'Folkies' have always been given a bad press; for those who have never experienced it, the Cambridge Folk Festival may very well conjure up visions of the greying, bearded, middle-aged folkie, wearing a faded Fairport Convention t-shirt and sporting the unforgivable sandals-with socks look. Well, yes, there may still be one or two of those types lurking around the Club Tent, but in reality, you couldn't be further from the truth. With only 10, 000 people attending, Cambridge is an intimate and unique festival, and looking out across the Cherry Hinton site traditional folkies can be seen wandering amongst a sea of typically freaky tie-died festival costumes and silly hats, having attracting people from all walks of life who come to enjoy the eclectic music, vibrant atmosphere and, of course, the beer.
DJ Mark Radcliffe's band The Family Mahone kicked the festival off, bursting into life in front of the expectant crowd with their loud, raucous session tunes, rousing songs and the kind of raw energy that makes them more than worthy of their comparison to The Pogues. Apart from the odd sea shanty, their repertoire included English drinking songs, Irish drinking songs and Scottish drinking songs, with the theme of the set being, very firmly... drinking. After this perfect way of opening the four-day event, The Bills (the first of a number of Canadian acts at this year's festival) continued the up-tempo start with their inventive global rhythms, combining Latin, European and Middle Eastern influences with beautifully harmonised vocals.
Daughter of folk legends Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, and sister of current media favourite Rufus Wainwright, singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright had a lot to live up to as she made her first appearance in front of an expectant Cambridge audience. While Wainwright's luscious and powerful voice validated her comparisons to Tori Amos and Kate Bush, her emotional acoustic songs felt somewhat wasted on a crowd still reeling from the grog-fuelled exploits of The Family Mahone and the anticipation surrounding this year's party band, Hayseed Dixie, who didn't fail to ignite the audience with their sizzling rock-grass covers of classic tracks by the likes of AC/DC, Motorhead and Queen. Tonight, 'Dirty Deeds', 'Ace of Spades' and 'Fat Bottomed Girls' are all given an Appalachian makeover, as well as a fantastic version of Green Day's 'Holiday'. Party band they may be, but that doesn't detract one ounce from the impressive musicianship of Don Wayne Reno's blistering banjo and Dale Reno's white-hot mandolin playing.
After closing Stage Two on Thursday night, Hayseed Dixie were back on Friday afternoon, this time gracing the Main Stage and throwing AC/DC's 'You Shook Me All Night Long', Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way' and Black Sabbath's 'War Pigs' into the mix, before Australian six-piece The Cat Empire delighted the gathering crowd with their funky vibes and feel good grooves. BBC Radio 2 Folk Musician of the Year, Kathryn Tickell took to the stage with a pleasant selection of traditional and contemporary Northumbrian pipe tunes, followed by the highly original The Unusual Suspects, a huge twenty-two piece folk big band. The ambitious project, made up of fiddles, accordions, pipes, whistles, bouzouki, guitar, drums, percussion and a brass section, provided a rich mixture of Scottish folk, jazz and up-beat dance rhythms to produce a massive dynamic sound.
Many turned out for current chart darling and Mercury Music Prize nominee, KT Tunstall, who impressed the crowd with her sultry, soulful voice and catchy acoustic pop, before the legendary Mavis Staples wowed the arena with her gigantic blues voice, laid back summer grooves and cool gospel beats.
While The Proclaimers kept the Main Stage audience rocking with a stirring set, including crowd-pleasing tracks 'King of the Road' and 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)', the real highlight of Friday's music was being played on Stage Two in the shape of the spectacular techno-folk explosion that is Peatbog Faeries. Despite the introduction of a brass section (seemingly a current trend amongst this year's bands), Peatbog Faeries didn't fail to impress with their blistering bagpipe, fiddle and whistle tunes played at speed alongside fusion beats, dirty bass lines and funky drum rhythms.
Some of Saturday's highlights began with the dynamic Galician piping of Xose Manuel Budino, full of dark, haunting melody and distinctly European flavour, before Blazin' Fiddles made their long overdue return to Cambridge. Bringing together five fiddle players, each member added their own distinctive regional style to the mix, creating an intense, rip-roaring, more traditional sound that had so far been lacking from this year's festival. And as blue skies began to appear for the first time that day, Altan's clear, uncomplicated, fresh sounding tunes visibly lifted the atmosphere; Donegal's finest continued the return to more traditional British and Irish folk introduced by Blazin' Fiddles. Their set included energetic jigs and lively reels on fiddle, accordion and whistle accompanied by frantic rhythm guitar, teaming up their fantastic musicianship and exhilarating traditional tunes with Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh's beautiful Gaelic singing.
Although met with excitement from the crowd, Jimmy Webb failed to recreate the kind of excitement whipped up by Altan, but festival favourite Kate Rusby soon put things back on track, delighting the audience with her warm, delicate voice and endearing Northern charm alongside twinkling accordion and whistle melodies.
But saving the best for last, Sunday's music was undoubtedly the festival's crowning glory. Northumbrian artist Johnny Dickinson provided a beautifully laid back start to a Sunday morning with his breathtaking blues slide guitar and emotive, haunting vocals, mixing folk ballad sensibilities with blues influence to create original interpretations of traditional Northumbrian songs and the old favourite, 'Black Jack Davy'. Canadian quintet The Duhks followed, kicking off their European tour at Cambridge with their high-energy explosion of melody and rhythm. Young and vibrant, The Duhks commanded the stage and the crowd with the air of rock stars, quickly getting people to their feet with the sounds of Irish and Scottish fiddle tunes given a contemporary Appalachian twist, while Jessica Havey's rich vocals gave a sultry sway to their meaningful interpretations of gospel songs. The soaring fiddle, haunting pipes and pounding upright bass of Lunasa continued the lively atmosphere created by The Duhks, with the kind of fantastic musicianship that made it clear why they have been described as an 'Irish dream team of musicians'. Later, Shamika Copeland was equally impressive, bringing a touch of blues rock 'n' roll to the festival; complete with wailing electric guitar and Hammond organ, Copeland provided funky, laid back blues with a contemporary pop edge.
As the festival began to wind down, the best was still yet to come, with Idlewild's heart-warming performance on Stage Two. Leaving their punky roots behind for the evening, Idlewild swapped electric guitars for acoustic guitars, accordion, Five-String Banjo, and Piano for this one-off acoustic showcase, and the band's growing love for folk and acoustic music can be seen clearly in the ease at which their songs were adapted for this intimate and emotive performance.
Meanwhile, Christy Moore, accompanied by Declan Sinott, continued to stun the Main Stage audience and after a typically hard-hitting political set, came to an end with the frighteningly dark 'Black Triangle'. But with an encore expected, Moore came back with the deliciously amusing and light-hearted 'Listoonvarna' before closing with the beautifully atmospheric 'Black Is The Colour', a powerful end to a fantastic set, and making it clear why he is regarded as one of the most important artists of modern times.
The Cambridge Folk Festival has always prided itself on its wide interpretation of the ever broadening genre of 'Folk' and this year seemed to move even further away from the more traditional folk music and instruments of Britain and Ireland to incorporate more World music, with even British artists, such as Peatbog Faeries and The Unusual Suspects seeming to embrace a European influence and global beats. Similarly, many of the artists performing at the festival drew attention to the ability of music to bring people together and cross boarders with ease - a refreshing glimpse at life considering our current climate.