Bellowfellow

FolkEast Day Two

I'm a HUGE fan of Jon Boden's and today I was lucky enough to see him perform with not one, not two but three different bands! First as a member of his partner Fay Hield's band The Hurricane Party, then (pictured above) with his own band The Remnant Kings (they kicked off with my favourite song of theirs and then got even better!) and finally with his other band - the mighty 11-piece Bellowhead - who were the night's headline act and played an absolutely storming set! (It's not often you see a bouzouki player climb and leap off a speaker stack, fly across the stage and make a perfect landing whilst never missing a strum! If Benji Kirkpatrick weren't such a good musician he might have ended up as a gymnast for Team GB!)

But the day wasn't quite all about the magnificent Mr Boden. I also saw:

John Ward and Mario Price (local lads from Lowestoft who were easily as good as some of the big name acts)
Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers (Japanese drumming... from Scotland)
Faustus (Jon Boden wasn't the only Bellowhead member playing in other bands today...)
Plainsong (great to see Iain Matthews - former member of Fairport Convention and Matthews Southern Comfort - reviving his early 70s band to good effect)
The Leisure Society (finely honed British folk-pop!)
Breabach (Scottish traditional music is in safe hands!)
Lau (Anglo/Scottish musicianship at it's finest! Martin Green's thrash accordion playing is a wonder to behold!)

The weather was DREADFUL with rain on and off most of the day and torrential downpours throughout the afternoon and evening but it all cleared up just in time for Bellowhead to take to the stage. Hurrah!