2009 Reviews | Click here to read the 2008 reviews
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Sunday 26 July 2009
Nestled in the grassy grounds of Hatfied House, three and a half thousand people erected their camping chairs, unpacked their picnics and settled down to an eminently civilised and exceptionally organised day of music. The wonderful sounds of The Shee started things off and their live performance lived up to their reputation and more. Their purple electric harp looked and sounded exceptionally funky and laid down the bass. It was a shame it was so early in the day, as they should by rights have had the crowd up and dancing, but failing that, they did get us all doing a slightly odd seated dance.
Moving swiftly on, The Shee were followed in short order by Chris Wood, a singer who well deserves the title folk-singer of the year. Understated guitar accompaniment matches perfectly with his mellow voice. The songs varied from the traditional (Imagined Village’s stalwart Cold, hailey, rainy night, which felt strangely chilling in a quiet field surrounded by trees) to a love song via a number of Chris’ self-penned stock-in-trade songs of England, often with a political bent. A highlight of this set has to be the song ’My daughter’s hard’. A truer story of modern life it might be hard to find. It certainly found some common ground of familiarity with the audience!
Chris and Karine Polwart graced us with a song from the Darwin Song Project before Karine started her set. Her wonderful clear voice and insightful songs are perfect music for a chilled out sunny afternoon. Shame it wasn’t as sunny as all that, but it didn’t detract from her music at all.
Jim Moray was up next to kick-start the livelier end of the afternoon with guest Saul Rose in place of convalescing melodeon-player Nick Cooke. The band set off into an exploration of the boundaries between pop and folk. The audience seemed to have warmed up by this point, and Jim managed to get some of us joining in with the chorus of the XTC cover All You Pretty Girls to finish his set.
From there on the mood stayed upbeat – Kathryn Tickell and her band stunned us with some fabulous Northumbrian pipe tunes (there were definitely people dancing now!), despite the weather turning worse. A highlight was provided when she slowed down her usual frenetic pace and an unnamed apocalyptic lament echoed mournfully across the field in the drizzle. To curse us all, she finished off with a tune (written by piper Andy May) about, you’ve guessed it, the rain!
Well, rain it did for most of the rest of the night, but it certainly didn’t dampen Lau’s set as they blew through the weather with a set of lively and exciting tunes. They get better each time I see them and (unusually for them) they played mostly standing. It really suited them and their overflowing enthusiasm is infectious. There were some beautiful slow breaks that showcase their exceptional musical talent. Guitarist Kris Drever seems to be the glue holding them together and also provides wonderfully Scottish-lilted vocals. Superb. The evening finished off with a heavily pregnant Kate Rusby, her last performance before some maternity leave. Her voice well suits the down-to-earth songs, and the fantastic musical accompaniment from Andy Cutting, Andy Seward and Damien O’Kane had the crowd who had stuck out the rain pleased that they had done so. A wonderful day’s music – here’s hoping they have better luck with the weather next year!
www.brightyoungfolk.com
Posted by Ellie
“...everyone was absolutely fantastic and all played brilliantly, there wasn't a dud act on the line up and the setting was great. All in all a wonderful day of music.”
Strawpig Last FM (more at http://www.last.fm/user/strawpig/journal)
“...one of the safest and most relaxed festivals that I’ve ever attended. Perhaps I’ll be back again next year”
Pat Walsh Sets, Rugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll (more at http://pathfinderpat.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/sets-rugs-rock-n-roll/)
Was at Folk by the Oak 2009, our family’s first folk festival. Despite the overcast weather and rain we enjoyed the day. All sets were great, our teenage sons favourites were Jim Moray and Kate Rusby, whose between songs banter is as much a part of the set as her music. Would like to go to this well organised festival again next year if it’s on again and we can manage to get our holidays at the same time.
Elizabeth Reynolds
Bright Young Folk user
To All Those involved,
May I congratulate you on an excellent day for both myself and my partner. I booked tickets and ordered a picnic online and, although leaving a little early due to the rain, I achieved my main aim of experiencing Kathryn Tickell 'Live'. I enjoyed the Artistes that were on before ('The Shee' being rather fabulous) and will hope that you maintain such high standards for the booking that I'll make next year.
Thank you for such excellent organisation and, as my partner noted with joy, 'toilets that were incomparable and supreme'.
Roger Owen (and Tina Matthews).
Many thanks to all involved in the organisation of this year’s event. It was great! Kind Regards,
Alex and Hilary Wingfield
What a great line up for your second year, and what a lovely venue. Even the rain couldn't dampen the audience's enthusiasm, and the sound quality for an outside stage was superb. See you again next year.
Nige Rivers
Found this one by chance looking for Lau dates and was more than pleasantly surprised. Buying tickets - dead easy and a friendly efficient voice on the end of the phone. Picked them up on the day without a hitch.
The venue - very nice, well organised, plenty of loos and CLEAN too !!
The staff - everyone I dealt with was friendly and helpful but the highlight was the burly looking man on the gate saying cheerio and good night as we left!!! That was really unexpected and a lovely way to end the day.
The downside? Not enough LAU !!!!!!!!!!! They were so full of energy I wanted them to go on and on. I think it would have been better to finish the evening on a real buzz, no disrespect to Kate but she seemed a bit flat after Lau.
Keep up the excellent work and we'll see you next year.
Cheers
Mike
Upon seeing the line-up for the 2009 Folk By The Oak concert in the gardens of Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, I bought a ticket online without a moment's hesitation. This is the second year running that the event has been staged here and is arguably still Hertfordshire's best kept secret. I prefer festivals where the crowd is of a reasonable and comfortable size. Also important is the type of person frequenting such festivals. Compared to festivals I have attended, Folk By The Oak has to go down as the most "civilized" bunch of people I have ever witnessed at a festival. In fact nobody was even searched upon entering the ground (nor was it necessary), despite the fact that one was encouraged to "bring a picnic and a bottle of your favourite tipple". It was an exceptionally well organised event. These factors certainly contributed to this being a thoroughly enjoyable day's entertainment. Of course I am happiest when I can put my lens to good use. I left home around 12h30 and upon arrival some 45 minutes later, a queue of people several hundred yards long had formed at the entrance.
Hatfield House is the home of the Marquess of Salisbury. The house was built between 1607 and 1611 during the reign of James 1. In the extensive gardens is the surviving wing of the Royal Palace of Hatfield (circa 1485). It is here that Queen Elizabeth 1 spent her childhood. In November 1558, Elizabeth received news of the death of her sister Mary Tudor and her accession to the throne, whilst sitting under an oak tree in the very same area of Hatfield Park as Folk By The Oak is staged.
It was the musical line-up that caught my attention and all the artists were of exceptional talent! Not one act disappointed. I thought it was a superb event, well organized and with a great atmosphere. The music was truly magnificent.
Peter Groves (more at http://petergroveswebsite.com/FolkByTheOak2009-Intro.htm )
