Spratton Folk Festival 2009
This year the AFC was granted the full use of the Fringe stage at the Spratton Folk Festival (SFF). This was mainly due to the hard work of Lewis, Adam, and Brown’s contribution previously in 2008 where a Gathering was held in the local pub, the Kings Head, as and extra day of the SFF. I got the impression that there was a great expectation for things to go well. The hours had been put in by Lew and crew, people had come form all over the world, and the stage was set for a diverse and eclectic mix of music from the 10th -12th of July.
Unfortunately, I was unable to make the first day of the festival as my wife was due to have the first pregnancy scan. All I can say is that everything seems to be in order and we are very excited about the baby. So, Dave Biddulph and I drove the 6 hour drive down to Spratton on the Saturday. I was scheduled to do a workshop for the kids but was unable to make it on time. We did make it on time for the live performance of my good mate’s Brawth. There was a good turnout in the Fringe tent and the bad weather was dragging people away from the main stage. The DJ Buddha was on the sound desk. He seemed very happy to be there even though it wasn’t his usual desk and he’d learnt how to use it that week.
It was great to catch up with various people and friends from the AFC and MySpace. Musicians and fans alike had made their way to the event. It was as much a gathering of love for each other as it was for music. Stefan Picard and the Germans had made the long trip in their oober bus. I think there was more beer in the bus’s cargo hold than the ale and cider tent provided by the festival.
I was sorry I didn’t get to see Acoustic Butterfly perform on the Friday night headline spot. I heard they rocked the place though; they played 3 songs, as you do, then did a bit of a ‘Ramones’ and rattled of the rest of their set in a oner. The crowd loved it, were dancing, and demanded a 25 minute encore from the band. I was lucky enough to get a copy of their new CD. It really is a fantastic work of music!
Both Dave and I had a great time chilling to the music on the Saturday evening. Stefan Picard, Roman, Michael, Klaus Peter, and the rest of the German contingent took to the stage (as did the mighty pOOkah) for the headline slot on the Saturday. There were quite a few problems with the sound which took a while to sort; some bad cables and the huge size of Stefan’s band, not to mention everyone in the audience coming up to Rick and telling him what to do, made for a difficult job. It took a bit of time but he got there and the boy did good. Stefan and the guys were brilliant and we were up dancing and swinging to the great music they always provide.
There was an after dark jam session in the German tent. the rain was so bad that we couldn’t be bothered getting back out to the beer tent where the official jam was taking place. There was a good mix of great music, chocolate, and our own versions of Halleluia being sang out from this crammed tent. It must have sounded wonderful to the other campers.
Unfortunately the rain continues to thrash down on Spratton, and, somebody decided to leave a bloody generator running beside my tent. It was not good!! I tried to sleep with the sound of torrential rain and a petrol motor in my ear. I must have gotten about 2 or 3 hours.
The next morning we were greeted with some lovely sunshine. The wind was blustery and the chance of rain was always hanging over the festival. Secretly I wanted it to rain when we were on stage so that the crowd would come in out of the bad weather. The actual festival itself was a real pleasure to attend. It was very family friendly with loads to do for the kids, very reasonable prices for both food and drink, and animals were running around enjoying the very relaxed vibe that we all felt. The music kicked off again. I spent most of the day n the Fringe tent enjoying the live performances from friends like Matt Stevens, Sammon, Maria Hall, and the very talented Volume Brothers.
Our drummer, Si Walker, made the long drive south with Andy Lowe (the guy who is recording our first album). Like a true warrior Si was ready for the gig. We took to the stage about 8:30pm. I had missed the previous year as I had been in Egypt. There was a cheers when I was announced and as I walked onto the stage it hit me that there was indeed an air of expectation for my performance. After all, we were the final Fringe stage act of the festival. I did a wee sound check with my own version of hit the road jack (Ray Charles) and, although I got through it ok, my bloody D string exploded. So, it was a quick string change as Dave and Si took the attention away from my bad luck. This was to be the first time many of my mate’s had heard my music with the band and for many more it was the first time they had heard me live.
We kicked off our set with Soul Searching; a bold and ass kicking song that really woke up the crowd after my fiddling about with strings and tuning. We then cooled down and played more folky songs. The set went as follows:
- Soul Searching
- Circles
- Man in the Cold
- Alcoholic Synonymous
- Grace
- Breaking out
- Disco in the Sky
- 2112
- Alone in the Dark
- Rattle
- Animals
- Goodbye EMI
ENCORE
- How blue can you get?
- Soul Searching
We had people up dancing when we got to Grace as we had reworked it as a soul number; very Stevie Wonder Superstitious. And they kept going with Breaking out, it was very cool.
As the Germans had to go soon as their bus was leaving I played Disco in the sky as Stefan Picard expressed his enjoyment of the song. I don’t think they were expecting the band to come in as late as they did in the song, but it rocked and everyone seemed to enjoy it. After that we played 2112 and then a wee solo by myself; Alone in the dark. You couldn’t hear a pin drop in the place. it was wonderful!
The time had come to move it up a gear. The guys and I had arranged some songs to get a really rocky sound without using electric instruments. Although there is going to be electric instruments in the album recordings we did it acoustic on the night. We played Rattle, a new track called Animals, and finished with Goodbye EMI. Brilliant! The place was rocking at the end of it.
We had finished our set but the crowd wanted more so on we came to do a couple of more songs. We had pretty much run out of stuff to play but we did have a wee blues cover up our sleeves; BB Kings ‘How Blue can you get’. I saw Acoustic Butterfly’s Craig Ralston in the crowd with his guitar. “You’ve got a guitar. Get up here!” I said over the mic. Once we got him up we started the blues. Craig made it sound sweet with some great riffs and licks. We smacked into double time and the crowd was bouncing. Once we had finished we ended our set with our opener – Soul Searching. Craig and I played this at the Hidden Lane a couple of months earlier so I knew he would make it sound sweet. Dave and Si went off on a few tangents and we played a different version of the song. The crowd went bananas, I got inspired, and we started to really have some fun! There was audience participation with some singing, people were hitting the dancefloor from all sides, and we just went for it! It was possibly the greatest musical experience I have had to date!
When I came off stage I lay on the ground and relished the emotions running through me. But I had to get up as people were coming towards the stage and asking for autographs. I’m still not used to that. The first ladies were apparently members of the main stage acts committee and said they were going to try get us on the main stage next year. Then a lady asked me to sign her T-shirt, and another her belly!?! It was all very rock and roll albeit a bit strange.
The response from everyone was overwhelming! I really appreciated it. We said goodbye to Dave as he had to make the long drive up that night. The rest of us hit the beer tent where everyone was having a jam. I was shattered! Someone had heard my complaint about the generator and it was off. So I had an ok sleep; the best you can expect from camping.
The next morning we made the long drive up to Scotland, this time with my mate’s Si and Andy. I really am going to have to learn how to drive as I’ve been given lifts everywhere.
All in all, a bloody amazing festival! Here’s to SFF 2010, and a big cheers to all the Spratton boys for making us very very welcome.