As mentioned in previous editions of this blog, 2012 has seen the most northerly, westerly and southerly gigs for na-mara. As our most easterly ever gig, our trip to play at the Coast Festival in Cromer, nicely completed the set.
With a three hour trip each way, this was logistically quite demanding, but it turned out to be well worth it. Unusually for us, it was an early afternoon start – so, it was more a case of getting up in good time and getting going, rather than packing up late and getting home in the small hours.
It was a glorious day as we set off, cross-country, for East Anglia – stopping off for coffee just the other side of Norwich. Crisp and cold conditions also greeted us in Cromer as we circled the venue looking for somewhere to park and unload. Over and above the usual na-mara panoply of instruments, we were also travelling with our new p.a. kit, as the organisers in Cromer had quite a lot of demands on their kit, across a number of different venues.
Thankfully, we had the very substantial assistance both inside and outside the venue of sound technician, Paul, who was waiting for us when we arrived at the Community Hall in the centre of town. He was on hand to help us unpack and find decent parking .
As we got onto the stage and started setting up the p.a., a steady stream of people wandered in and out, either buying tickets for the show or reviewing the art exhibition which was taking place in the same space. I’m pleased to report that by the time we started, at 2.00pm, we have an audience of around 40-50, sitting in cafe style, with access to wines, beers and lighter refreshments. I was pleasing to see a variety of our friends and relations living close had come along to give their support.
It is always nice to have the luxury of a two set, 40 minute per set, concert; it really gives you the chance to develop a fuller relationship with the audience. I’m pleased to say that that was how it was at Cromer and by the end of the show, there was a real warmth in the hall. At both the half time interval and the end of the concert we received a lot of very positive feedback. This was only in small part a folk audience and, as we so often find, many of those there became fully absorbed in the stories we were telling. We hugely appreciated the words of sound engineer Paul, who thanked us at the end of the concert. He started by admitting that ‘he wasn’t or hadn’t until now been a big fan of folk music, but he had thoroughly enjoyed watching two musicians working together so closely and well’. We had similar things said to us from classical music fans in the audience. This was lovely feedback for us to receive.
We would like to thank Rosie and Paul and all of the organisers at the Cromer Coast Festival both for their invitation to play at the festival and the very kind welcome they gave to us whilst we were with them.