En route we had a bit of an epithany - we had been sent a CD of English Traditional Music from Songlines, actually its a Rough Guides production, and as we neared Aigburth, June Tabor sang "The Baker" and Gill was just knocked out by it - we played it again, and later again and again. There will be more about this in the future....
So we set up camp having parked right by the site, the sun was out and the field was, well almost empty. There were more stalls and food outlets than previously, and for a while I wondered to myself if it was going to be a waste of effort. Gill took the opportunity to join a drum workshop and had a great time, I sat and watched the first act play to a small crowd. As I watched though, the sun broke out of the clouds and what had been a humid and overcast morning turned into a hot, sunny blue sky day with a little breeze, and the crowds came, and they came. Windbreaks, umbrella, tents, picnic tables, blankets, dogs, footballs, groundsheets, barbecues, and people everywhere - a huge crowd, especially by Oye! standards. Whatever publicity had been put out had obviously worked, or is it just word of mouth? Perhaps Oye! doesn't need any, people just know, as we do, that it's due, and to look out for the date and venue and just turn up. Turn up they certainly did.It was most pleasing to see such a diverse crowd too - all races and religions mixed in together in peace, dancing and sharing the music.
First up then was Solane Mthombeni - not in the program so there's no background, but my copy of the running order says he's from South Africa. He came in a very colourful garb, himself and a drummer both blowing long animal horn trumpets, and both wearing feathered headgear. Mthombenii wore a silver and white striped shirt and a bright purplish sarong arrangement and he looked fab. This duo played typical African guitar music on acoustic guitar with percusion backing and vocals, the music was lovely, a gentle introduction to the day, and by the time he had finished, there was a good crowd enjoying his dancing, which was a very energetic crouch with high kicking and clapping.
The compere for the weekend was somebody called Spycatcher from Radio City, and I was not at all impressed with his very short introductions and announcements, I felt he was only there because he was a local "name" rather than someone who was enthusiastic about the festival and the music, I may be wrong, but that's how it came over to me.
Haja followed - a trio from Madagascar who soon had the crowd dancing. Featuring a bare chested young man in white face and body markings on vocals and guitar, a guy called Lever (I think) who is a star accordion player, but using the synth rather than a squeezebox,who also plays electric bass, and a drummer, Haja gave us lots of African guitar and bass interwoven rhythms and melodies, and when the singer wasn't otherwise engaged, he also had a mini drum and percussion setup that he played very enthusiastically. The crowd loved it and it was all too soon that the band walked off stage one at a time leaving the drummer looking rather shy and exposed in the end! They got an encore and were obviously un-prepared as they played a song they had already used in the set. Haja were due to appear the next day too, and we looked forward to it.Dobet Gnahore hails from the Ivory Coast and she continued the trend set by Haja by starting the performance off stage and having the band come on one by one! Dobet is a small striking character with a great voice and lots of energy, backed by a white band with some interesting accents she sang her way through her set with some very impressive dance moves, one, notably, was a sudden stop during a fast routine which left her eyes wide in a mock startled manner while she waited for the band to start up again a moment later, then continuing on as before, perfectly timed. The group supported her well with a good range of songs including some reggae, some beautiful acoustic guitar from a young man with a Shumacher smile, and some really subtle percussion. Dobet herself played a small handheld instrument which looked for all the world like a wooden games console controller, especially with the pickup wire. Her thumbs seemed to work a number of buttons or levers which produced an interesting sound.
Kinobe Herbert played a gentle set with delicate, plucked strings, and some percussion. The songs were all rooted in tradition and were often introduced with a story from a culture were kings can't be seen to cry, so when a baby is crowned king, a team of courtiers dance in front of the throne for years on end to shield the people from seeing any royal tears.
That is all I wrote down, because by now it was definitely TOO HOT and we were flagging a bit, the occasional cloud or breeze being welcomed with enthusiasm. Fickle aren't we when it comes to weather, but it was so hot, I got burnt in several places where I missed with the cream!
And so to the last act - the Gangbe Brass Band - a rare returning act - Oye! is not known for getting repeat acts. A big band - 10 of them in fact, many swapping instruments and sharing the vocal duties, this was Big Band meets Africa and they played everything as if they were having a great time - Great Stuff I wrote down afterwards, too busy dancing to take notes.
After we chilled out and finished our picnic while the sun set behind the trees through a mist of barbecue smoke as many of the crowd stayed to enjoy the cooler evening. Gill was asked if she would take Mthombeni as a husband while I was away, and my shirt was recognised by the guy that sold it to me last year - "hey! That's my shirt!" he hollered - I promised to seek him out the next day.We had a great day and wished we could have shared it with others, but we had already begun to make new friends, dancing with strangers, so we went home looking forward to tomorrow and more of the same, little knowing how different tomorrow can be sometimes.....
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