Maldon Folk Festival - a review

This report just in from our good friend Malcolm MacDonald from the Sleepy Hollow Blues Club - thanks Malcolm!

God I feel crook! I have to stop doing this. Two years ago I came to Maldon and went home early with food poisoning (self induced). Last year I made a break at the last minute from St Vincents to get here. And this year I was feeling green before I even got here.

I had been deciding whether to camp, but in the end I realized it was going to be a big enough effort just to get here. Also, a double bed at Jo's, electricity, a working toilet and almost running hot water was just too much to resist.

Headed up Thursday afternoon and got all settled in to go to Maryborough for dialysis the next morning.

Friday morning and off I went to dialysis. Humidity, how I felt, everything was against me and I was glad to finish.

I made my way to the Festival Office and picked up my ticket then up to "The Butts" to see who was there and get the feel of the Festival.

Patrick had set up with his usual high accord and was going into Castlemaine Station to pick up Jeanette, his partner from the train.

As always, there was lots of street atmosphere. Sessions were in full force including the hugest session I have ever seen at Maldon.

One of the features I love about this festival is it's generosity, especially compared to other festivals which are often gated and have an attitude that without a ticket you aren't going to get anything.

I caught the bus up to The Butts which was alive with activity. Two stages were running, there were lights and more food stalls than in previous years. That's another real plus about Maldon, the variety and quality of the food and all at reasonable prices.

A band I hadn't heard before, The Bostocks where playing in the Guinness Tent. They are a young family band from Queensland with a real synergy between the players.

At the Wine Tent Tiffany Eckhardt and Dave Steel, accompanied by Adam and Daniella, were singing songs about the life the have found together, love, dogs, horses and children.

Feeling a bit better the next morning so back in town I took in the atmosphere. I came across Jo With Odds and Sods Practicing on Street in front of Argyle House where our Frankenwax & Candlestein shop used to be many years ago.

Then I headed up to the Primary School Market where there was a big range of stalls, and entertainment including "Maldons Got Talent" with some really good up and coming local acts. I couldn't help myself, I spotted some hats, two fedoras, one cane with a nice band, a bit hispanic looking, plus a black one with a nice silk band.

A stilted clown made merry with a song made up from my utterance that I didn't know what I wanted him to play followed by a juggling show.

Campbell the swaggie, a perennial Maldon visitor, was there, and as in previous years seemed to have the ability to end up in the foreground of many of my photos through the weekend.

The Penny School was next to see Brent Parlane, a real stalwart of the Festival from Fatty's days. It was good to see Kristin there too catch up with Danny Spooner and Brent while waiting for Bruce Watson, another old stalwart to setup then come on next.

The Wine Tent was a new arrangement this year, much improved stage and layout for the bar, making better access for everybody.

The only real issue was the lack of buffering between the Guinness Tent and the Wine Tent with a lot of bleeding of sound in both directions.

Also the changeover of acts was a bit painful. Far too long and too much mucking around. 40 minutes in one case!

Lothlorien in the Guinness Tent were a real surprise. Generally not one of my favourite folk bands, I was really impressed. This is a whole new line up and I liked it.

I missed Eric Bogle with John Munro the night before so it was good to catch them in the Guinness tent, back at Maldon after a 7 or 8 years break.

What I love about Maldon, so relaxed, the performers mingle and interact with the punters. Everyone is so laid back and cruisy, you can just strike up a conversation.

Headed down to the Blues Concert at the Football Club Rooms. Disappointed though, it had started really early (6pm) and had missed some of the acts.

Sunday started with Yggdrasil (pronounced "ig-DRA-sil) in the Main Stage at the Butts. I had heard them before in the Guinness Tent without realizing who they were. Some really fine musicians especially the fiddle player. They have and Eastern European and Middle Eastern influence that is hard to define.

Another outstanding act was Two Rose Black playing at the Penny School. They are a father and daughter combination, Garry and Georgia, whose roots are in the folk tradition of East Gippsland. A lot a original material ending with a moving song written by Georgia about her Ukrainian grandfather who migrated to Australia.

The street atmosphere continued as I head to what I considered the main event for the day, The Gospel Concert at the Anglican Church. When I speak to people about Maldon they often say this is their favourite venue and I tend to agree.

The concert was lead by Jeanette Gillespie, supported by partner Duncan Brown and their good friend Danny Spooner. Their renditions of songs of the North of England reflect the hardships of their forebears.

The Castlemaine choir, The Blenders, returned after their earlier performance at the morning church service and proved what truly local talent the region carries.

Shirley Power upped the ante with some spirited numbers that gave a bit of relief from some of the earlier more sombre incantations.

Jo's group, Occasional Harmony, made a splendid entrance with Jo entering from the rear of the building with recorder and bodhrán, the rest entering from opposite side doors.

The band was made up of a collection of local groups formed especially for the concert and sung traditional Eastern European hymns plus some in Latin.

Bluegrass Parkway gave a short performance and at the end Jeanette made an extra request of a song she had heard them perform once before which turned out to be the real highlight.

A big session was happening at the Kangaroo so I checked that out then headed back up to The Butts for a brief encounter with The Bostocks back on the Main Stage. Next to the Guinness Tent for another dose of Shirley Power, this time with Colin Mockett, who insisted on telling his jokes.

Headed back to the Main Stage to catch a bit of Eric Bogle and John Munro before heading back to the Wine Tent for a top up on Danny Spooner and Duncan Brown.

Sunday kept running away with Bluegrass Parkway on again at the Main Stage, Lothlorien in the Wine Tent and more friends to catch up with along the way.

The evening started with another appearance of the Detonators, this time at the Maldon Hotel.

Next I found myself in the Guinness Tent with Kamerunga, an amazing original folk band from just out of Cairns in Queensland.

Caught Tulca Mor in the Wine Tent who were followed by Rhythm Antics, an interesting percussion band that started as a school project. This apparently was their first performance in this format. Halfway through they invited the Kashmir Belly Dancers to take the floor and perform while they played, making it a highlight of the evening.

It was really great to see a big improvement in the quality of the music for a second year running. Hardly a hint of the monotone pub folk bands that haunted this Festival in the past, and the punters seemed to be responding to it.

If you haven't been to Maldon for a while, at last it seems to be heading in the right direction, so perhaps you should give it another chance.

Early night and back to dialysis at Maryborough on Monday morning where I had a lot better run.

Back at Maldon I headed down to the Maldon Hotel where the recovery concert was in progress.

By now I was very tired and I think the off switch or reset button had been pressed in my brain because it was starting to run in un-active mode.

I think I should have realized that the Festival was over for me but I battled on not really enjoying the afternoon. In reflection I think this was compounded by a few of the acts who felt the same way.

Miles To Go sounded like they had miles to go to get back to their native West Australia.

I had failed to see Richard Perso so my last opportunity to see him at the Maldon Hotel. This was the highlight of the day.

The real shock came when he sang. Where did such a big mature voice come from such a small young body! He had no trouble getting the crowd on it's feet.

Ado Barker and Kate Burke made a pleasant interlude, but were nothing special, but I think the end came with Jeanette Geri.

The sound was terrible on the vocals and I had to move around the room to find them.

But to make matters worse, it seemed like she really didn't even want to be there either. The performance was much saved by Martin the harmonica player. Thanks Martin.

I think at this point I finally accepted that for me the 2009 Maldon Folk Festival was over. It was only 9:30, but it was time.

Back to Jo's for a quiet bit of telly and an early night.

Malcolm Macdonald

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