Cambridge Folk Festival the Sunday

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31st July 2022

The tolilets and showers were holding up at the campsite. The new generator, and waste water pumps were working well. Today we headed in early because R wanted to do a craft course and weave some willow into a shape. When she arrived she was disappointed in that most of the work had been done already. There did not seem to be much opportunity to tailor the course to your own needs. We moved on to the arena, stopping by the wild flower gardens.

Sunday Performances

We sat again in a similar place to before, but a little further back. There appeared to be rules depending on where you were located. In the tent/marquee area you could only stand or sit on the ground. Outside the tent you could or were expected to sit on chairs. These had be aligned in rows. If you created a round circle group, you were reprimanded and had to align your chairs in a row. Further back, behind a line, you could group your chairs in circles. There was one such group near us. We heard about the rules only when this group was told to line up their chairs. They refused and reminded the usher that they were behind said line at which she apologised and moved on.

I am not sure if this group actually saw or heard music, they spent their time chatting and drinking.

Programme

We watched and listened to all the bands on this stage. Enjoyed listening to Billy Bragg and N’famady Kouyaté. The Gypsy Kings were definitely very popular. I did not make any attempt to get near the front. They performed a good rendition of the Leaonard Cohen classic of Hallelujah. After they left, the crowds significantly thinned for the finale of St. Paul and the Broken Bones. I managed to get to front of the stage to watch them.

Main Stage 1

St. Paul and the Broken Bones – Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes – Billy Bragg – Legend Slot: Clannad – N’famady Kouyaté – The Spooky Men’s Chorale – Billie Marten Katherine Priddy

Main Stage 2

Orchestra Baobab – Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram – Sam Lee – O’Hooley And Tidow -Lilith Ai – The Mary Wallopers – The Honest Poet – Mishra – Kids Show: Jason Maverick

The Club Tent

The Mary Wallopers – Trials Of Cato – Nick Hart – Flo Perlin

The Den

Fuzzy Lights – The Drystones – The Ocelots – Siv Jakobsen – Angeline Morrison – Judy Blank – Tape Runs Out – Daisy Chute – June Road

N’famady Kouyaté

St. Paul and the Broken Bones

Gallery

Cambridge Folk Festival the Saturday

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30th July 2022

Another fine day for the festival. Today we were meeting up with Andrea and Richard again, but this time at the festival. So, we plonked ourselves outside the arena where we could place our chairs and listen to the bands in peace. Drinking, eating and several jugs of Pimms.

Saturday Performances

You can see a number of bands from the previous day performing on various stages tonight. We spent the day on the main stage, making excursions to the food stalls, the bar and the loos.

Programme

Main Stage 1

Chico Trujillo – Passenger – Afro Celt Sound System – Spell Songs – This Is The Kit – The Young’uns – VRï – The Magpie Arc

Main Stage 2

Dustbowl Revival – Elephant Sessions – Flook – Admiral Fallow – Elles Bailey – The Spooky Men’s Chorale – Julie Fowlis – Festival Session with Brian McNeill – Urban Folk Theory’s Silent Live Ceilidh Band

The Club Tent

Gasper Nali – Lady Nade – Maddie Morris – Feis Rois – Gwenifer Raymond – Eve Goodman

The Den

Bandits On The Run – Becoming Branches – Limerance – Katie Spencer – Memorial – Moore & Moss – Burd Ellen – Jodie Nicholson – The People Versus – Zoe Bestel

The Magpie Arc

VRï

This is the Kit

Afro Celt Sound System

Gallery

Cambridge Folk Festival the Friday

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29th July 2022

The toilet failure had progressed, the showers were flooded, I managed to get a shower, but as Rosemary entered the shower, the electric pumps made one last spluttering sound and fell into silence. There was a small additional toilet block in operation, but it soon failed. Lots of complaining is going on.

I watched the small caravan next to us with a degree of envy – they had a toilet & a shower, and, better still, a bacon & eggs cooked breakfast.

Today, we caught the festival bus to Cherry Hinton Park, and then waited for a bus to take us into Cambridge city. We met up with Richard and Andrea for a visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum for the Hockney’s Eye: The Art and Technology of Depiction. We were overly impressed with the images and the understanding of their perspectives. We had tea and lunch before Rosemary, and I headed back to Cherry Hinton and the Folk Festival.

After the main act we headed back to the campsite. New equipment, generators, had been installed and the showers and toilets were back in action.

Friday Performances

It was another warm, sunny, dry day. We spent much of the afternoon sheltering from the sun under a tree, with brief sorties to the stage to take some pictures. We saw all the bands from Findlay to Seasick Steve on the main stage. No pictures of Findlay. I did make some sorties to buy Rosemary refreshing Pimms.

Programme

Main Stage 1

Seasick Steve – Suzanne Vega – Dustbowl Revival – Spiers and Boden – Findlay – Show Of Hands – Tapestri – The Copper Family

Main Stage 2

Show Of Hands – The Magpie Arc – The Breath – Ballet Folk: The Tears of Jenny Greenteeth – Simon Care Trio ceilidh – The Young’uns – VRï – Stumpy Oak – Maynard Flip Flop

The Club Tent

Trousdale – Ferris & Sylvester – Brian McNeil – Jinda Biant – Conchur White – Songlines Interview with Spiers and Boden

The Den

Bess Atwell – Nati Dreddd – Bird In The Belly – Pearl Fish – Rachel Croft – Cynefin – Guise John Dhali – Ceitidh Mac – Loris and The Lion

Findlay

Spiers and Boden

Dustbowl Revival

As the evening progressed, the music became better, Dustbowl Revival were definitely worth watching.

Suzanne Vega

I said the music was getting better, seems the Cambridge Folk Festival put the headliner on as the one before the finale. So here was Susan Vega, the headliner. It was very crowded, and I couldn’t get to the front. But I didn’t like her. I really don’t like this type of music. After Suzanne, there was Seasick Steve, much better. I saw him a couple of times before. Why no videos of him. Not at all sure. Maybe I was enjoying myself too much.

Gallery

Cambridge Folk Festival the Thursday

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28th July 2022

Rosemary and I attended the Cambridge Folk Festival at Cherry Hinton Hall. This runs from Thursday through Sunday. We arrived at Coldham Common in Morrison the campervan and set up camp, parking near the boundary hedge. I had parked along this border three years before. Coldham Common is where the vans and the majority of the camping takes place. Some camping is available at Cherry Hinton. There is a free bus which takes you from Coldham Common to Cherry Hinton and back. It is a regular and fast service. Even when the evening ends and everyone is leaving, there is only a short wait for the bus.

At Coldham Common there are toilets and showers, some catering and a bar.

Once we had parked and finished unpacking, we headed to Cherry Hinton to see some performances. Thursday is not a major day, and the Main Stage 1 is not running with the technicians still completing its construction. The bars are open, food is available, and the small club stage is open. We sat in the sun, drunk a beer and watched the Morris Dancers.

After watching the bands, we headed back to the campsite. Here at the campsite, not all was well. There was a problem with the toilets. They were blocked. As a man I could take a wee, the women had loos full of poo.

Thursday Performances

On Thursday there were no big performers playing, some players were also playing on other days as well. Thursday is a low-key day, and not everyone will come to see the evening’s performances. I did want to see Beans on Toast, but other than that we dipped in an out of performances.

Programme

Main Stage 2

Spiers and Boden – Davina & The Vagabonds – Samantha Crain – Janice Burns & Jon Doran

The Club Tent

Steve Adams – Tapestri – Beans On Toast – Joshua Burnell – The English Fiddle Ensemble

The Den

Flint Moore – Hannah Lou Clark – Old Man Boom – The Mardlers – Mahogany Tales

Morris Dancers

The Morris Dancers performed outside the main bar. They actually performed throughout the whole weekend, occupying various locations on the festival site. I have not been able to identify who they were.

Janice Burns & Jon Doran

We watched Janice Burns & Jon Doran at the club tent, an Anglo Scottish duo who play traditional music. The music was nice folk music.

Beans On Toast

A must see was the musician going by the name Beans on Toast. It is rumoured he has played Glastonbury more times than Coldplay or any other band. I first saw him this year at Glastonbury where he was playing the Truth Stage. He was accompanied by a couple of guitarists.

Tapestri

Tapestri are a bilingual Folk group from Wales.

Gallery

Akeman Inn and its Kitchen Garden

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21st July 2022

The second of our two local pubs, the Akeman (formerly the Crooked Billet), the one we don’t often visit, has a vegetable garden. Planning permission was granted several years ago, but COVID came along and delayed the opening of the vegetable patch. This year all changed, and the garden was planted with veg, while plastic poly tunnels were erected to grow heritage tomatoes. The intention is to supply fresh vegetables to several of the Oakman inns. We went with neighbours to an open day with the gardeners and management on hand to explain their vision. It looked impressive, but would it be able to supply much veg? Who knows? Let us see what happens next year.

Of course, it would have been rude not to have had a glass of beer in the bar.

St Neots Camping

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7th July 2022

We took the van to St Neots for five days of camping. The weather promised to be fine and did not disappoint. We managed to get a pitch on the river’s edge, with a tree for shade. There was a public footpath between us and the river and the fisher persons. It was just grand sitting there in the sun watching the world go by while sipping on our Negronis, Ricards.

Interesting to find other campers had not come far often for only a couple of nights. When we connected the electricity, we did think the point quite high off the ground. Turns out the campsite can flood. We met a Dutch chap who said it was his favourite campsite in England.

We managed to struggle into town on most days, stopping in the market square to consume coffees. We found an excellent pub; if I lived in St Neots this pub, the Pig n Falcon would have been my regular evening haunt, good selection of beers, and live music. What more could one want? We sat there on a quiet afternoon drinking our beers. There is the backside of a pig diving into the outside wall, and the head of the pig emerging in the bar. Very quaint.

On Sunday to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary we had lunch at The River Mill, on the Eaton Socon side of the river. The pub is in a converted mill which was/is owned by Jordans who make the eponymous breakfast cereal. Interestingly the mill was converted to a pub and flats when we lived in Eaton Socon in the early 1980s.

On another day we took a river trip from All Aboard Boating. We hired a small motorboat and headed downstream towards Huntington. Some good water lillies both yellow and white ones. Despite the recent lack of rain, there was still plenty of water flowing down the river to allow the locks to operate. We managed to operate a couple of locks before turning around at Great Paxton and heading back.

On other little walks we did, we visited our old home on the Great North Road. Nobody was in, so we could not look around. The hedge I planted was still there. I think now that it was a mistake planting a Leylandii hedge, especially as it was not maintained properly.

Glastonbury 2022 Sunday

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26th June 2022

Glastonbury festival goes so fast. This was already the last day. I had heard that George Ezra was doing a ‘secret set’ on the John Peel Stage. He was the third band playing. I wanted to see him and get up close, so decided to head on over there and watch the previous two bands. I did not want a repeat of Thursday where I had tried to get to see Bastille at Williams Green and failed to even get into Williams Green.

Just Mustard, John Peel 11:15 12:00

I arrived at the John Peel Stage and managed to get to the crowd barrier at the front of the stage, slightly to the right. I should get an excellent view from here. I had to watch Just Mustard play, a band from Dundalk in Ireland.

Sports Team, John Peel 12:30 13:30

The next band was Sports Team, an alternative rock band based in London. They met while they were studying at the University of Cambridge, often playing at the Portland Arms. The lead vocalist Alex Rice managed some crowd surfing and climbing the tent support. A remarkably interesting act.

George Ezra, John Peel 14:00 15:00

Now it was George Ezra. I was slightly pissed off because about 60 George Ezra groupies were herded into the photographers’ pit, with the barrier being moved towards the centre of the stage. My view was now restricted! Damn. His set was fine, I have some reasonable photographs and video of him. There must have been huge crowds outside the tent, because after the show it took me a very long time to get out of the John Peel area.

Six-minute video of the George Ezra show. This features four songs, Budapest, Listen to the Man, Shotgun and Pretty Shining People.

Search for Mary and Ed

Having escaped the mayhem of the John Peel Stage, I decided to meet up with Ed and Mary. Eventually I met them at Williams Green where we had a few drinks. Still tasteless beer, Covid has a lot to answer for. We headed to the Pyramid Stage to see the last few minutes of Elbow playing. It is remarkably easy to get reasonably close by walking down the matting track in the centre, down to the mixing booths. Must remember that for next year.

Elbow, Pyramid Stage 17:45-18:45

The Bootleg Beatles, Acoustic Stage 18:30-19:30

We all headed up to the Acoustic Stage to see the Boot Leg Beatles. After which Ed and Mary had to go to work, so I left for the West Holts stage.

Angélique Kidjo, West Holts 20:00-21:00

Angélique Kidjo is singer-songwriter, actress, and activist. Her musical influences include the Afropop, Caribbean zouk, Congolese rumba, jazz, gospel and Latin styles. This was an excellent performance, and she came into the pit, so was awfully close to me at one stage.

The rest of the evening descended into a blur, with much time spent in the theatre area, watching the walkabout theatre groups.

That was the end of Glastonbury 2022, and on Monday I headed back home with very little delay getting out of the site.

Glastonbury 2022 Saturday

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Another day started. No queues for showers, and yet again an excellent breakfast at The Love Fields. Yes, I ate a full English, but also breakfasted on a couple of large excellent pastries. I was spoilt. I headed down to West Holts, where I spent the early part of the day.

Kikagaku Moyo – West Holts 11:30 12.30

First up was a Japanese band who played easy listening music. A few members of their entourage came out into the pit to watch. Later on, some of the band members came out to watch other bands.

Brass Against – West Holts 13.00 14.00

Brass Against is a collective group of musicians who share the goal of creating music to inspire social and personal change. The band curates songs from a variety of influences from Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, Black Sabbath, Run the Jewels as well as their own compositions in a heavy brass filled symphony.

This Is a Work Event

After Brass Against finished playing, I had a message from Rosemary about a flag seen flying, ‘This is a Work Event’. It just so happened to be in the West Holts crowd. Rushed on over to the flag, and cajoled is owners to photograph me holding it. Interestingly it disappeared in 15 minutes, and I never saw it again.

This is a work event
This is a work event

Black Midi West Holts 14:30 15:30

After the picture opportunity I went back to watch Black Midi, an English rock band from London, formed in 2017 by Geordie Greep, Cameron Picton, Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin and Morgan Simpson.

Glass Animals Other Stage 17:15 18:15

Finished at West Holts and walked over to watch Glass Animals on the Other Stage. I was far, far away and did not have an unobstructed view. Watched them for a few minutes before attempting to meet up with Ed and Mary who had gone their separate ways. Tracked them down to the Williams Green and had a pint of beer with them before we headed over to the Pyramid Stage.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Pyramid Stage 19:15 21:00

We met up with Jon watching Noel Gallagher. It is quite easy to get down in front of the mixing consoles, there is a path in the centre of the arena from the back to the mixing decks.

Ralph McTell Acoustic stage 20:00 21:00

After Noel, we headed to the Acoustic Tent. We had quite an advantageous position to see Ralph McTell. Managed to grab a video of him singing his famous Streets of London

Glastonbury 2022 - Ralph McTell

Image 1 of 1

Glastonbury 2022 - Ralph McTell

The Waterboys Acoustic Stage 21:30 – 23:00

The final band on the Acoustic Stage was The Waterboys. The Waterboys are a folk-rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band’s membership, past and present, has been composed of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.

Theatre and Circus

I spent much of the late evening walking around the circus and theatre area, watching many walkabout acts, before finally watching a show at the Circus Tent, Briefs Bite Club, I had great expectations for the show, but it did turn out to be rather tedious.

Glastonbury 2022 Friday

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After a good breakfast, I walked down to the West Holts Stage. The West Holts tends to play Jazz, and World Music. It is one of the major stages of Glastonbury, and not overly crowded. You can easily get to the front, or just relax sitting on the grass. The stage is well provided with food and drink. The famous Brothers Bar and also the Goan Fish Curry stall are located on either side of the stage. The West Holts stage is also one of the few stages where they have artist signings.

Nubiyan Twist, West Holts 11.30 12.30

The first band today was Nubiyan Twist. They describe themselves as a UK Afro-Jazz 9-piece band lead by Tom Excell, fusing groove driven music with sound system culture and improvisation.

Nova Twins, Greenpeace 12:30 13:15

Having enjoyed watching the Nova Twins the previous day, I tried to go and watch them again at the Greenpeace Stage. A very short walk from West Holts. I was able to get up close to the barrier and grab some close-up pictures. This was a totally different experience to last night, a far tamer crowd more worried about climate change than moshing.

John Peel Stage

I walked over to the John Peel Stage, quite a trek and watched a couple of bands playing, Girl in Red, followed by Sigrid.

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss 18:15 19.15

Walking from the John Peel stage, along the track high up on the pyramid stage field, I spotted Robert Plant and Alison Krauss finishing their set. The crowd was thin, so I walked down to the edge to take some photographs.

Bonobo, West Holts 20.20 21.30

Back at West Holts there was an excellent set by Bonobo. Their music is soothing, combining club music with world music delving into jazz.

Little Simz West Holts 22.15- 23.45

The final band, the headline act on West Holts was Little Simz, a black woman rapper. I’m not particularly into rap, but she was good and got the crowd moving. As you can see, I was on the rail at the front, much to the annoyance of the younger generation around me. What was amusing, I received a DM tweet from Mark, someone I worked with years ago. During the performance, this tweet appeared, telling me I had been spotted on the Little Simz set. His daughter and wife had been watching the live set on BBC THREE. Yes, that is me with the hat, next to the rabbit.

Little SIMZ Glastonbury 2022, Friday West Holts stage.
Me on the Little Simz set.

Glastonbury 2022 Thursday

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On Thursday, the main stages have not opened, but some of the smaller stages get going during the afternoon. There are hordes of people crowded around the bars, and it can be quite a fight to get a drink. So, I did not bother. This year I drank extraordinarily little and carried around a few cans in my backpack to keep hydrated. Beer had temporarily lost its lustre for me, I could not taste the difference between cider, ale and lager, they all tasted the same, sweet water. COVID had caused me to lose my sense of taste. It was the same with the food, the delicious offerings tempted me very little. I tried, but nothing tasted as it should.

After a full British breakfast and some exploring, I headed to the Rabbit Hole. It is in The Park, which is terribly busy on a Thursday with Stonebridge bar doing roaring trade. I waited until the Rabbit Hole opened and watched three bands. The Rabbit Hole is a small tent with a small bar, DJ set and stage. Many famous musicians come here late at night. (I have yet to see one!) The Rabbitt Hole used to be further up the hill and required a little effort to reach it. The last two Glastonburys have seen it move down into the main area of the Park.

Thursday was a very sunny day, and I had forgotten to put suncream on my face and arms, so finding venues undercover was a promising idea.

Eva Scott Rabbit Hole 13:00 – 13:30

Sofy (Glastonbury Emerging Talent Finalist) Rabbit Hole 14:00-14:30

I had come to see Sofy, a band from the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition. They were well worth the wait.

Lewis Mclaughlin, Rabbit Hole 15:00-15.30

Beans on Toast, Truth Stage 18:20-19.00

After grabbing some lunch in The Park, I headed over to the Truth Stage in Shangri-La to see Beans on Toast. Beans on Toast is a singer songwriter who produces an album every year and is rumoured to have played Glastonbury more than anyone else. He will be playing at the Cambridge Folk Festival this year. His songs are political and easily sing-along-able.

Williams Green TBA 19:45-20:25

The Glastonbury programme always has several TBAs. The TBAs are the unannounced bands who will be playing. The secret for Glastonbury organisers is to spread the word to a few people to get someone along to watch the band. Sometimes this goes wrong, and the word is spread everywhere, and thousands of people descend on the stage. The secret sets are from quite high-profile bands. I had subscribed to a twitter account which announced the rumours, so I knew Bastille would be playing at Williams Green. I tried to get to Williams Green. The whole area was cordoned off, the crowds were dense. I got through the cordon, but nowhere near the stage. I gave it up as a bad cause and eventually headed back to the Truth Stage. If you want to see a TBA, get there at least while the previous band is playing, or better still the band before. I remember watching the band Pulp years back because I had heard a rumour. I had a good place to watch the band, but the Park Stage was also cordoned off long before the band started to play. So many people had descended on the stage.

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Truth Stage 20:30-21:15

I arrived to see the punk band Pigs Pigs …Pigs. and watched from the back.

Nova Twins (EARCHE) Truth Stage 21.45-22.30

After the 7 pigs, the crowd thinned, and I was able to get nearer the stage for the Nova Twins. They put on one fantastic show. I would go and watch them again at the Greenpeace Stage the next day. The crowd was wild, I did edge back a little to remain out of the mosh pit.