Cambridge Folk Festival

Sometimes I feel like starting some sort of  blog about the "Younger Me" being appalled at the sort of thing "Older Me" gets up to. I mean, for a start I've got two kids and a mid-range family car! This would probably most apply to things I've started doing in the last few years that I definately remember being "beyond the pale" when I younger and one of those is definately the Cambridge Folk Festival; several days of live music (what?), outside (what??) to cap it all off, it's Folk (WHAT???). Younger me was, I'm starting to suspect, a bit of a prat. So despite these inner protestations, we were at the  Cambridge Folk Festival last weekend, and jolly good it was too. Pictures and more commentary below the cut!
 

So our show experience opened with KT Tunstall, probably the act best known outside of Folk circles there. Real crowd-pleasing set, including covers of Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian" and The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army"  which seemed to delight half the croud and slightly confuse the other.

This is the wonderfully named Steamchicken, who did the Friday Night Ceilidh. 

 French-Canadian act Le Vent du Nord.

Saturday morning kicked off with the fantastic Cash Box Kings. Not so much a folk but an authentic Chicago Blues outfit, these guys were amazing. I remember thinking "well, that'll do me, I can go home happy now". 

Another "Not hugely folk" act, Layla McCalla does Haitian and Louisiana Roots music, mostly in Creole. Beautiful voice, too. 

These guys were the unexpected discovery of the weekend - US harmony group Darlingside. Apparently they're just starting out and this was their first non-US gig, and they've got a really lovely sound and engaging stage banter. Also a song about Harrison Ford. 

We only caught a bit of Kate Rusby but here she is anyway. 

Darlingside again! One of the Saturday night acts, Charles Bradley, was taken ill, so they agreed to step in. So a big weekend for them, I guess. 

Finally, we rouonded off the night with the Afro-Celt Sound System, which were pretty much as loud and bouncy as they look in this picture. 

And thats about it. We missed Sunday entirely (again!) but even so had a great time. Back next year, whatever Younger Me as to say about it.