No video of the Folkfest. There were so many great acts that it would be unfair to pick one to include.
Why This Gig?
Because if they’re going to put on a festival of great music in the pub at the end of my road, there’s no way I’m not going to go. This is the third year of the festival and I’ve been every year.
Acts
As with the other two day, I’m not going to split the acts into “support” and “headline”. They’re all great acts who are worth checking out.
I was going to stick with my previous plan of flitting between the Theatre and the Ballroom, but it was quite a lot busier on the third night, so I stayed in the Theatre for fear of losing my good spot. This meant that I only saw four acts.
Hannah Beth is a lovely woman who sings great songs accompanied by an acoustic guitar and her friend on violin. It was a pretty low-key start to the evening, but really very good. I will be seeing her again.
My initial impression was that I didn’t like Josh Record. I’m not sure what it was, but they just didn’t seem to have the spark that I’ve come to expect from Folkfest acts. But I stuck with it and they really changed my mind. By the end of their set I was really enjoying myself.
You’ll have noticed that most of the acts at the Folkfest are up and coming acts. You don’t often get acts that you’ve heard of. But here’s something completely different. Kathryn Williams is, of course, on of the leading lights of the British folk scene. When the Folkfest announced that she would be playing, any doubts I had as to whether or not I would be going were immediately removed.
It was a pretty low-key set. She sang and a friend played guitar. But it was lovely. She’s playing in London again next week and I’m going to that show too. I’m really looking forward to it.
I don’t think I get Leddra Chapman. To me, she seemed a rather strange way to close the festival. I suppose what she plays is folk. But it’s a rather modern and urban folk. She sings songs about the life of a twenty-something woman living in London. It’s closer to Kate Nash or Lily Allen than Kate Rusby or Eliza Carthy, but I didn’t really enjoy her. I’m happy to admit I’m in the minority here. Most of the audience were loving it. But, for me, it was a rather disappointing end to three days of (mostly) great performances.