www.folk-im-schlosshof.de
FolkWorld Issue 36 07/2008; Live Report by Adolf 'gorhand' Goriup
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www.folk-im-schlosshof.de |
Three days of true hospitality by the festival team, mostly local volunteers. Three days of delicious catering, from grilled salmon to “Flammekuchen” (an egg-onion-bacon tart with origins in Alsace) and from local wines to fresh tapped Guinness or Kilkenny’s and sweet met. Three days of fun games and workshops. And most of all, three days of brilliant music. This is what the people of Bonfeld offered their guests during the 8th edition of “Folk im Schlosshof”.
The setting at the old manor, which was build to replace the former 16th century castle, was perfect.
Broom Bezzums @ FolkWorld: FW #36 
@ www.broombezzums.de
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Unfortunately I missed Thursday evening; nevertheless I saw eleven fantastic live-sets. Friday offered 5 completely different gigs, starting with Broom Bezzums, an English folk duo presenting original working men’s songs and rhythmic dance sets. The Cobblestones from Berlin pleased the audience with their great show, four strong male voices and terrific songs.
Another German band, Cara, was the first highlight of the evening. The audience was completely spellbound by their fantastic music, the beautiful voices of Sandra Steinort and Gudrun Walther and the charming stories told by the latter.
Cara @ FolkWorld: FW#33, #34
The King and the Fair Maid,Poisoned Peas, Reels for Hecki |
The absolute highlight for me was the final set: Capercaillie. I’ve never seen them play like that before. Each of the seven musicians had his moments to amaze the audience with his brilliant musicianship. The ensemble playing was perfect and hilarious and Karen Matheson sang at her best. I can’t await the live DVD of the festival.
Saturday I watched the Lowland games and everybody had a great laugh with the different clans struggling to win the competition. The theme of the evening was party time and thus the different sets were less varied but as brilliant as the night before. Starting off with Darmstadt based Celtic rockers An Cat Dubh (the black cat) the musical journey began with rhythmic songs and tunes. Tears for Beers from Kiel in the north of Germany continued where the black cats stopped.
Then Cromdale from Bielefeld played their up-beat mixture of Celtic traditionals and medieval rock. The Red Hot Chilli Pipers took the audience by storm with their “Jock and Roll”, rock music interpreted by a real pipe band. The Seer, the German answer to U2, prepared the audience with their dynamic songs for the Levellers, who finished the night with an outstanding mix of folk, pop, rock and punk music.
Thus an unforgettable folk festival came to an end. I’ve visited quite a few festivals in my life, but Bonfeld marked the level high with perfect organisation, charming hospitality and breathtaking music. Surely I’ll spot next year’s programme as soon as it is online.
Photo Credits:
(1) Folk im Schlosshof-Logo (by Folk im Schlosshof);
(2) Broom Bezzums,
(3) Gudrun Walther/Cara;
(by Adolf 'gorhand' Goriup).
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© The Mollis - Editors of FolkWorld; Published 07/2008
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