Review of a previous festival by Brenda Judge - Festival Chair
This year's Festival started with what has become a traditional event since the untimely death of John Green, the John Green Memorial Sing-a-Round; it was a resounding success and a fitting tribute to both John and the late Brian Rathmill who passed away a few months after John, both we remembered in song and in good heart. Lynn and Barrie Hardman led the sing-a-round, singing songs which are challenging and powerful in their own unique style which captures Lynn 's powerful voice and Barrie 's excellent harmonies. A wide variety of singers from Tameside and its surrounding areas contributed to a highly successful evening.
The Saturday concert was held at the Royal Oak Pub in Droylsden. The guest list this year was an eclectic one and artist ranged from a Blues Duo to Folk Singer of the year John Tams who along with Barry Coope topped the bill.
The evening was opened by a duo (Dave Barnes and Tony Baxter) who had travelled from London and appeared as Mad Dogs and Englishmen (though which was which is still a mystery). They played an incredible blues set which was testament to masterful guitar playing and strong voices. Down the years John Tams has been a pivotal figure of the folk world, and a chance to see him partnered with the voice and keyboards of Barry Coope was just too good a chance to miss. Their voices sounded perfect, rich, and powerful, and they performed with a passion beyond all expectations. We were treated to rich, diverse, contemporary music based in traditional roots, listening to Amelia made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. The second half was opened by two of the most talented guys from the local seen, both stalwarts of the Festival who usually perform solo but for this event came together as The More Than Average Folk Duo, and more than average they were. Their set was compelling ranging from an exquisite self-penned number by David Bernasconi, When Red Turns to Blue to an equally wonderful rendition of Walking the Dog by Dave Jones . The evening was concluded by another stunning set from John Tams and Barry Coope. The tall, thin, moustached figure of John Tams commanded the stage. His deadpan manner belied his quirky humour and informative introductions and links. Barry Coope, left of stage, sitting behind his Yamaha S.80. keyboard, produced absolutely superb accompaniments, both musically and vocally which contributed so much to, and worked so well with John's playing and singing. This duo work incredibly well, complementing each other and captivating the audience. The evening was a superb night of excellent music played to a full house, a really wonderful night for those who attended.
On Sunday the sun streamed down yet again on both the righteous and the ungodly all of whom were there in their numbers. What a wonderful feast of music and goodwill abounded. This day of the Festival is always given up to local talent who came along to play to and listen to each other just for the love of the music. Those folkies and locals present heard the abundance of talent that abides in the Tameside area. We were privileged to hear such people as Dave Jones from the Bush Folk Club, David Bernasconi from Folk at the Rugby Club, Alan Mayall of Tap the Barrel and Roberi (Eric Jackson and Rob Clayton) the hosts of the Tintwistle Folk Club and founding organisers of the Droylsden Folk Festival in 1990. Joe Bradshaw entertained the crowd with his weird and wonderful electronic ‘ whatsit' (no one knows quite what it is). It was also wonderful to see youngsters like Nik Jackson and Michelle Holden performing and carrying on the music. Grumbling Fruit Cake, the organisers of Poynton Folk Club gave a performance of amusing and melodic songs and Christine Stephen and Steve Power from The Bush Folk Club provided a well balanced set of modern and traditional songs and tunes. The sun continued to shine as Lynn and Barrie Hardman closed the afternoon with a hard hitting, well performed set. But perhaps the highlight of the afternoon for me was to see the raw talent of an 11 year old who despite a shaky start due to nerves went on to perform really well. Well done Ollie Bernasconi, keep it up, your Granddad was proud of you.
No concert can be a success without the support of the sound man, in this case Alan Sutcliffe who enabled everyone to shine, the host of the venue, George the landlord, who is accommodating and helpful and of course the sponsors; in this case the Local District Assembly without whose financial support we would find it very difficult. If you came and enjoyed it as much as I did spread the word for next year and pray for the 17 th year of sun.
Review of A Previous Festival
When I woke up on Friday morning 27th June my heart sank, the rain was teeming down, it was Festival weekend and the weather forecast was far from good. Not a good omen I thought and to top it all that day was to be the funeral of one of the original stalwarts of the Festival, Brian Rathmill of pub prop fame. How wrong could one be because the weekend was just incredible, beyond our wildest dreams.
The Tameside folk community had already faced a premature death early this year of one of its well-known characters, John Green and to have Brian's death so close to the festival was a double blow. But the John Green Memorial Sing-a-round, which started the weekend off on Friday, was a resounding success and a fitting tribute to both John and Brian who we remembered in song and in good heart. Lynn and Barrie Hardman led the sing-a-round and a wide variety of singers from as far as Wigan and the Wirral contributed to a highly successful evening.
The Saturday concert at Fairfield Golf Club, hosted by Droylsden's very own cheeky, cheerful and talented John Denny, and featuring Lynn and Barrie Hardman with Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies topping the bill was an equally good night of excellent music. Lynn and Barrie were as politically hard hitting as ever singing songs to make you think in their own inimitable style which values Lynn's powerful voice and Barrie's excellent harmonies.
Jez Lowe and The Bad Pennies
picture © Roger Liptrot
Jez and the Bad Pennies completed the night with two compelling sets. The songs of Jez Lowe are the songs of his native North East England, of the people and places, their loves and their lives. Regardless of their specific themes and locality, their appeal is universal. They are complemented by the gentle voice and exquisite fiddle and viola playing of Kate Bramley, the brilliant guitar playing and a fine singing of Andy Howarth and talented playing of the accordion, Northumbrian smallpipes, and whistles of Andy May which bringing a whole new dimension to the band. The band's melodic, arrangements complement the succession of worthy lyrics set to infectious tunes, skillfully performed. A wonderful night for those who attended.
On Sunday the sun streamed down on both the righteous and the ungodly who were there in their numbers. What a wonderful feast of music and goodwill abounded. The day was given up to local talent who came along to play to and listen to each other for a pint or some equivalent. Those folkies and locals present heard the abundance of talent that abides in the Tameside area. We were privileged to hear such people as Steve Wooly and Kevin Tarbey of the Full Circle Shudehill play a gentle quiet set complemented by the talented but more robust Di Thomas as he played two sets of Blues. Stuart Thompson and Alan Mayal gave us an eclectic set, which included a version of Steal A way especially in memory of Brian Rathmill. Roberi (Eric Jackson and Rob Clayton) the hosts of the Mottram Folk Club and founding organisers of the Droylsden Folk festival in 1990 appeared on stage and sang songs including a beautiful rendition of Lamplighter. Christine Stephen and Steve Power from Folk Upstairs at the Railway provided a well balanced set of modern and traditional songs and tunes. It was also good to see Chris Cole play his accordion an old and good friend of the late Harry Boardman he has been off the scene for a while but has lost none of his talent.
The highlight of the afternoon was the guest appearance of two young and amazing talents. Simon Howarth and Andy May stayed locally over night and appeared to enjoy ‘the crack' on Sunday only to end up on stage and giving an impromptu set and Joe Topping of the Tom Topping Band played a set of self penned songs plus an unaccompanied rendition of the Song of the Whale which made your hair stand on end. What an up and coming talent who is worth watching out for come and see him on January 22nd at Folk Upstairs at the Railway. This more national young talent was also complemented by local even younger talent in the guise of Joe Denny, who despite his nerves gave an excellent account of himself and provided evidence of an emerging talent to watch for.
Others, who contributed to the success of the day, were Dave Jones of the Bush Droylsden who never seemed to be off stage accompanying somebody or other as well as playing a set himself, Kim and Roy Powell, Tony Kerwin, John Denny and Dave South all loyal supports of the local scene.
No concert is a success without the support of the sound man, in this case Alan Sutcliffe who enabled everyone to shine, the hosts of the venue, Cheryl and Pete who provided the staging and outdoor entertainment license and of course the audience.
Brenda Judge