Folk Day at the Mc
This weekend Scott Butler put on an indoor folk festival in Kettering. OK so it wasn't exactly next door but as those performing were rather good we thought that we would go along. First up was Bopp! A great energetic band and a great way to spend an afternoon. They would do well in the afternoon at Cropredy. Next up was Fraser Nimmo and guitarist Ian Bolens. Pleasant enough but did not really excite me. Next up was Bob Fox. A good set by him including one of my favourite covers that he does Big River. When he sings you get a feeling of place - i.e. the North East and Newcastle. To finish the afternoon was Little Johnny England. Just one word really GREAT. They really do put the rock into folk-rock as it should be played.
After that there was a break which gave plenty of chances to catch up with friends on various lists. Hello to all of you. I won't mention you all by name as I will no doubt miss someone!
Emily Slade started the second half. She has a fine voice and is a good guitar player. The highlight of the set when she was joined by Phil Beer for a version of 'I Don't Like Mondays'. I was a radical interpretation of the song. None of the snarling that Bob Geldof puts into it. Then came Tickled Pink. We caught their set from the foyer and it did not seem to loose any of the power from there. Again not my cup of tea.
The final act of the day was Show Of Hands. They were on very good form. The set started off with a number of new songs which sound like the start of another fine album from them. There were some old favourites as well. As they have so many songs they do not seem to have the one song that they have to include everytime. So this evening there was both Tall Ships and Santiago but not the Gallway Farmer. That did not stop them from being called back for a couple of songs for an encore. All in all a very fine day.
