TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

The weather may have been foul but this was a storming set to compensate, one of the best I have ever seen at Cropredy. They clearly had a ball. Should certainly have been on the bill before and deserve to be back soon. I have been saying for a long time that we should have more world music at Cropredy and this proved why. One of the best live bands there is.

Totally agree. I loved every minute and intend to see them live again as soon as possible. Fab!!  :D

They are touring in November... Already booked for Manchester!

One for the anoraks, what is the purpose of the bent ended drum stick (apart from hitting the drum!) used by the Sikh drummer?

I’m not an anorak, but.....

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=2ahUKEwj3rY78i-fcAhVKQ8AKHa87DWUQFjADegQIARAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FDhol&usg=AOvVaw2PxgohaTjrMrVlJroqHayg

The drummer is the wonderful Johnny Kalsi

Many thanks

They have to be booked again.
Their style of music played with such enthusiasm, deserves an audience that isn't huddled there in many layers of waterproofs.

 

Can you arrange that next year please!

Very good, although the sound was too boomy near the front. Much better up the field a bit. Also not sure that any band really needs four drummers!

Yep, agree about the sound, but didn't go to the back so no idea if it was better there. Despite that, best I've seen from them, but I missed the big Guinean chap with the phallic guitar thingy that I can never remember the name of.  He's a brilliant performer under his own name too, which might be N'faly Kouyate or some such approximation.

Only came across them when I went to the BBC Folk Awards a couple of years ago and they played a couple of songs there. Brilliant act and did a superb job in the face of appalling weather. We were half way up the field and the sound was just about right there

I have seen them many times and due to their practice of adding different musicians to the main core of the band each time has been different.
This time the addition of the choir was absolutely glorious.
I may have been sat half way up the field, freezing cold and wracked with pain in the pouring rain, but I had a bloody great grin on my face!

Oh they do! The more drummers the better!

Yes, they were great. My friend didn't like "the jigs and the bagpipes" but I thought they were a terrific balance to the almost set-long drum solo, enlivened by having so many different styles of drums and drumming. A particularly good showpiece from the bodhran player mid-set.

The set *nearly* kept my mind off the really quite atrocious rain!

Highlight of the weekend, those voices! Looking to book in the autumn.

I thought they were belting!

The bagpipe player made me wonder if he was emulating a fusion of his own - Bon Scott and Brian Johnson with flat cap and bagpipes!  :-)

didds

Really good band, atrocious sound, bass making the speakers f**t badly.

I thought the ball was overpowering the entire weekend :(

didds

Really good stomping and inventive stuff. The only thing I didn't like was the drawn out percussion solos that (IMHO) sounded like a well-played version of what floats across Field 8 at the end of the night. Apart from that,  brilliant.

Ref the sound I spent the first half of their set at the top of the field having a massage and the sound was superb up there, but where we were sat to the right of the sound tower you couldn’t hear the vocals (for many of the acts).

I suspect the weather had everything to do with it and I’m not sure of the answer but a good sound technician should know.

all of our group remarked that whenever they were back in field 5 the sound was better there.

They were excellent!  I was down the front dancing, which was the best way to cope with the rain!  But yes, the bass was too heavy down the front for them and some other acts too.

It is rare to see an entire band beaming with genuine joy and delight for the entire set.  That helped me endure the rain.

Loved them for ages, and seen them several times. Slightly different lineup this time; never seen them with a Latin choir before. It really worked. Missed the chap with the gourd with the pole and strings in (yes, technical description that), but the choir added a whole new dimension. Think Johnny Kalsi is brilliant. If you like his drumming, look out for the Dhol foundation, where he has taken lads off the streets of London, and taught them to play the Dhol drum.

Those who know me know that I don't dance, well I did, and I felt a bit drier for it.

If you haven't seen them, book tickets now. And people say they don't integrate.  ;D

Paul

Have seen them several times, always different but always joyful. Really loved the choir, Sanctus sent shivers down my spine. Highspot of the weekend.

Oh, I don't know - let's see if we can get the Dhol Foundation as well! Wonderful sound

Sometimes, being right at the front is not the best place to take a photograph. A band such as this, spread out and positioned well back on the stage, present particular challenges. This is one of only a few I have kept, but it reminds me of the sheer joy exuding from them.
Their bass tech should speak to his counterpart with Legend, who managed to blow the rain away a few years ago (and set many car alarms off in Field 7...)
I do hope they return in due course.

She's a quite a girl!

Is she the lady from Honeyfeet?

I believe so...Ríoghnach Connolly

Couldn’t be helped I know, but the weather was wrong for these guys. I get the impression they are partly visual, and largely require you to be up and dancing. Both those things were dampened (literally) by the fact I was sat under my rain cape behind a sea of umbrellas.

Loved them. I’ve booked to see them in Cambridge this autumn again (saw them last year with the Dhol Foundation).
Dhol Foundation for Cropredy please. I love Johnny Kalsi

Enjoy! (Jealous  ;) )

They sounded fantastic, but getting really engaged with the set was difficult when totally soaked. (That and the Macaroni Cheese stall closed.)

Give them another chance next year.

Much as I enjoyed the Afro Celts, I’m not in favour of bringing back an act the very next year. Didn’t quite work for the Pierce Brothers. Give it a few years then bring them back