What a cracking night! Back in April, indefatigable folk singer, journalist and Radio Dacorum presenter Daria Kulesh kindly invited us to participate in an evening concert to end the first Dacorum Folk Fest on August 10th. Naturally, we were only too pleased to oblige.
The concert was called ‘Small World’ and was aimed at bringing together sounds, songs and stories from around the globe. George Papavgeris provided a Greek flavour for the evening, we provided material from France and Spain, Philip Henry and Hannah Martin provided songs from both sides of the Atlantic, and Daria and friends in the newly formed band, KARA, provided both Russian and British songs and tunes.
The venue was the Boxmoor Playhouse in Hemel Hempstead, a former church hall which a team of volunteers had lovingly restored from near dereliction to a wonderful theatre venue and bar. It is now the home of the Hemel Hempstead Theatre Company.
With the recent completion of holidays, we needed some rehearsal time on the afternoon of the festival and, as a result, missed out on what transpired to have been a wonderful afternoon of song supported, in particular, by the ever-energetic Watford Folk Club. So, it wasn’t until 5.15 pm that we headed over to the theatre to meet the other performers and carry out a sound check.
It was obvious immediately upon arrival that this would be a lovely night. The technical team at the Boxmoor Playhouse were already well prepared and very welcoming on our arrival. Daria and her team were similarly hard at work ensuring everything and everyone was OK.
The concert was well attended by a mix of folk fans and those relatively new to the music and, as the time for the concert to begin drew near, the atmosphere was both expectant and convivial.
George started the evening off with a lovely melange of his beautiful and thought provoking songs. In this, he was assisted by the astonishingly talented Jonny Dyer who happened to have been passing by on his way home from a folk festival and had popped in to see George perform. Together they entranced the audience and got the concert off to a great start.
We followed George with 35 minutes of material selected to showcase the full variety of what we do. We played some French material, some songs of the Spanish Civil War and a decent selection of our own material. A good sound system and warm vibes coming back from an audience make anyone want to perform and so it was with us. We appeared to do well, were warmly applauded by the audience and we received great feedback at the interval.
KARA started the second half with a lovely mixture of material, some traditional, some their own. KARA provide a nice mix of accordion, guitar, hammer dulcimer and vocals. Daria was in fine form fronting the band, putting great emotion into her singing.
Philip Henry and Hannah Martin finished the evening off and were spectacular. Their sheer musicality, versatility and variety blew the audience away, folkies and non-folkies alike. They were also generous in the extreme. It is always nice when headliners take the time to watch the other acts that are performing. Hannah and Philip did this and were generous both backstage and on stage about our music and that of the other performers. Many thanks to them for their kind words.
Being in nearby Hemel Hempstead, the journey home was short and simple and it was great to relax with a cool beer after a lovely night out.
We would like to thank Daria, Brian our host and compere for the evening, and all those involved in organising the Dacorum Folk Fest. It all seemed to go extremely well and we certainly hope that they feel able to run similar events in the year ahead.