Reviews of Recent Appearances - the
band's perspective!
Tues. August 29th 2000, 8:30 p.m. (approx.)
The Rose & Crown, North Parade, Oxford.
Former Pressed Man David Wilmshurst made his annual trip home from Taiwan
during August, and despite quite a lot of indulgence on the Brackley Morris
tour the previous weekend, he joined in with the rest of us. A splendid
time was had by all. The pub was full, the audience was noisy and appreciative,
and we positively romped through nearly two hours of music, including several
things that we hadn't done since Dave left last October, such as Lazy Bones,
Northfield (which are both 4-part harmony songs), and The Eynsham Poachers.
Andy Hall, the landlord, made us very welcome, setting up a barrel of excellent
beer (Coastliner, from Redruth, Cornwall) on the "stage" for us! The official
bit of the show finished in good time, since Ian had to get up before cough
of sparrow next morning to go to work, so we got some of the audience to
join in and played a few extra tunes while everyone else was drinking up.
Thanks to everyone who came along, especially Tom, Nadine, Ian, and Bill
who joined in at the end, and to Wayne and Jane (enjoy Leeds!)
Fri. 4th - Mon. 7th August 2000
Sidmouth Festival,
East Devon.
No, we weren't invited to perform in the official festival (at least,
not this year). We went to hang out on the "fringe" with like-minded friends.
I had not been to Sidmouth before, so I was really surprised by how many
old friends we bumped into. We spent several pleasant hours busking on
the prom in the blazing sun, then recovering lost fluid in The Swan. (We
really can recommend this pub if you are ever in Sidmouth, festival or
no). Dave Wilmshurst, ex-Pressed Man now working in Taiwan, was around,
so a few of last year's 4 part arrangements were dusted off. Our "reunion"
at The Rose & Crown at the end of the month should be really good.
We decided not to go up to the festival arena to hear Rolf Harris, though
I'm told he was surprisingly good. We almost went to hear Sid Kipper and
Coope, Boyes & Simpson on the same bill, but somehow we were having
such a good time singing and playing ... maybe next year.
Dick and Ian were very well behaved when we visited the show ground,
not buying any instruments, but I came away with a gorgeous hand-made mandolin
with tiger stripe maple back and sides, made by Kai Toenjes. It's already
found a use in our Sheriff's Ride set. He had some delightful mandolas
and citerns as well, but I'm still getting to grips with the Rob Button
octave mandola I bought at last year's Chippenham festival ...
Sat. July 8th 2000
The Beggars' Fair, Romsey,
Hants.
A big folk festival (13 venues this year) in a beautiful setting, and
it's all free! We did two sets, the first in the garden of King John's
Hunting Box, where we were the first act of the day at 11:00, and the second
outside La Parisienne in Bell Street just after lunch. We were pleased
to meet a few old friends, and we were really chuffed by the many passers-by
who stopped to listen to our performances, and stayed until we'd finished.
Left to right: Mark, Ian, Dick. Picture borrowed from
The Beggars Fair web site ©2000 Tony Dawes, Nigel Barlow or Aidan
Collard (sorry - not sure which!)
Picture sent by a member of the audience – many thanks.
Wed. May 17th and Sat. May 20th 2000
outside Westgate Shopping Centre, Oxford.
Busking in aid of Christian
Aid Week. Many Thanks to everyone who gave so generously.
In the two sessions we raised over £600. Thanks also to the Westgate
Centre for letting us use their space.
It was quite a gruelling experience, especially the Saturday, when we
played for five hours more or less without a break. Although we said we'd
take it in turns, to give each other a chance of a rest, when it came down
to it, we were having so much fun that no one could bear to be left out.
Immediately afterwards, we started talking about how we might do it differently
next year.
Fri. May 5th - Sun. 7th 2000
Although we couldn't get a booking for the whole band, I went up to work
as a steward and to meet as many people involved in the folk scene in the
district as possible. I also got roped in to perform a couple of times:
in the "meet the artists" session on Friday night, and the Festival Service
in the parish church on Sunday morning. They even had me "leading" the
Concertina Convention on Sunday afternoon. Many thanks to everyone who
made me feel so welcome, especially Gill and Mike for letting me stay with
them in Denby Dale.
Next year, maybe we'll all be up there with performers' passes?
Wed. May 3rd 2000
Wycombe Folk Club at The Harrow, Hughenden Valley, near High Wycombe.
We were supposed to be performing at the Wycombe club's old venue in February,
but the pub changed hands, and the club had to find a new venue at short
notice. The club meets in the lounge bar of the pub, which is rather small,
with low ceilings. This makes for quite an intimate atmosphere. There's
no obvious "stage" area, so we played in front of the fireplace, which
was all right on the night we were there, because the weather was warm,
and there was no fire in the grate, but in winter it might be a different
story. The other complication with this arrangement is that the doors to
the toilets are either side of the fireplace (gents. to the left, ladies
to the right), and so we blocked them both. Apparently there's another
way in from outside. Glad it wasn't raining!
Contact Karen@dorl.freeserve.co.uk
Wed. April 19th 2000
The White Horse Folk Club, at The Fox, Highworth, near Swindon.
We were supposed to get two 45 minute sets, but in the event it was nearer
30 and 40 minutes. Never mind, the small audience was very enthusiastic,
and we gave our best. The club is no smoking (good) and all acoustic, which
meant we had to rework a couple of numbers without Mark's bass guitar.
This gave him a chance to use the baritone concertina on Sweet Jenny Jones
for a change. At the end of the evening, Mervyn, the man who started the
club in the 1970's, came up to us to say that he thought us the best act
he had heard there since Isla St. Clair. High Praise indeed!
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this page updated 2/4/2001