Review By Mary Anslow and Debbie Koritsas, Photos by Debbie Koritsas

Humphrey Lyttelton and Band – Wetherby High School, October 21 2007.

The first event at Wetherby High School for this year’s 30th Anniversary Festival saw the main hall truly swing. Humphrey (affectionately known as “Humph” by millions) was in his element and on superb form on his welcome return visit to Wetherby Festival. His band was clearly thrilled to be supporting him, and the standard of musicianship was more than impressive.

An added delight was Humph’s wit, bringing little snippets of the long-running radio show “I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue” to the stage. His performance was warm, relaxed and very engaging throughout.

We were treated to piano, drums, clarinets, tenor and bass saxophones, trombones and, of course, to Humph playing his trumpet. Eight superb musicians in total and their pleasure in being on stage was palpable.

Sensational

It is without doubt thanks to its sponsors that Wetherby Festival can bring such prestigious names to town – on this occasion the sponsors were Ware and Kay. Tickets sold out well in advance of this performance and no-one can have left the High School without feeling they had been part of a sensational evening of music as only Humphrey Lyttelton knows how to play it!

The High School has traditionally been used as a venue for the Festival’s “big events” over the years. This year, an added touch was a heated, carpeted and lined marquee, located just in front of the entrance to the main hall.

During the interval for Humph’s performance, it was lovely to see this space filled with festival-goers, all enjoying a glass of wine, a cup of tea or a pint of excellent Festival Ale – specially brewed for the Festival’s 30th Anniversary by Rudgate Brewery of Tockwith!

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Dochas – Wetherby High School, October 22 2007.
Dochas played to one of the most appreciative Festival audiences I have ever been part of in this town. This young, exciting band comprises musicians from Scotland and Ireland, totally passionate about their music tradition and proud to take it to audiences everywhere. Wetherby was the last stop on Dochas’ latest tour which even saw them taking in the Basque Country in Spain. They’d literally stepped off the plane in Glasgow, caught up on a few hours sleep, and were on the road to Wetherby within hours.

The audience was clearly delighted they came, greeting their performance with a huge roar of approval at the end of the evening. And D”chas were delighted to be here; these are some of the friendliest musicians on the folk circuit, and they’re much in demand both as performers and teachers.

Stunning

Fronted by Horizon Award-winning Gaelic songstress Julie Fowlis, originally from the Hebridean island of North Uist, Dochas gave a storming, immeasurably impressive performance. The audience knew it was in for a treat as the sound of Carol-Anne Mackay warming up her Highland bagpipes backstage swept through to the main auditorium.

Once the band took to the stage, they blasted their way through a stunning set of jigs and reels, interspersed with Julie’s exquisite Gaelic singing, proving, as always, that her voice “carries the songs of the Hebrides with coolest grace.”

Carol-Anne, together with Shetland fiddler Jenna Reid, provided gorgeous harmony vocals to several songs. Very special moments were had when Julie sang puirt a beul (Gaelic mouth music) and traditional Hebridean songs of occupation, known as waulking songs.

Inspired

Martin O’Neill almost stopped the show with an outstanding display of bodhran-playing, taking the Irish drum to its limit and showing why he’s won numerous championships for his playing. He told me once that he views the instrument in exactly the same way as a drum kit, and it shows.

Julie’s husband Eamon Doorley (of Irish band Danú) accompanied on his new guitar-bouzouki, replacing harpist Eilidh MacLeod who is currently on maternity leave. Kathleen Boyle provided keyboard and accordion accompaniment to her customary inspired and very high standard. Carol-Anne sometimes switched to accordion. Julie played whistle with an outstanding musicality, and together, the band made a huge, stirring sound.

The individual members of Dochas are a credit to the Scottish and Irish music tradition – would that such a sense of pride in ones’ heritage existed within the English soul! Their ability to connect with their audience using warmth and humour ensures that they captivate the listener with every single performance.

Privilege

They take the trouble to tell you who taught them as children, who inspired them. They are carrying on the tradition with a real sense of love and purpose, and it was a privilege to spend an evening in the company of such musicians.

The musicians played out the gig with a show-stopping set featuring the twin Highland bagpipes of Julie Fowlis and Carol-Anne Mackay. The entire band’s stamina is astonishing, their musicality unrivalled. Believe it or not, several band members had to be up for work in Glasgow the morning after this performance. D”chas is the Scottish Gaelic word for “hope” – let’s hope they return to Wetherby Festival before too long, perhaps even for a full-blown ceilidh!

www.dochas.co.uk

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If you want to wow a festival audience, then book a tribute band! You’re more or less guaranteed to get everybody on their feet if you’re playing songs that people love.
Abba was a worldwide phenomenon whose album sales during their heyday topped those even of Sweden’s biggest car manufacturer, Volvo.

Abba is remembered for presenting the world with some of the most brilliantly written, brilliantly executed pop songs in modern music history.

Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus wrote songs that had timeless, fabulous tunes, and deceptively simple but often searingly sad lyrics.

Distinctive

They had the most stunning pair of aces up their sleeves, in the shape of their partners Annifrid Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog, both blessed with fabulous, distinctive voices capable of delivering these songs with immense clarity.

They recorded a succession of chart-topping singles in the mid-to-late 70′s, their popularity gradually waning in the early 80s, by which time the creative juices that had driven this band towards such staggering success had seemingly run dry.

The band members’ marriages had disintegrated under the pressure of fame, and they went their separate ways.

Voulez Vous, based in the North West of England, are without doubt one of the best and most convincing of the Abba tribute bands. Hart Law Solicitors sponsored this incredibly popular event, which sold out not long after the ticket office opened.

Spectacular

The band installed their own impressive lighting and stage rig for this spectacular performance. A glitterball was suspended from the ceiling in the centre of the stage, while the drummer and bassist stood aloft on huge onstage risers.

Bjorn took up his guitar and his customary position left-stage, whilst Benny’s piano (actually two keyboards disguised as a piano!) was placed to the right of the stage. The girls took centre-stage, exactly as it should be.

Large screens displayed video footage of the band’s history and songs, with an audio commentary interspersing many of the band’s favourites.

For the hardened Abba fan, this gig was a treat because less well-known songs like “Angel Eyes,” “The Day Before You Came” and “Under Attack” were performed. There were many costume changes too.

Aplomb

Reports from behind the stage wings confirmed my suspicion that these costume changes were completed with only a fraction of a second to spare before taking the mic.

The choreography was great too, with Agnetha and Frida recreating those 30 year old dance routines with some aplomb.

The audience was treated to just about every chart-topping song Abba ever recorded, and whilst they might have been a bit slow to get up on their feet dancing (not so the occupants of the back row, who asked to be put there especially because they intended to party right from the off!), it was clear the audience had a ball.

Singer Jo, playing Agnetha for the first time that night, told me she could see from the stage how much the audience was enjoying themselves even when they weren’t dancing!

Belting

By the second half though, the urge to get up and move became irresistible, and soon the entire hall was belting out classics like “Super Trouper,” “Waterloo,” “Dancing Queen” and “Thank You for the Music” along with the band.

They might call it 70s kitsch, but they just don’t write songs like these any more, and the Wetherby Festival audience had a fabulous time – young and old alike said what a good evening they’d had.

It’s no wonder that bands like Voulez Vous are in such regular demand these days!

Wetherby High School, October 27 2007. Review by Debbie Koritsas.

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 Photo by Debbie Koritsas

A Friday night out in the centre of Leeds or Wakefield usually produces some rare sights, but this Friday nothing was likely to compete with Wetherby.

At five minutes past eight, a Ford Transit pulled up sharply at the High schools rear entrance and out jumped, seven rather muscular young men dressed in leopard print loincloths and headbands, and two young women dressed in slightly more but still appearing rather outlandish for our usually tame town.

There was urgency to their arrival; they were an hour late, after being caught up in heavy traffic on the A1. The sight they presented for other frustrated travellers as they traversed the traffic, must have led to some bemusement.

Entertaining

Meanwhile, in the bar, Arthur France, the organiser behind NWSO was engaged in a q&a session with Joyce Bale, the festival committees secretary, providing the audience with impromptu tales of their recent performance in the Messiah at Harewood, and other information about the orchestra, which helped the 40 minute interval to pass as quick for the audience as for the anxious stage crew.

Earlier, the young members of the band had given a highly entertaining performance, which ranged from covering modern pop, reggae and a few classical tunes all on assorted steel drums. The excitement of the band members was infectious and soon the audience was clapping along, and from the front row, glimpses could be caught of band members dancing away in the wings as they awaited their turn to perform.

Transfixed

After what transpired to be the longest interval and shortest sound check at this year’s festival, the MZN bounced onto stage, and soon had the audience transfixed, the many young children in the audience craning their necks to watch in amazement and probably some bewilderment.

What the performance lacked in musical sophistication (there was only one instrument, a drum), it more then made up for in charm, warmth and sheer good entertainment. The band leader soon had the audience singing along in Zulu (one of the 11 official languages of South Africa), but not before he played few tricks on the audience teasing them with the complexity of the language and its strange clicks and intonations.

Ambitious

‘You’re so good at this” he proclaimed, ”are you all?” The audience lapped it up, the children laughed as the band leader challenged other members of the cast to a dancing competition, but most adults just winced as each round of jousting ended with the two dancers leaping up as high in the air as possible and landing flat on their bottoms.

Not surprisingly, no one from the audience volunteered to get involved.
Overall, what had been from the start an ambitious attempt by the festival committee to combine two shows into one night’s performance, ended up as a thoroughly enjoyable night’s entertainment, and provided the ideal opportunity to sample another pint of the special festival ale during that extended interval.

If MZN are touring again in these parts, they really are a not to be missed, good fun night out for all the family.

Wetherby High School, October 26 2007. Review by Dave Richmond.

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Maire Ni Chathasaigh (pictured right) and Chris Newman – The Bridge Inn, Walshford
October 18 2007.

Britain’s traditional music scene is exciting, and constantly evolving, and Wetherby Festival played host to several high-profile folk musicians for its 30th year celebrations.

Tonight’s sell-out performance in the intimate, relaxed setting of The Bridge Inn was by two outstanding Yorkshire-based musicians; harpist Maire Ni Chathasaigh, originally from Cork, and English acoustic guitarist Chris Newman.

These musicians tour extensively, and both teach at England’s renowned folk degree course at Newcastle University, helping to ensure that a whole new generation of music students is being turned on to the tradition.

Influential

Maire is an inspirational figure for many harpists today. She plays clarsach and electro-acoustic harp, and tonight she played her Breton-made Camac electro-acoustic harp. Her playing was pristine, poised, and exquisite throughout.

Maire enthralled her audience with modern pieces, often with an element of jazz, historic pieces from as early as the 17th century, and folk tunes, each with their own little story, from her own and her father’s childhood. Chris is a finger style acoustic guitarist in the same league as John Renbourn, and he justly deserves his accolade as “one of the UK’s most staggering and influential guitarists.”

He performs with breathtaking flourish and precision, and tonight played a hand built mahogany & rosewood acoustic guitar (with mother of pearl inlay) made for him by New Zealand luthier Davy Stuart.

Lively

Both instruments resonated throughout the room beautifully. The audience held its collective breath as Maire performed an exquisite Gaelic piece, “Am Buahaillin Ban” and a wonderful composition by blind 17th century Irish harpist Turlough O’Carolan. Lively jigs and hornpipes, including ‘The Chestnut Tree’ were played at breakneck speed and with evident relish by both musicians, ensuring a wonderfully balanced set.

And who could have guessed that Celtic harps were moody? Maire explained to her appreciative audience how the change in room temperature affected the sound. The diverse range of music played by this duo this evening illustrated exactly why the harp has such a firm place in Irish history, and how beautifully it combines with the acoustic guitar in this intimate acoustic setting.

Tonight’s audience enjoyed a stunning evening of music by a duo highly skilled in their craft. Watch out – they may be back!

The Bridge Inn at Walshford.

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Kathryn Tickell needs little introduction to Wetherby audiences. This was a welcome return to the Festival by this acclaimed Northumbrian piper and fiddle player and her fabulously talented band.
She was accompanied by her brother Peter Tickell, a magnificent fiddler in his own right, and he occasionally played acoustic guitar during the set.

Julian Sutton, a musician who composes the most stunningy lyrical tunes, played melodeon. He is also a member of Anglo/Scandinavian band The Auvo Quartet.

Re-joining the band after an interval of several years working with a rock band was Joss Clapp. Tonight he played acoustic bass and acoustic guitar (but mainly acoustic bass), and he played with beautifully “muscular” control.

Improvisational

There was some laughter as Kathryn told a packed audience how Joss had finally and very sensibly “returned to the fold” – presumably the reassuring fold of English folk music!

Kathryn worked her way through the most exquisite set of Northumbrian tunes imaginable. Tunes like Rothbury Hills, Peter Man, and many tunes from her new “Instrumental” album.

It was a lovely, hugely improvisational set. These musicians don’t work from a set list. They play the tunes they love, often asking the audience what they’d like to hear.

Quality

It’s a formula that engages the audience every time. Kathryn herself has a lovely onstage manner, and her contribution to this year’s festival will be remembered for some time to come.

The quality of the sound at this year’s events cannot go uncommented, and allowed the audience to listen to these beautiful acoustic instruments at their best.

The lighting too was imaginatively done, with the musicians playing against an ever-changing backdrop of green, blue, amber and red lights. It was difficult at times to remember that you were enjoying world-class music, beautifully presented, in the relatively ordinary setting of a town’s high school.

The quartet setting is a hugely winning formula in folk music – melodeon and acoustic bass lend the music support and structure, embellished by the gloriously sweet sound of Northumbrian pipes and the lyricism of fiddle.

Knowledgeable

It made for intoxicating and very pleasurable listening. I heard reports of people travelling from as far away as Reading in Berkshire for this gig, and what impressed me equally was how knowledgeable Wetherby Festival’s folk audience is.

Wetherby is pretty much on the music-lovers’ map anyway these days, with people travelling good distances for tonight’s gig, and with last week’s D”chas performance even receiving a timely plug on the popular BBC Radio 2 Mike Harding Show!

Both Kathryn and her brother Peter are passing on their fabulous music heritage through their teaching on Newcastle University’s folk degree course. The English tradition is in very safe hands, and it’s reassuring to know this.

This event was sponsored by Nick Hopkinson and Wetherby Osteopaths, who have supported previous folk events at the Festival, including Kate Rusby’s last performance here.

Wetherby High School, October 25 2007.

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Indigo Moon Theatre Company: “The Worm That Squirmed” – Wetherby Town Hall, October 23 2007.

On the face of it, Wetherby on a chilly October day would seem to have little in common with Bandung, a city with a population of 2 million people located on the Indonesian Island of Java.

But for 50 minutes on Monday the 7,000 miles separating the two towns didn’t matter as local children and more than a few parents and grandparents were captivated by this classical tale of the fight between good and evil.

Supported by Wetherby Town Council, Indigo Moon Theatre Company, performed their own creation of “The Worm that Squirmed” using traditional Indonesian rod puppets that Anna Ingilby and Haviel Padana the company’s founders, had brought back following their training in Java.

Children were utterly absorbed in helping catch the wicked Worm as he threatened world mass destruction, after he had been released by an unsuspecting gardener from ten years of underground captivity.

Mystical

The show used sound, light and shadow play, as well as puppets to bring to life in Wetherby Town Hall this enchanting and mystical classical tale from South East Asia. The performers encouraged children to get involved in the show, and soon had 100 children shouting out warnings in Bahasa the language of Indonesia.

The show enthralled the children, and some of them even had a modicum of sympathy for the evil worm, after all “you would steal a few bananas if you’d been buried in a box for ten years wouldn’t you?” After the two shows Anna and Haviel encouraged children to handle and ask questions about the puppets and they were soon surrounded by a willing throng.

So, if tomorrow morning you awake to frost on the car, you will probably be sharing an experience with the residents of Bandung who shiver because of the altitude at which their city was built, and if a passing five year old bids you “salamat pagi,” just reply “good morning to you to,” and remember that there’s not really so much difference between us and the residents of that chilly Indonesian town located just a little bit further east than York.

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The stage set up was awesome. As soon as visitors walked into the hall, they were greeted by the jaw-dropping sight of huge Taiko drums, some raised high and mounted on the sturdiest of supports.

These drums were used extensively in Japanese folk and classical music, and historically used in battle to warn of danger. Nobody hearing the huge, pounding reverberation from these drums could fail to be moved or excited by it in some way.

Exotic

These six performers, who had travelled to Wetherby from their base near Glasgow, held their audience spellbound for the two halves of the performance.

If anything, the first half seemed a “warm up” for what was to follow after the interval. The entire show was brilliantly choreographed, with the female Taiko Drummers looking fearsome and exotic and somehow reminiscent of the cast of “Xena, Warrior Princess!”

The second half of the set drew more and more applause, and the audience was held completely spellbound by the hypnotic, brilliant , powerhouse drumming of this group of performers.

There were a few humorous onstage touches that provided a nice contrast to the drama and grandeur of the drumming. The ambient lighting added a real sense of occasion, and lots of drama to proceedings.

Stamina

You need to have lots of physical stamina and strength to be able to play these huge drums with such power, and all these performers were clearly up to the task.

The group’s founder, Neil Mackie, explained a little of the history of these immense drums, and how the skins were meant to last a lifetime. He invited local children to log onto their website to find out more about the Taiko workshops that are available.

This was a spectacular show that left Wetherby’s youngsters open-mouthed in admiration. I heard a few older members in the audience commenting, as they left, how they’d always wished to play the drums themselves, lamenting how their parents had left them “deprived children!”

I should imagine local sales of drums and percussion instruments may see quite an upturn following the visit to Wetherby Festival by these exciting musicians.

Wetherby High School, October 24 2007. Review & photograph by Debbie Koritsas.

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On the way she met Jack. Jack was apparently a widower from a little town in Yorkshire – could it be Wetherby? He used to be a pilot and enjoyed singing hymns. They made their pilgrimage together.

There were two events, fittingly sponsored by Wetherby Twinning Association. The afternoon performance was in French and the evening one in English.

The afternoon event was an excellent opportunity to see how good your French was, though of course all the nuances of Marie Celine’s lively performance were revealed in the English version.

Lively

Marie Celine is an accomplished actress and she exhibited all the mystique of the archetypal French woman. She was assisted by a range of “props,” including her trusty walking boots, rucksack, raincoat, and she enjoyed a pot of tea as she performed.

She presented her story in a highly original, lively and engaging manner, and kept the audience in rapt attention for an hour and a quarter. Her English was very colloquial but quite heavily accented, and you needed to listen hard.

But the most maddening thing of all is that the identity of Jack remains a complete mystery. Jack does indeed appear to come from Wetherby, and he clearly had a lot more than a twinkle in his eye for this charming Frenchwoman!

Parish Room, St James’ Church, November 2 2007. Review by Debbie Koritsas.

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This was an event I couldn’t resist. The billing read: “A hilarious night of outlandish and fantastic tall tales. Who’s Wetherby’s biggest liar? You decide.”
The Biggest Liar Competition is new to Wetherby Festival, and semi-professional storytellers from as far away as Hebden Bridge came along to throw their hats into the ring to compete with Wetherby’s home-grown liars!

The competition is basically an opportunity for participants to tell the tallest story they can concoct before a pub audience, taking their turn as their name is pulled from a hat.

The challenge is to tell the most outrageous tale possible. The winner is judged by the volume of applause as each tall tale is re-summarised at the end of the evening.

Window cleaner

Readers will be delighted to learn that Wetherby’s biggest Liar is indeed a local lad: Steve Watson, a local “vision technician,” beat off stiff competition from his Hebden Bridge & other rivals with a fantastic tale that proved that everything you’ve ever heard about “what the window cleaner saw” is the truth. Modesty, of course, prevents further embellishment in a family newspaper!

Ernie Grey, a close rival, spun quite a yarn about how the football premiership operates with blind referees using guide dogs, and how the TV companies cleverly air-brush the guide dogs so they cannot be seen on our screens.

It was interesting to learn the very true story that Ernie is in fact partially sighted and used to be a referee himself. A fine line was drawn between truth and fiction last Tuesday evening at The Swan and Talbot, and it wasn’t always easy to work it out!

Corgis

There were other local participants from Clifford’s Creative Writing Group. First up were Bill Prollins and Maureen Row. Maureen told a very strange story about stuffed horses and how the Queen asked her if she would stuff her corgis at the time of her dogs’ demise.

Event organiser Dave Richmond drummed up a fiendishly implausible tale about Menwith Hill and the leaking of an “intelligence drug” into the River Wharfe. Did you know it reached the peak of its potency at Wetherby?

There were ghostly tales too – should we believe them, could they possibly be true? It was down to the listener to decide whilst enjoying a quiet drink in the relaxed setting of this popular Wetherby pub.

Innovative

This was an innovative night’s entertainment, and, though it had been a little difficult to hear some of the stories at the start of proceedings, by the end of the evening everyone in the pub was all ears.

The pub (along with The Muse restaurant nearby) had sensibly laid on a “Festival Menu,” which proved very popular with those attending tonight and with festival artistes and visitors alike over the course of the festival. A very enjoyable evening.

The Swan and Talbot Inn, October 23 2007

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