The Medusa Fora

Thanks for the badfest link, Duncan. Looks interesting - and with Tenpole Tudor haha! (Though looks like just Eddie, not the band.)
But it's the same weekend as the Cambridge Folkfest, and I'm committed to be at that. Listings are here: http://www.cambridgefolkfestival.co.uk/
Can't be at two festivals in one weekend.

It's one of my greatest regrets that I missed the chance to see Ian Dury just before he died.

Oh no ,theres some good music there aswell.Peatbog Faeries might be good ive got a cd of them and Hayseed Dixie ,and Old Crow Medicine Show on the bluesgrass tip
but Badfest is only about 10 miles up the road from me so i wwill be there,probably cheaper aswell.

I really regret never seeing Joe Strummer and The Mescaleroes.
I had the cahnce to go to London fleadh where he played ,and The Pogues ,and The Proclaimers.I ended up going to Strawberry Fair for about the 13th year in a row!

Annoying that these things clash...
Yeah, there's a good selection of stuff at Camb, as there usually is. Old Crow Medicine Show were brilliant last year. They weren't billed to be playing, but when another act failed to get there on time, they were spotted playing somewhere on the site and ended up doing a storming set on the main stage. I think last year they'd come with Gillian Welch, but they're back this year in their own right.
Peatbog Faeries are also playing at Cambridge Junction on 1 May.

I too missed a last chance to see Joe Strummer shortly before he died. Still can't believe it really. Made me realise such opportunities should never be missed.

Why are they always on the same weekend ??
I dont mind the weather.Its quite often shit in thew summer anyway
My mates might be playing at Womad that weekend aswell.New Groove Formation.(And I will be on a freebie there if i carry a plectrum Cambridge has always been a funny place to me .The Folk Festival sounded a bit shite to me when I was going to free festivals all summer in the 80s and early 90s .Yuo had to Pay to see a load of old shit that i didnt like.Then suddenly they got the likes of The Levellers and Joe Strummer playimng there.
Its a bit like radio 2 innit .One day you suddenly stop calling it old folks music and fantastic music.
Folk music........

Folk music ,if you think about it.
Music made py the people -For the people ?
Abotu stuff that matters.Right?So Punk was Folk music of its day.?Right.
And so was Rave music in the late 80s?
Comment.

duncan disorderly wrote:Why are they always on the same weekend ??
I dont mind the weather.Its quite often shit in thew summer anyway

I guess there's a limited number of available summer weekends for festivals, but it would be good if there was some kind of coordination of dates, at least for festivals in the same area. Cambridge used to be one week earlier, but the date changed a few weeks back when the local education authority shortened the school summer hols.
As they use the local schools for parking etc they had to change the festival date too.
I have sat in mud, rain, hail, thunder and lightning at summer festivals, but not sure about an outdoor fest in the winter. Danger of frostbite!!

duncan disorderly wrote:Folk music ,if you think about it.
Music made py the people -For the people ?
Abotu stuff that matters.Right?So Punk was Folk music of its day.?Right.
And so was Rave music in the late 80s?
Comment.

Yeah, Dunc, that's about right. I never thought I liked folk music much, just reminded me of the sort of thing they make you sing at school. (Back then I'd never have thought, for example, that I'd ever be listening to the Dubliners...)
But then had some contact with folk clubs in South Yorkshire pit villages in the 80s (days of the miners' strike), and realised it could be protest music - the people's music.
Folk music by definition is music of the people, so yeah, punk, rave, reggae, all in a way could be so described. But hey, there's a whole thesis waiting to be written here.
At Cambridge (like most festivals) you have the good and the bad (and the ugly too ). But it's always been a broad definition of "folk", so there's usually some new and interesting stuff to discover too. And in the end you can always just sit in the sun (hopefully) and drink the guinness.

firehazard wrote:Folk music by definition is music of the people, so yeah, punk, rave, reggae, all in a way could be so described. But hey, there's a whole thesis waiting to be written here.

I totally agree. To me, it’s a shame that folk is being so often and so unjustly identified with sentimental crap full of bellyaching emotions.

Anyway, this is quite funny: To me, folk EQUALED protest music for most of my life. In fact, under communists it was like that here in Czechia. Folk festivals and songwriters were probably the most audible opposition against the regime – and treated as such. (Strange to remeber that being investigated by the police immediately at the location or after coming home was an inseparable part of participating at some of these events, sthg like additional price - or bonus?:)) It seems such a long time ago – and with the Czech folk scene changing, I now understand that some people can consider folk substandard when listening only to songs presented under this label on radios.