Saturday
So I find myself at Mainstage once again, this time for
the legends that are the Chieftains. The core of four is joined by a multitude
of musicians.
The band is hailed to the stage with many calls
from their many fans.
The set starts with a traditional fast number, partway
through a dancer appears on stage in an area that had been left bare. We now
know the reason why.
On mass the photographers move to that end of the stage.
It's at this point the batteries that I'd changed so diligently at the start of
the day, failed. I reach for my backup camera, only to be reminded by it's quick
failure I hadn't changes the batteries on that.
I give up and just watch the
dancing it's too good to miss. The two guys that are doing it, and who turn out
to be Canadian, are basically playing anything you can do I can do better. It's
very freeform, more street than Riverdance and it sends the audience
wild.
During the gap between songs I perform a battery transplant. I'm up and
running when bodhran player Kevin Conneff comes forward to perform a solo
unaccompanied song. You could have heard a pin drop.
With that I leave the
pit and listen to the rest of the set from the side of the stage. It meant I
didn't see the female dancer, but the band sounded fantastic as they went
through a number of variations on the folk genre and their extensive
history.
The last band on Stage One is a first for the festival, Los De Abajo
performing mestizo rock. The sound combines rock, blues, salsa, ska, the whole
nine yards.
Three percussionists, a horn section, vocals, guitars, bass. The
band is huge and so is their sound.
They also
appear to have unlimited energy as they bounce, dance and at one point hop
around the stage, boundless enthusiasm untethered.
There's lots of hand
waving and audience participation. It's the end of a long day. I'm buzzing from
a caffeine heavy chilled coffee. I do as much as I can before making the long
trek across the site to get back to the Club Tent to fulfil another promise. (I
must stop making those)
The Stillbillies are playing when I arrive. They're
ok, but not really my thing. The band I'm hear to see are Suntrap, including the
massive voiced Paul Hoad.
The band, a four piece released their latest album
earlier in the year. I last saw them at Cambridge as a three piece and did a
short interview with them back then.
The four piece that's finishing off the
night over here have a much richer sound. There's plenty of good fiddle, it's a
great set. I realise that I’m not really listening, the sound is washing over
me, but as tired as I am it’s all I can do and as experiences go it’s a pleasant
one. If you do get a chance to see Suntrap they really are a good band and “The
River
The light's not good enough to get the camera out and I'm absolutely
knackered, but they are a great way to end the day and Phil's waiting for me
with a pint, fantastic.