Re: Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival 2005

[Penguin (Dunc)]

Right here goes!

Friday night found us in the British Legion for the Family Mahone gig.  They sang (mainly) drinking songs, so we drank (getting three pints for less that a fiver encourages you to do this), we danced, we got very sweaty and had a damn good time.

Saturday afternoon was 'Ladies Day'!  First up it was back to the Legion for Cropredy favourites Tiny Tin Lady who put in an excellent performance - BTW their debut CD 'The Sound of Requiem' was available at the gig though the release date is officially next Monday (27/6) after they've taken Glastonbury by storm!   We then wandered up to the Main Stage in the Marquee for the Witches of Elswick, Ann English & Eddi Reader who all put in superb performances, above and beyond the call of duty, in the stifling heat and humidity of the afternoon.

The evening saw us watching the wonderful Bellowhead, about who much has already been written on this board.  They were without doubt the highlight of the weekend for me with their stunning arrangements of traditional songs plus a few self penned tunes thrown in for good measure.  Note to the Cropredy organisers - Get Bellowhead on as headliners for Thursday night next year, you won't regret it!

Sunday started at 11:00 in the Boars Head for 'Breakfast with Barker'.  Opening the proceedings were the Salt Town Poets who feature our very own Iann on guitar/vocals, and rather superb they were too (That must be worth a beer at Cropredy ).  Les Barker then proceeded to take us into his strange parallel universe with such gems as 'Guide Cats for the Blind' & 'Cosmo the Fairly Accurate Knife Thrower'. 

It was off to the Marquee for Les Barker (Part II) before the excellent singer/songwriter Boo Hewerdine did a short set that earned him a standing ovation.  (It's about now that things went pear-shaped - We fully intended to get back to the Boars Head for Bob Fox & PJ Wright but it started monsooning so we had to stay in the Marquee).  The next act Anthony John Clarke was entertaining enough, but following Boo was never going to be easy.  As the rain hadn't let up we then got Brian "I've got a show on BBC Ireland" Kennedy - What an egotist!   He sang three songs, managed to mention his BBC show four times, and also pointed out that he was having a bad hair day!  As luck would have the rain stopped at this point so we were able to escape and go for a rather nice Chinese meal.

All too soon, it was the last concert of the weekend - Eliza Carthy & the Ratcatchers with support from her dad.  I guess we'll just take it as read that Martin Carthy was excellent - how does he play the guitar like that?  As for Eliza Carthy & the Ratcatchers, they were a fitting end to what was an excellent festival.  IMHO she's finally got a band that really seem to work well with her and they had the place bouncing – Must get their new CD!!!

I think I may be back at Middlewich again next year.
Dunc

[Iann]

You're a gent Dunc! 

Shame you couldn't get the the Boar's for PJ - he was great (and such a nice man too).  He finished his album last week and assured me it will be on sale at Croppers.

Glad you enjoyed yourself.  The weekend was extremely hard work for me but I rewarded myself by staying in the Boar's until 6.30 Monday morning and more than made up for an otherwise sober weekend 

Not sure what my role will be at Middlewich next year - we might find a bit more time to sit and have a few pints together 

Ian.

[steveP]

I was only there on Saturday, and the heat tended to dominate the day.

Eddi Reader & band were magnificent, finally rewarding an audience who had sat in an unbearably hot marquee for three hours. I know it is easy to criticise (so I will...), but in conditions like this, surely it would have been sensible to open some of the side flaps of the marquee to let some air in? OK, people who hadn't paid would have been able to see as well as hear, but the people who had paid might have felt a bit more comfortable.

We were a bit underwhelmed by the Children's concert. Japanese drumming is OK for a while, but my kids (and others around us) had soon heard enough. Also, a bit disappointed that the family ceilidh in the afternoon wasn't publicised better - no mention of it in the guide, as far as I could see, just a sheet of paper in the civic hall window, which I spotted three hours too late. Mind you, it was hardly the weather for leaping around...

[Penguin (Dunc)]

To be fair to the organisers they were in a no-win situation.  If they had removed the side panels then you can guarantee that there would have been complaints about people getting a free show.  They did actually try the compromise of just opening up the emergency exits but it was so hot and still on Saturday that it didn't really seem to make any difference.

Anyway, I thought the fluttering of homemade fans was rather endearing. 

Dunc

[Iann]

Thanks for the comments.  I can fully understand the situation on the inside of the marquee. 

Possibly unbeknown to those inside though we were having problems outside trying to keep the local drunken idiots from entering the marquee via the main entrance.  I would have loved to open up the side doors earlier than we did but it just wasn't possible.  I think the answer in future would be to separate the marquee, artist's area, & bar from the rest of the site with some security screens although the cost of doing this might be prohibitive.  I'd be interested to hear how other festivals dealt with this situation if anyone has any ideas?  Part of the charm of Middlewich for me is its town centre location.  We could think about moving to an edge of town site (a la Bridgenorth) but would the Festival lose some of its charm?

It was the first year we'd put a concert on at this time on a Saturday.  It was perhaps a mistake given the amount of trouble we had with the aforementioned idiots.  On the other hand it was, by all accounts a cracking gig (I could only listen), so it would have been a shame not to have put it on.

Anyway, keep the feedback coming (good or bad) - it's always welcome.

Ian.

[Nick]

I've not been to Middlewich but it sounds as if the layout is similar to the Wallingford Bunkfest - with the festival divided over various different venues around town, some inside buildings (theatres, pubs, etc) some free for anyone to attend and some in marquees for ticket holders only. The main venue at Bunkfest is a marquee with closed sides and a staffed entrance at the back. I would imagine that they face the same issues regarding security and privacy for the concert and freedom of movement for the paying guests. It might be worth contacting the organisers of Bunkfest to see if there is anything that can be learned from each other...

http://www.bunkfest.co.uk/

Apart from that it sounds like a great time was had by all. Nice one!

Cheers

Nick

[Iann]

Hmmm - interesting.  Thanks Nick.

One more thing to you though.  I seem to remember you saying you'd come to Middlewich this year if we booked Bellowhead 

[Nick]

I did,

then my company said "go to Amsterdam" so I had to go there instead. Sorry! 

[Iann]

Never mind - there's always next year 

[John Beresford]

We thought the weekend ticket pricing was uneconomic unless one wanted to see all the top-priced acts, so we cherry-picked the artistes we (well, I) really wanted to see, and bought individual tickets.

Top of my shopping list was Martin Carthy at the Boar.  Amazingly for a man who was already a legend when I were nobbut a lad, I'd never seen him play solo.  I was not disappointed.  He was ably supported by Kerfuffle, a young band in whose hands the Tradition is quite safe.

That was Saturday night.  We had spent the hot and humid afternoon watching the narrowboats in the canal locks, doing (or, in my case, avoiding) the craft stalls, and watching the dancing  - Appalachian step, English rapper, Cotswold morris... all great stuff.

We returned Sunday for PJ Wright, again at the Boar.  The programme hinted that this was his first (and only planned?) solo gig.  You missed a cracker, Dunc - it would have been worth getting wet for!  Folk Club organisers take note, and pester PJ to get out on own more often.  He played several songs we know well from LJE, and finished with a hilarious blues tribute to his homeland, Leicester.  Bob Fox supported, and was top notch as always.

So our only visit to the marquee was to see Spiers and Boden, who seem to have collected a female vocalist somewhere down the line...

Same time next year?  It's in the diary already.  I put Ralph and LJE on my 'who do want to see next year?' form.  Might even get weekend tickets if they're both on...

[John Beresford]

Middlewich Folk...

[John Beresford]

...and boat.

[AdrianW]

Anyway, keep the feedback coming (good or bad) - it's always welcome. Ian.

OK.  Here goes:
Folk
Good
Overall, great, and good value for money.
I enjoyed the music, and was spoilt for choice several times.  I didn't even make it to any of the fringe events.  I liked Mostly Autumn - not what I would call folk, but I've eclectic tastes.  It was however a mistake to sit right by a speaker.
I was impressed that the Council had paid for a free taxi shuttle service.  I was even more impressed that the owner laid on more vehicles and ran them longer than the contract stipulated.  AFAIC nobody was left stranded.  I hope the donations made a big dent in the costs.
Beer (8-)
Sound.
Camp site security.  Yes, I know about the tent which went missing, but its owners were really asking for trouble putting it up where it was.
Scout breakfasts - very welcome.

Bad
The beer garden was far too small, with inadequate seating.
The upstairs room at the Boar was even hotter than the sauna^W main tent, and the ventilation fan at the back of the room was aurally intrusive.
The Sports Center showers were far too hot.  Aeiiee!
A lady I met had vehement views about the lack of facilities for disabled people.

Boat

I blinked and almost missed it.  The models were fun.

I think that moving the Festival out of the town would be a mistake.  I got the impression that by far the greater majority of the people enjoying themselves on the festival field were locals.

My thanks to the organisers.

[John Beresford]

Middlewich Folk...

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[John Beresford]

...and boat.

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[AndyR]

Hi
Just a quick reply to AdrianW about the boats, where were you looking? There were over 200 boats including 30 Historic boats. They were moored above Kings Lock also on Town Wharf below the bridge and up the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union. I know there was over 200 because myself and the rest of the boat sub committee gave out 'Goody' bags to each individual boat staying for the Festival so we counted.
Perhaps we need more signs directing people away from the main stage to other attractions?
AndyR

[AdrianW]

I was obviously looking in the wrong place!  More signs sounds like a good idea.