Luxury – a local gig, a local big gig (if the weather behaves itself!
This was the first day of the St. Albans town festival with lots of events at the town park. So, from our homes, it is a 10 minute drive to Verulamium Park (on the old Roman town area), 5 minutes to park the car on the festival site and a 10 minute walk with the gear up to the folk stage.
Perhaps predictably, living closest of the acts we were not the first to arrive. The instructions had been to be there for 10am if you wanted a sound check ; 11am if you wanted a line check. We arrived around 11.30am, which seemed plenty of time given we were not on until nearly 2.30pm. In the end, it was perfectly OK because, either for the weather or other reasons, the folk stage was still being equipped with a p.a. when we got there.
We sat for a while in the adjacent open pergola and watched the rain laden clouds scud by. It was sunny then rainy by turns every five minutes. The local organisers and the event managers joined us but given the increasing dampness of the weather and the openness of the pergola, we took advantage of a sunny break to decamp to the guests’ tent elsewhere on site. As it happens, by then, this was completely taken over by a local choir doing Abba hits.
Just as Rob and I decided that, given the passage of time, we should be getting back up to the folk stage area, Vicky Swan and Johnny Dyer turned up to pick up their instruments and do the same. We had supported Vicky and Johnny about 18 months earlier at the Baldock and Letchworth Folk Club and it was nice to meet them and get a chance to talk with them again. Like us, they have a great array of instruments and we must have looked like pack horses making our way back up the hill to the folk stage.
Vicky and Johnny managed a quick sound check and, by then, it was 1.30pm and the show was on. It was a pity there weren’t more people to see Vicky and Johnny. They are excellent musicians and play some really interesting music. They told us that they are going full time in the very near future and we wish them every success and are sure they will and deserve to do very well.
Then there was the usual quick turnaround and we were on. As for Vicky and Johnny, the weather held and there was therefore an audience in the open space in front of the stage. We had around 60 listening and saw many friendly faces out there to greet us – thanks to them all for their long-lasting support! The p.a. was excellent, we were up for it and played well and, all-in-all, the set seemed to go down well.
After us, and another quick turnaround, we had the pleasure of, once again, seeing Marianne Neary perform. Marianne is a terrific singer with great stage presence and a nice mix of her own songs and some traditional songs. Interestingly, she is now playing with two very talented players, which really gives her plenty of options, plus depth, range and dynamics to play with. She also very kindly and spontaneously gave us a plug for The Bite! Hurrah! Then she blew it, sang a song about summer sunshine and the heavens open with a torrential downpour that sent the audience scattering for shelter!
By the time Marianne had finished, there were a lot of musicians and organisers huddled under the less than waterproof covering of the pergola, and despite the great Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts coming on later, I confess we turned for home. We managed to have a few words with Jamie on the way out to wish him and Katriona well for Cropredy. With Vicky, Johnny,Jamie and Katriona, it is great to know the music will pass on to further generations – all nice people with immense talents. With that, we lumped the kit back across the park to the car, to the sounds of the very excellent King Alfred’s cakes. Nice to know that we will see them and Marianne the following weekend for a session in the local town hall!
Ten minutes home, cup of tea and a biscuit – luxury!