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Love Folk Festival

Venue: The Atkinson
Town: Southport
Date: 13-14/2/15
Website: http://www.theatkinson.co.uk/

Can it really be thirty years since I first saw Oysterband here at The Atkinson [then Southport Arts Centre]? Yes, it is and it was great to see them again.

It was particularly good to see the band's charismatic front man John Jones. John has recently undergone major surgery and this was his [and the band's] first gig since he was taken ill. John told the appreciative crowd "it is good to be back on stage" but that he "wouldn't be jumping off the stage tonight". It was clear from John's face that he was delighted to be back with the band, even if he moved a little gingerly.

The last time that I saw Oysterband was here at The Atkinson at the 2008 Folkport Festival [the forerunner of Love Folk]. Since then, cellist Chopper has left the band to be replaced by new member Adrian Oxaal [also on cello] and they have released [in 2014] a superb, critically acclaimed new album "Diamonds On The Water". Tonight's set was a mixture of songs from the new album and a good number of Oysterband "classics" from their extensive back catalogue.

The show began, appropriately, with the title track "Diamonds On The Water", an upbeat, optimistic anthem which recounts that whatever bad things happen, good things follow and that mantra must resonate with John after what he has been through recently. Adrian excelled on this song with a superb cello solo. Guitarist Alan Prosser took centre stage for "Walking Down The Road With You"from 2007's "Meet You There"album and this was followed by a set of tunes, including Benji Kirkpatrick's "Quernstone Reel", featuring some great interplay between Alan on acoustic guitar and Ian Telfer on violin.

The band then delved back into the past for "Molly Bond", one of the first traditional songs that they recorded.

Oysterband specialises in mid-tempo, big-chorus, folk-rock anthems and they played a sensational trio of these after the interval- "A Clown's Heart", the classic "Native Son" and "A River Runs". Great stuff.

In contrast, we had an acoustic version, sung by Alan, of Si Kahn's "Mississippi Summer", which June Tabor introduced to the band and which contains the title of the band's first album with June, "Freedom And Rain".

Following this acoustic interlude, Oysterband fired off a volley of their classic songs in rapid succession - "Not Like Jordan", "The Deserter", "Another Quiet Night In England" and the seminal "The Oxford Girl". As if this were not enough, the band then launched into a scorching version of Leon Rosselson's classic song about The Diggers, "The World Turned Upside Down", which was made famous by Billy Bragg.

A rousing second set ended with "When I'm Up I can't Get Down" from 1993's "Holy Bandits" album [Interesting fact : This song was covered by Newfoundland folk-rock band Great Big Sea and reached number 6 in the Canadian singles chart !].

For a richly deserved encore, Oysterband switched off the electrics and played acoustically. Appropriately enough for Valentine's Day, their choice of song to close the first Love Folk Festival was "Put Out The Lights" which includes the lines "the dark is warm, let me take you in my arms".

And so ended a great, and sometimes emotional, performance by Oysterband. It was great to see John Jones back on stage looking fit and well and in such good voice.

In terms of the performances by the six headlining acts [and let us not forget the sterling work of the members of The Bothy Folk Club], the first Love Folk Festival at The Atkinson was a resounding success. Congratulations to Emma LLoyd and her team for all their hard work in making this highly enjoyable event possible. Roll on 2016!

Words:Peter Cowley
Pictures:India Ikonomides excluding Ross Ainsley, credit Mike Ainscoe