Reviews of Recent Appearances - the
band's perspective!
Tue. 20th March 2001, 8:30 p.m.
The Rose & Crown, North Parade, Oxford
After our successful and enjoyable evening here last summer, we were delighted
to be invited back for another informal evening of music to celebrate the
first birthday of our album Plain English. What a
shame about the weather - we'd had snow all afternoon and it was still
blowing hard and cold from the east while we were singing. Never mind.
Nothing daunted, we played a full set and made some new friends, three
of whom kept us company long after the front door had been locked and the
lights turned off!
Fri. 11th May 2001
Cheltenham Folk Club, The Suffolk Arms, Cheltenham
The club has recently moved to a new venue. Dave Burland was supposed to
play there in April, but couldn't make it, so we were the first guests
in the new venue. It gave us a chance to try out one or two things before
going to Malta the following week. For details of this club, phone John
Shorter on 01242 603187.
Thu. 17th - Sat. 19th May 2001
Malta International Folksong Festival, Valetta, Malta
We were very chuffed to be invited to this major Mediterranean festival,
particularly since we were the first English band to play there. We performed
three nights running at the festival (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) on
both stages. The location in the Argotti Gardens was delightful. It's quite
a buzz to play in front of 500 people! We also did a couple of less formal
gigs on the Tuesday and Wednesday evenings away from Valletta. That's five
nights on the trot!
It was our first acquaintance with Mediterranean folk music. The approach
is quite different. There is a great emphasis on improvisation, both of
words and music, around standard themes. As well as local artists, there
were bands from Castile and Gerona in Spain, and from Sardinia. All were
excellent, but the Sardinians really blew us away. Look out for "Remintanda".
Have a look at our programme to see exactly
what we were supposed to be doing during the week.
Sun 10th June 2001
Readifolk, The Lion, Great Knollys St, Reading.
They must like us in Reading, as this is the third time that Three Pressed
Men have been invited to play at this friendly folk club. Each time we
have had a different line-up, and new material as well as the old favourites.
For details of the Readifolk club, please e-mail Steve
and Anne Bingham.
Sat 14th July 2001
We were invited back for a second year, and since we already had a private
gig arranged in Eastleigh that lunchtime (about 10 miles from Romsey),
we negotiated an evening appearance at The Tudor Rose in the centre of
the town. On the programme, we were the third of five acts. In the event,
it was just us and the event hosts, Skimmington Ride, so we did about 40
minutes between their two sets. The pub was packed, and we got a great
reception.
Review of last year, and
pictures.
Fri. 10th Aug. 2001 (tbc)
Oxford
Folk Club, The Port Mahon, St Clement's Street, Oxford.
This was our third appearence at this excellent folk club. We thought it
was going to be a sort of a sing-around hosted by us. In the event, it
turned into a normal guest night. We were hoping that former pressed man
David Wilmshurst would join us, since he was in England on his annual summer
holiday. Sadly, he wasn't able to make it. Never mind, after all the gigs
we'd done during the summer, we were really on top of the material, and
the time simply flew by. We could have gone on into the small hours, but
the present landlord is most particular about getting everyone out on time!
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this page updated 14/10/2001