Saturday
Again the fifteen minutes of fame isn't enough, but the
stage needs to be set for one of the showcase acts Rachel Unthank and the
Winterset.
The band had one of the albums of the year last year with Cruel
Sister, also highly rated by the FATEA crew.
The band's pianist and star in
her own right, Belinda O'Hooley tests the mics with her Shirley Bassey
impression before changing to "Eye Of The Tiger" It was really funny but you had
to be there.
Soundcheck over the band start off with a vocal only song that
is just stunning. The mood is intense.
The between song banter is used to
keep a lighter edge. Songs about people left behind when the whaling ships left
are a little on the darkside, but occasionally it's good to walk in the
shadow.
Vocal duties are exchanged and shared. It adds strongly to the
atmosphere and the crowd listen with great respect, held almost spellbound by
the contrasting voices, only to break into rapturous applause between the
numbers.
The set ends with audience participation and an offer to prostitute
themselves for cd sales at their signing session tomorrow. :-)
It's a toss up
between Cara Dillon and my stomach, I compromise on pork sweet and sour and
listening to Cara whilst I eat and catch her set properly tomorrow.
It's a
great way to enjoy food. All I need now is a beer to wash it down with.
Next
on the genuine listening list is bluegrass/old timey beat combo Nickel Creek.
I'd seen two thirds of the band earlier, but this was the whole thing plus stand
up bass.
The band really knows their stagecraft, front of stage drop back,
strike pose. There are a couple of sound glitches early on. Problems are quickly
resolved and the set continues with some real Americana, it's bold, in your face
and there are plenty of solos.
At first the audience is a bit tame at first,
but suddenly and spontaneously they throw off that old English reserve and the
whole thing really starts to click.
The bass gives their sound that bit more
depth, sometimes bluegrass can be a bit too tinny, but this has a more wholesome
feel.
That's not to say it wasn't edgy, it most definitely was. It was sharp
enough to decapitate the whole front row if they'd wanted it too.
This wasn't
just a set about music, this was about performance. They also threw in some
American sugar pop with a really strange cover version of Britney Spear's song
"Toxic" and Britney is an artist that doesn't often get covered on the Cambridge
stage.
It has to be said that Nickel Creek are a success. They worked the
crowd hard, played hard and reaped the dividend.
The stage is now running
slightly late as a rolling knock on effect and there's loads of kit to shift on
and off for the next act.
The stage djs, Bob and Alan, do a fantastic job
every year of changing the mood to bring people into the right frame of mind.
It's Bob's tenth year and he's done a grand job.
The stage crew have done
their job and we're ready for Cerys Matthews. Cerys has been indie and she's been very stripped back judging by the instrumentation
on stage, she's come for loud.