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Great British Folk Festival

Venue: Butlins
Town: Skegness
Date: 30th November - 2nd December
Website: http://www.bigweekends.com

Saturday

When June Tabor & Oysterband walked off with a plethora of awards this year I can't imagine they thought that the tour for the "Ragged Kingdom" album would take them to Butlins in Skegness in December, the between song banter hinted at that, but significantly it also drew on the warmth of the welcome, the response of the fans and how the expectation of the band had been changed.

Whilst June Tabor & Oysterband have only ever recorded two albums together, but what albums they were. "Ragged Kindom" & "Freedom & Rain" formed the core of the set as June and John Jones batted lead vocal duties between them when not doing duets.

Both of the albums draw on both traditional and contemporary songs, by no means all of them folk, all of which gaining a real dynamic with the power of live performance. With cello/bass player Chopper missing, there was also an element that this may have been an insight into what a post Chopper band may be like when he heads off into a solo career in 2013.

This was a set of both power and subtlety, I think it was one of the best performances I've ever seen from them. June has a great dry sense of humour, you never quite know if she's going to give you a history lesson or a one liner. She uses the history of songs as a way of looking at so called modern ills like teenage pregnancy. This was a set that covered nearly a thousand years of music and sounded totally sharp throughout.

Naturally there's a call for an encore and one that isn't going to be ignored, it may mean that the last band of the evening, Merry Hell are going to be late, but the beaming smile on June Tabor's face shows just how much this meant to her and the band, a feather in the cap for GBFF.

Even as June Tabor & Oysterband came out to talk to the audience and the Reds soundcrew were preparing the stage for Merry Hell, there was a real sense that we had all seen something really special and there was still a choice to be had, stay here or head across to Centre Stage and Show Of Hands.

Show Of Hands had been preceded by the duo that have been supporting them on tour, Matt Gordon and Leonard Podolak, whose old timey, song and dance Americana had gone down a storm. Having very recently seen that tour I decided to stay and watch Merry Hell.

It's been almost a year since I last saw Merry Hell, June Tabor & Oysterband have got the crowd on a real high, if there's any band that's going to hold them there, it's them. The band's power folk with a social conscience is a way to keep a party going or even started if someone else hasn't already done that part for you.

Reds was a room full energy and Merry Hell were the fuel and flame set to burn it off. From stage and pit there was so much movement and bouncing I was convinced we were going to end up in the restaurant beneath us.

This was not a set for the faint hearted, even those shout and cheering along from the tables got knackered just from watching. If you are ever looking for a band to close out a great night of music and ensure everyone crawls away knackered, look no further.

And with that the official music was over for the night, but this is a folk festival and Butlins have very generously provided hundreds of venues for sessions and after show parties, ensuring a late and possibly delicate start to Sunday.

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