet like a fine Belgian chocolatier. It’s edgy, dry and leaves an interesting aftertaste. The flavours assault your tastebuds and you’re not quite sure how much is good for you.

One other thing that Beth is good at is reflecting reality in her songs and if that means that the most appropriate word is ‘naughty’ then so be it. A woman asked to no one imparticular if it was necessary. If it’s in the right context, absolutely. You wouldn’t question Reubens over his use of nude fat women, so why do it with a song. Why even question it, even in the between song banter?

The set it’s self was a mix of old and new material. For just one or two people on stage they managed to paint some remarkable soundscapes to wrap the vocals around.

I liked Beth’s set a lot, I like that stripped back sound. I also felt that at about an hour it was just right.

It was time for a couple of unexpected treats now. Two vocal performances from different spots on the vocal spectrum.

Having missed their Stage 1 slot yesterday due to flight problems Dixie Hummingbirds were about to get one song before shooting off to their Radio Two stage performance..

I’m not a big fan of gospel. I’m generally a believer in the old adage about the devil having the finest tunes, but on a sweltering Sunday evening, this felt right.

Lead singer Ira Tucker has been in the band since 1938, yep that’s over sixty years in the same band, and his voice is still crystal.

It’s often said that it’s not so much the noise a band gets at the end of it’s songs, it’s the silences that occur during them that are the measure. Well, you could have heard a pin drop.

The song was tight and obviously delivered with a passion of belief in the lyric. Something that I wouldn’t go to the Radio Two Stage to listen to, but for a one song hit, great.

From spiritual to something more homespun. An unannounced appearance by Eliza McCarthy. Again it was going to be just one number, but this was going to be from the vast halls of English folk.

Off the people, for the people, from the first family of English folk. Eliza wore an amnesty top, which also helped bring home the message that folk is about people’s daily lives and how we can try and do things for the best.

One song was never going to be enough, but it was a fitting tribute to forty years of Cambridge from the latest generation to those of the past and the future.

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