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Great British Folk Festival

Venue: Butlins
Town: Skegness
Date: 2nd-4th December
Website: http://www.bigweekends.com

Friday

It seems a shame that a man that has written more than three hundred songs is defined in the mind of the majority of the public by just one song and even the program boldly states that he's going to play it tonight. It's not as if "Streets Of London" is particularly typical of Ralph McTell's songs, which as his friends will tell you tend to prefer a blues route.

Ralph is definitely amongst friends here and his set flavours the folk blues elements in his repertoire, it seems to put him in his element too. A number of people are subsequently heard discussing that this was the best they'd heard him play in years.

One of the reasons for McTell's longevity is his ability to engage with an audience both through his songs and also through his banter, he knows exactly what his audience needs and he gives it to them, his real trick and this is the absolute key, is making it all sound fresh and at that he really is a master.

Part way through his set, I get a pull to head to Centre Stage, Chumbawamba are one of the bands I'm here to see. Like Ralph McTell, they are more than happy to fill their set list with songs of social justice, politics, anti-war sentiments and even on occasion songs that are just about being yourself and having a good time.

With the great strike earlier in the week, there's a straw poll on who went out, who went on the marches and unsurprisingly it's a good percentage of the audience. It might not have been a representative survey, but then again first past the post isn't representative of democracy, I digress.

Chumbawamba have become a far better band since they've moved away from electric and into acoustic and tight harmonies. There is something about small group choral singing that adds a certain gravitas to a song. I've heard "What Did You Do In The War?" from a number of bands, but belted out with a group vocal makes it feel as though it belongs to all of us and as the audience join in with the chorus, it's easy to believe it does.

Music has always been a force for change and listening to Chumbawamba it's easy to understand why that could be, there is so much passion and conviction in the delivery, you know the band believe in what they are singing, that's what gives the songs a real sense of power. The trick that Chumbawamba have managed to achieve is that they also make it entertaining. You don't feel you are being preached at, you feel like you are part of the experience. Chumbawamba leave the audience wanting more and you can't get much more from a band than that.

A couple of audience members get part of their fifteen minutes of fame when they are invited up from the crowd to perform an impromptu cover of the Johnny Cash classic, "Ring Of Fire, truly returning music to the people. Don't know who the surprised guest was or the other audience member was who got on stage to sing backing vocals, but I'm sure it's something neither of them will forget.

It's decision time Quill from Birmingham or Folk Award nominees for Best Live Act, Peatbog Faeries. I admit to a short pique of curiosity, I've never seen Quill before or indeed, to my knowledge , recall ever hearing one of their albums or tracks come to that. Quill will remain a mystery, at least for the time being the acid croft of Peatbog Faeries winning out.

The inclusion Peatbog Faeries on the bill shows that The Great British Folk Festival don't view folk as a narrowband genre, there's plenty of scope for variations on a theme. They are also a great way to round off a Friday night.

The curtains have barely finished raising before Peatbog Faeries before the Celtic inspired fusion that is the band's trademark begins to fill the hall. As a genre acid croft has given new direction and drive to pipes and whistles, combined with pulsating beats, scorching fiddles and driving guitars it's easy to see why the genre has found a longevity that gives lie to the flash in the pan theories around the genre's birth.

It doesn't take long for the pit in front of the stage to fill with dancers looking to end night one with an opportunity to burn off some real energy. Featuring songs from their recently released album "Dust" the Peatbogs are looking to deliver all the fuel the audience needs to end Friday night on a high. I'd stayed with Peatbogs for the whole set and feedback confirmed that I'd made the right choice.

The sound at the start of the set could have been better, but it definitely improved as the night progressed. It was one of those sets where you could get knackered just by watching, with both pipes and fiddle driving the music forward, it was almost impossible not to get the body parts moving, even those that remained seated in the hall could be seen tapping the table and rocking the legs.

It was a hot and sweaty way to end the first day of the second Great British Folk Festival to close. Just because the bands had stopped, that didn't mean we had to. The bars were pretty full and there were definitely a number of units that had become the venues for the rest of the evening's entertainment, for different groups. Friday night was going to end very late for some.

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