Our comprehensive review of the music at Cheltenham's arts festival GREENBELT concludes. A total of 17 reviewers filed 70 reviews. Read and be amazed.
Continued from page 4
LIES DAMNED LIES - Foxhunter - 10pm
Steve
Butler, Charlie Irvine and Dot Reid are, of course, a Greenbelt institution.
All through the '80s, '90s and through to today Lies Damned Lies have
been offering thinking man's rock, richly textured ambient and nimbly
executed acoustic music to all Greenbelters with ears to hear and on the
rare years that you don't find them gigging in some Greenbelt tent or other
you're likely to see them hovering near the Sticky Music tent - the
legendary Glasgow record label that since 1981 has been giving a leg
up to a wide range of creative free spirits. This year the combination
of an out-of-the-way venue and a late start meant that the room was
populated primarily by LDL aficionados who listened in almost reverent
silence to an hour of gentle folk-rock interspersed by anecdotes from
the band. Refreshing.
Mark Goodge
MONDAY, 28th August
[CRAVE] - Stage 2 - 10.30am
At 10.30 on the last
morning of the festival, [crave] were always going to struggle to
bring in the multitudes. Thankfully the audience steadily grew as
passing freshly-awakened punters heard their infectious sound.
Vocalist Scott's rather strong Northern Irish accent was hard to
decipher between songs but rang out loud and clear once his musical
accompaniment returned. Their grunge-tinged Britrock would have almost
definitely got a packed crowd jumping were they on later in the day,
but first thing in the morning any form of movement or bobbing of the
head can be classed as a ringing endorsement. Thankfully that was
prevalent, despite the usual Stage 2 sound desk difficulties. I'm
really encouraged by [crave]'s new stuff, "Break" was fantastic - but
it was great to see them do their better known songs live and they did
the right thing by finishing on "Content And Restless Souls". A really
solid set that totally deserved a bigger audience later on in the
day.
Greg Sammons
THEREIGN - Stage 2 - 11.20am
The worship band
theREIGN attracted a reasonably sized crowd for 11.20 on the Monday
morning of Greenbelt.
It seemed evident from overexcited members of the crowd that the
group's entire church youth group had come along to support them!
After a bad pun (the reign, it's raining outside) the band from Hull
started their set. It lived up to their title as it was very much in
keeping with modern worship styles. It had a sort of fast folk feel
with female support vocals. The lead guitar/vocalist was supported by
a man in a very bright shirt and shades - I think he secretly wants to
be in an '80s metal band! That aside they moved crisply through their
set and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. theREIGN are very church
friendly and offered plenty of heartfelt expressions of faith. The
guitar riffs seemed quite familiar throughout and I couldn't locate
much which was musically fresh. However, the band had come to worship
and they did just that, while their song that spoke of "tearing down
barriers" came as a welcome change, even if I wasn't sure of some of
the harmonies.
Rachel Nixon
THE RISING - Centaur - 12.30pm
Wasn't too sure
what to expect when I entered the Centaur but as soon as I saw Ben
Okafar and Martyn Joseph tuning their guitars I knew we were in for
something good. This was a montage of four talented artists, Martyn,
Ben, Juliet Turner and Iain Archer who through the course of the
performance treated us to two songs each and their personal accounts
of how they get inspiration for writing their music. To finish, each
shared a gem of advice to any budding artist out there. As an extra
bonus we also had a very amusing poem from the genius that is Stewart
Henderson. Martyn's two songs were "Skin And Bone" and "Your Beauty".
He also gave a wonderful tribute to the late Rob Lacey. Martyn managed
to tease from Ben that inspiration for a song he had been working on
recently came whilst sitting on the loo (you heard it here first
folks!). Usually though Ben's songs came from reading the papers,
watching television, etc, and the questions that arose in his head as
a consequence. He tends not to take specific time out for song
writing, it is a continual process, sometimes the words come first or
he gets a catchy melody. Ben's two songs were "Humbled", a love song
for his wife, and one of my favourites from 'Acoustic Close-up', "Lift
Up Your Heads". Juliet's inspiration for one of her songs, "Pick A
Story", was her love of fairy tales as a child and this was written
for her friend's new baby. This was a gentle, thoughtful song and has
been released as a single. Juliet's second song was a catchy tune,
"The Girl With A Smile". Iain commented that songwriting can be a
solitary task and when he has dry moments he finds that it helps to
collaborate with fellow musicians and hear their ideas for a
collective piece of work. You then have to be willing to take
direction from others, which is quite different to working alone. He
has really enjoyed working alongside the guys in Snow Patrol. Another
good way that works for Iain is just to mess around on his Mac and
experiment with new sounds. Iain sang "You Make Me Forget Myself" and
his soon to be released new single "When It Kicks In" which he played
with real passion. This song is on his forthcoming album 'Magnetic
North'. The pearls of wisdom for anyone wanting to join the music
industry were as follows:
Ben: Write exactly how you feel and
don't write about what you don't understand.
Juliet: Do it! It's
an incredible time for musicians to reach people with forums like
Myspace.
Iain: If you get dry times just keep playing through it
and you'll get back on track. Keep absorbing new ideas and they'll
come back out.
Martyn: Play! Songs are a record of where you were
in your life at the time you wrote them. They are like little
photographs of yourself.
Ruth Saint
ELLIOT JACK - Christian Aid Performance Café -
12.45pm
Elliot Jack are a relatively new talent to emerge from
the lo-fi ambient/chillout scene. The band is collectively made up of
four guys, Rob, Richard, Jon and Simon who all hail from the West
Midlands. They played an eclectic and sometimes dreary performance to
lunchtime loungers and folks sheltering from the Cheltenham rain.
Their set was powered by an Apple laptop and an '80 Casio synth that
looked as if it had been salvaged from the bargain bins in Help The
Aged (perfect for this style of music I might add). In addition to the
electronic gear, two of the band members strummed acoustic and
electric guitars to compliment their live performance. Elliot Jack
played seven songs in all. Their moody, minimal, electronica stuttered
on, catching the unsuspecting by surprise. Occasional tracks were
littered with crooning vocals which sat uncomfortably on the side of
flat for my liking. I also felt that the over liberal scattering of
fx/vocal film samples was a horse that has certainly been flogged one
too many times as well. But saying all that, Elliot Jack certainly do
have potential AND some followers if an assignment for a short film
soundtrack for a BBC is anything to go by.
Paul Cooper
STREET SONGS FROM KENYA - YMCA - 1pm
I happened
to stumble across this performance in time to hear the closing two
songs and was sorely disappointed not to have found it sooner because
it was truly amazing. A London youth group had put together an
explosive set based on their experiences with street kids in Kenya.
They were also selling CDs of their songs in order to raise money for
their noble work. From what I saw the choreography was astounding
involving all the group members in an expressive enactment of
confusion and questioning. The lyrics were challenging, blunt and
thought provoking; the music exceptional and exhilarating. It was a
fantastic display of urban music.
Sarah Lawrence
LLEUWAN STEFFAN - Centaur - 2pm
LLeuwan
Steffan might be an unknown to many Cross Rhythms readers (or indeed
Greenbelters) but in
her Welsh homeland she's a star. Classically trained, Lleuwen has
shared a stage with opera superstar Bryn Terfel, performed on Song For
Wales and with pianist Huw Warren and makes music that is eclectic,
fun and often very, very Welsh. Accompanied by piano and bass, or
occasionally playing guitar alone, she delivered a set of songs drawn
from sources as diverse as Welsh hymnody and Bob Dylan as well as her
own compositions. This is the sort of gig that couldn't have happened
at pre-Cheltenham Greenbelt, with the delicacy and clarity of
the performance needing a proper concert hall rather than a tent. Most
of the songs were sung in Welsh, and in one of the English songs she
drew a tongue-in-cheek portrait of the record executives' assessment
of her music - "The language that you sing/It won't bring in the
bling" - but this didn't seem to put off the audience even at an
English festival. Stylistically, Lleuwan's performance ranged from
classically-tinged hymnody, gentle blues and jazz and with one
up-tempo jazz number given added rhythm by a guesting beatboxer. With
the right backing, Lleuwan could be a star in the same mould as Eva
Cassidy or even another Greenbelt discovery, Corinne Bailey Rae. But
I have to say that the record executives are probably right about the
language barrier.
Mark Goodge
MY SPOON - Stage 2 - 3pm
My Spoon kicked off
Monday's Meltdown Sessions with aplomb, launching into their
funk-meets-punk rock explosion. A strong youth following and great
sense of fun guaranteed a great atmosphere and experience for all
present. Why neither this band nor Dweeb are not yet signed to a label
is a huge mystery to me and probably everyone in the room. My Spoon
really knew how to entertain us all but especially the teen majority
of the capacity crowd - who enjoyed the sing-alongs and slow motion
moshing. Maybe some of the older members of the audience wouldn't
quite know what to make of them but they hit their target audience
right between the eyes (sonically that is). After this gig the band
can only grow in reputation and in the size of their fan base. Really
well delivered and hugely well received.
Greg Sammons
THE STEELS - Stage 2 - 3.40pm
Fresh after their
debut album, The Steels are now able to tour with a decent set of
songs. Music-wise it's hard to pinpoint their sound, it's pretty young
and fresh (like the band members) but akin to the Elevation bands and
their manager's band, Yfriday. The more modest crowd seemed up for it,
although perhaps seemed to have Mammuth and Fire Fly (up next) already
in the back of their mind. The Steels are not a bad band and are
steadily climbing on a steep learning curve; it's just that they were
outclassed by some of the other bands on the afternoon line-up. A band
certainly to keep an eye out for in the future, when hopefully they'll
have further developed their own sound.
Greg Sammons
MAMMUTH - Stage 2 - 4.20pm
This is Mammuth's
second time at Greenbelt, after their sensational set in
2004, and my first opportunity to see them play their latest album,
'Die To Rise In Spring'. In short they were fantastic, well worth the
wait and so good to see live. After coming on to a great intro they
launched into the album's title track, laying down the formula for the
rest of their set. The Swedish band's unique blend of
melodic/emotional hard rock meets rapcore somehow works amazingly
well. As lead singer Daniel explained, many of their songs are prayers
about life's problems and issues. Therefore his passion and emotion
comes across in a deeply honest and sincere way, never appearing whiny
or grating. Instead, the band stirred up the passions and emotions of
the rest of the room, leaving everyone who wasn't drained or tired
absolutely captivated and hopefully inspired. Please don't let this be
their last Greenbelt.
Greg Sammons
RACHEL TAYLOR-BEALES - Christian Aid Performance
Café - 4.45pm
A gathering of fans was assembled in front of the
Performance Café's stage in order to see Rachel, the first signing,
other than Martyn Joseph himself, on Joseph's Pipe Records. As she was
announced a great cheer went up and the afternoon's performance began.
Her work on the keyboard during "Oh Sister" was impressive and her
involvement in the music was apparent during the instrumental. Backing
singer Karen's voice complemented Rachel's on "Brilliant Blue" which
expressed a need for freedom, but personally I felt their voices had a
harsh quality that made them hard to listen to. It seems Rachel was
suffering from a bad cold and this clearly affected her performance.
There were also some problems with the stage performance which, due to
leaks in the roof, resulted in Rachel standing behind her keyboards at
one end of the stage and her backing vocalist/flautist at the other
end. Hardly a recipe for a tight set. Considering all this, Rachel did
as well as could be expected and the majority of the audience
responded to the set with enthusiasm, though overall I found it
uninspiring.
Sarah Lawrence
FIRE FLY - Stage 2 - 5pm
I can't have been the
only person there that felt Fire Fly's set was a little on the short
side. I'm guessing logistics and a slightly late start were always
gonna put pay to an hour long extravaganza but it just didn't seem
enough time to do them justice. Yet despite this they managed to
squeeze in two new songs from their forthcoming album they've
optimistically slated for a spring 2007 release. Interestingly, the
two songs in question seemed to be more guitar-laden and less
progressive/arty - could this be the general new direction for the
band on their next release? Fire Fly's more recognisable tunes were
the usual gloriously thick-layered, bass-heavy, synth-decorated metal
brilliance that we've come to expect. Simon's crisp voice
counterbalances Mark's booming bass beautifully - whilst his own
guitar managed to hold up this year where last year it failed (only in
the sense that he broke a string). You can't help feeling that the
expectation surrounding Fire Fly this year (although high) was
understandably nowhere near last year's. Then their set was on the
very same day that 'Breathe' came out; this year by comparison it felt
much more like a band between releases.
Greg Sammons
NOTE FOR A CHILD - Christian Aid Performance Café -
6.45pm
Note For A Child have been one of my favourite bands ever
since I saw them perform at Greenbelt a couple of years ago. This time
of course they were minus founder member and composer Daniel Goodman
so I wandered how different they might be. My conclusion was, and
shame on me for doubting it, they were still brilliant and the
Performance Café was bursting at the seams for this all too short set
of just six songs. Dressed in a long white net and satin tutu skirt
(one to outshine some of the fairy outfits being increasingly worn now
at Greenbelt) I
realised that Susie Beattie had "that" Victoria Beckham haircut first!
Girly trivia out of the way, Susie and band started off with "Can You
Hear Me" from 'Eternal Curve', then the classic "Day Of Your Return"
with Kathie's haunting voice intro from their debut album 'Impossibly
Beautiful'. I was thrown a little when Susie sang "Always" because I
was used to hearing Dan sing the lead on this one and it was faster
than the album version with keyboard input as opposed to acoustic
guitar and drums. That said it was still sung well and its up tempo
rhythm made it more of a cheery singalong tune. "Fate" was definitely
that distinctive Note For A Child sound and Susie captured her
audience perfectly and with ease with this song about losing God's
subtle voice. Firm favourite with most present, "September Song" was
sung for Susie's mum currently in hospital with a broken leg. The set
concluded with "Western Reach" and gave the now seven-piece band the
chance to show what they were capable of. Inspired by the plains of
Africa this song took you there with its wonderful drumming (some of
it by Susie). Despite the MC being showered with boos by appearing on
the stage, but he was now used to this as it was the final day of the
festival, NFAC finished here although I feel they would have been more
than happy to continue, and so would the crowd.
Ruth Saint
wow you did good and have you listened to LZ7 they are respectful xx
Kerry xx