Photo: Greendak
A beautiful weekend this time for The Big Session Festival, the signature festival of the band Oysterband. Though not very large in size, and having to fill the De Montfort Hall Gardens, this quiet family affair is just what is needed in Leicester. Whether you travel from another country (many have) or two miles down the road the atmosphere is chilled out and relaxed. The mix of outdoor festival with marquees and stalls to the cool indoor hall is a bit strange at first; at least there is no mud to tread into the carpets!
There is trouble focusing when moving from the bright outdoors into the dark hall, where it takes a while to see where you are walking.The main musical taste of the weekend is folk, and the various genres that have touched on it in past years. Of course the Oysterband have a few sets to play, but they are joined by headliners The Levellers (who are warming up for their own festival Beautiful Days) and Cumbawumba.
The Friday sees Tiny Tin Lady on the Marquee stage. A young trio of girls (one only 14) produce beautiful harmonies accompanied by excellent guitar playing and a funky bassline. The high pitched vocals of the youngest, Beth (known as Lady Macbeth) compliment older sister Danni's more husky
vocals. They look to be having fun on stage, which is what it's all about.
June Tabor in the Main Hall sings her Scottish folk songs and the crowd are transfixed. With a little bit of comedy in between songs, she shows her talent is hard to beat. Nizlopi play the in Marquee to a large crowd, interested after hearing their fantastic 'JCB Song'. Their mixture of cracking guitar and vocals with brilliant double bass skills topped off with some beat boxing are different and exciting to watch and hear, branching off on their own with a little bit of hip hop added to the normal blend of folk.
The Levellers play an acoustic set, though it does not matter, the huge crowd are dancing like the instruments are plugged in as usual. Playing all the hits, such as 'Riverflow', 'Boatman' with Dan Donelly supporting vocals instead of an absent Simon Friend, and a rare playing of 'Julie'. This is definitely a highlight for the festival goers. The Houseband headlining the main stage features the first appearance of Oysterband members, amongst others, while Radio 2's 'Best Folk Duo' Spiers and Boden (members of Eliza Carthy's band) headline the Marquee stage on the first night.
Another fine day on the Saturday as the Real Ale Stage is opened for local and other acts to showcase their acoustic talents, such as American Chris Conway and his songs about making salad with aliens (?!). New this year is the ‘Big Session Ale’, worth a try.
Over on the Main Stage is Jackie Leven, with a grand deep voice and great guitar skills, followed by someone with more mind boggling guitar skills in the form of Martin Simpson. The Marquee Stage plays host to Swill and newcomer Hayley Hutchinson, playing 'Independently Blue'. Martha Tilston sang and warbled through sad songs to happier tunes, while over in the Real Ale tent Evi Vine and her talented band crooned in a rocky style to the tipsy audience. It was at this point that the poo truck decided to drive through the gardens, disrupting everything in its path to get to the few loos. Bad timing I would say.
Large surges of people congregate in the Main Hall for this years golden boy Seth Lakeman and his band. A brilliant performance and effort from the young lads, who are just set to make it big, with tracks like 'Lady of the Sea' with the rapid fiddle playing and slow song 'King and Country'. Another festival favourite. While Dan Britton plays his folk in the Real Ale bar, Eighteenth Day of May wow people with psychedelic folk in the Marquee, followed by Gaelic Singer Julie Fowlis and her band, who informed us of the keys for each song ("in case you play along with a trumpet. It has happened!"). Poland's Warsaw Village Band are a fantastic punk folk band, using multiple instruments and three female vocalists to shout and sing their unique brand of hardcore folk (though few could probably understand the lyrics, they danced just the same).
T and La Touche bring a touch a reggae to the proceedings as headliners of the Marquee, but are sadly overlooked by the majority of the festival goers flocking to see Oysterband and James Grady. The main men fill the Main Hall (and quite rightly too), with classics and others like 'My Mouth'. The event sold out, even with an increased capacity since last year. Watch out for a bigger event next year, as this successful festival keeps growing.
