FolkWorld Live Review by Michael Moll; 09/2002
Suffolk
makes up, arguably, the most beautiful Eastern county of England. Framlingham
is right in the centre of Suffolk, a little market town in a pleasant location,
famous for its twelfth century castle. This very castle makes up a unique and
perfect venue for music events throughout the summer. Most appropriate of these
events is without doubt the one-evening folk festival, "Folk at Fram",
displaying music traditions in a historic environment. Folk at Fram has built
up a very good reputation among musicians, and this year once more all three
acts were enthusiastic about the event, the venue and, last but not least, the
weather!
While the rest of the British Isles was still covered under thick clouds full of rain, the musicians found on arrival, Suffolk at its very best, in beautiful sunshine. No wonder that most of the audience brought along chairs, rugs and big baskets full of picnics with some bubbly or wine. Arriving half an hour before the concert, you find the castle full of picnicers, giving the whole event a wonderfully relaxed and summery atmosphere.
On our arrival, we heard of a change of programme - the English band Tarras (yes, the one that became famous as the first band without a CD release that made a cover story in the Folk Roots magazine) apparantly decided to disband, just before their booked appearance in Framlingham. Not really the "refined English way" (German idiom...) - just six days before the event, the organisers of Folk at Fram were left with the task to find a replacement for the planned final act of the evening. They were lucky to find an excellent replacement (to my tast preferable to Tarras): the traditional Irish folk band North Cregg. North Cregg could be easily convinced to spend the day in their van travelling up from the (soaked) Sidmouth Festival up to Suffolk, to play a festival where their name had not been on the posters.
I have known and loved Niamh Parsons singing for a long time, yet once again I was stunned by her beautiful, rich voice, that manages to make every song her own; perfectly sung with beautiful vocal arrangements. The talent of guitarist Graham Dunne makes the songs even more spectecular; Graham proved that night that he has entered the world class of Celtic guitarists. He is both great at subtle arrangements for Niamhs songs and delivering impressive solo numbers. Niamh sang that night a mixture of old favourites and songs from her new CD, "Heart's Desire". Recently, Niamh used to appear regularly with a fiddler or accordionist, who would add some wild tunes to the set. Now, appearing as a duo, Niamh tries to fill the gap of faster numbers with a couple of more lively songs. These are good enough, although it is very obvious that Niamh enjoys most those songs that she is best at: The slower, beautiful and gentle songs. The audience enjoyed the set of Niamh and Graham; all listened, it was completely quiet during the songs. The venue of the castle with its special acoustics gave a beautiful surrounding for the duo's simple, yet stunning music.
The crowd loved the Dogs; soon the whole castle was once more completely changed:
While Niamh Parsons & Graham Dunne and North Cregg turned the picnic site
into a concert hall, the Old Blind Dogs turned the concert hall into a large
dance hall, where the audience was enthusiastically dancing away to the music.
It was a perfect finale for a perfect concert evening, rated by Rory Campbell
even as one of the best gigs he has ever played in England.
For the Old Blind Dogs, it went on the next day to the Folkwoods Festival in
Holland, where they would bump into my brother...
It was a great evening; the combination of bands was excellent, and it seemed that nobody missed Tarras that night. Wonderful music in a wonderful surrounding.
Niamh Parsons' new album, Heart's Desire, is extensively reviewed in an article in this issue.
Photo Credit:
All photos from Folk at Fram, by The
Mollis. (1) Framlingham castle with picnicers; (2) Niamh Parsons; (3) North
Cregg; (4) Old Blind Dogs
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