Harefest 2015

Two things guaranteed to put the kibosh on the great British weather are Bank Holidays and festivals. So last weekend represented something of a perfect storm really. Harefest marks the start of the festival season in the north, set on the May Day weekend when we can have anything from blazing sun to snow and ice. So rather wisely this is an indoor affair but with camping for those (fool)hardy enough and limited accommodation in the 15th century manor house hotel for those with foresight and spare cash. Just as well because it was chuffing freezing with some cobble-cracking rain at times.

Harefield Hall

Funke and the Two Tone Baby

This is by any standards a small affair: although licenced for up to 400 I doubt there were many more than half that at its peak. The event is a music and beer festival held at Harefield Hall hotel at Pateley Bridge in the North Yorkshire Dales. One stage with absolutely superb sound engineering in a good sized room in the hall provided the music a couple of bars provided the beer and other drinks. I'm no beer expert but the real ale bar was stocked with a superb selection of real ales and a few ciders, most from local breweries. Many ran out but others were there to take their place.

So onto the lineup, which is what attracted us including as it did many of our favourite acts. As usual we were not at all early arriving on the Friday so missed all of the open mic sessions so apologies for not being able to comment on those. However we were in time for the dream combination of Funke And TheTwo Tone Baby and Gaz Brookfield. I've commented on the former before and Dan's original, hyperactive act once more did not disappoint, converting a fair few new fans. There were clearly plenty of die-hard fans of both present as well judging by the t-shirts and singing along. At the end the two announced they would be going on tour together and that is going to be a brilliant combination with the different styles complementing each other. A chance to see two of the hardest-working musicians on the circuit on the same bill, there's bound to be a show near you. Watch out for dates.

Gaz Brookfield

I could go on about Gaz for hours as, like so many, I love what he does on stage, but I will keep it brief. He certainly seems to have everything under control at the moment. His was a relaxed and consummate performance throwing in new and lesser known numbers as well as old favourites. Playing last (he hates calling it headlining) he had everyone wanting more and things moved on to the fire outside where a few of us strummed out a some songs into the night in the company of friends new and old, while an entire shed was thrown ever more haphazardly onto the flames. It really was a great first night and no doubt accounted for some the sore heads stumbling about late the following morning.

Music kicked off again at 1pm with local Growing Old Disgracefully doing a great job with the rather small and jaded 'morning after' crowd by delivering a mix of covers and original material in entertaining style. They were followed by James & The Giant Pike who I'm afraid coincided with a break for food and further recuperation so went unseen by us. Sorry guys!

Set Sails

We were back at the stage and starting to recover by the time Harrogate-based rockers Set Sails hit the stage. An energetic three-piece with the lead alternating between guitarist, David Colston, and bassist, Hannah Slater. Both had qualities but the largely own-material set came alive when Hannah's powerful vocals were allowed to growl through.

Paul Middleton Angst Band

It sort of felt a privilege to be there to see The Paul Middleton Angst Band. Daft I know, they play every week in Leeds and Harrogate, but the act made you feel like this was a rare chance to see legends at work. It's a long time since the early 70's when Middleton was in Wally and, while he clearly plays on the age thing a bit, he is genuinely no spring chicken. But any effort involved in running through a full set under the punishing Harefest stage lights was overcome by his clear passion for playing. The band also seemed to be enjoying every minute of the old school rock blues routine. 


There's far too much to say about this outfit to fit in an article like this but there are a few stand out points. First has to be the Xylosynth played with concert-standard precision and flair by Matt producing a beautiful sound remarked on by so many afterwards. Then there was the blues lead guitarist Daz, effortlessly cruising through complex licks on an ancient Stratocaster and a cigar box guitar. Then finally comes Paul himself, not just for the trademark passionate lap-steel guitar work but for the impassioned and politically charged spoken lyrics and monologues, a little reminiscent of Chris Bowsher.

Bar-steward Sons of Val Doonican

What can you say about The Bar-steward Sons of Val Doonican (http://thebarstewardsons.com)? Through recent band member changes and private stresses Scott (and Amanda) Doonican's genius comedy act has continued to blossom and you can see the ideas still coming for more hilarious reworkings of classic songs to add to the burgeoning canon. Massage In A Brothel (The Police), Frisky In The Jar (the Irish folk standard), Portaloo (Abba), The Lady In Greggs (Chris de Burgh), the list goes on, will have you wetting yourself. Again it would be easy to go on and on (too late I hear you cry) but really, just look them up. They are bloody great. They are playing the festival season in earnest again so this won't be the last time you hear about them from me.

New Groove Formation

Saturday's headliners were the only act of the day not from Yorks/Lancs. Bedfordshire-based New Groove Formation are a guaranteed dance fest and despite being down a trombonist delivered their party-atmosphere, ska-based sounds to an enthusiastic audience leaving us a happy, exhausted, sweaty mess. Summer In A Glass is my festival anthem and guaranteed to raise a smile on the dullest of days. Can't wait to see them again and again this year.

Maelor Hughes

After that and the excesses of Friday night we couldn't summon up the energy to hit the silent disco (of which more later) so had an earlyish night and were raring to go on the final day starting with Maelor Hughes. Somehow we'd managed to miss this guy up to now; definitely the best of the acts new to us this weekend. One man, one guitar, one stomp box, one good set and first time I've seen the drop-tuned, twin capo system in action.

The Rooftoppers

North Corner sort of passed me by a bit and then we were on to The Rooftoppers. A tradition at Harefest is for a band of strolling players together on the roof of a tower and play the adoring crowd below. This year however with the weather being iffy and Rev Hammer having to pull out they filled a slot on the stage and very good it was too. Some rabble rousing covers including a couple of Levellers numbers always guaranteed to have this crowd singing along and by the end we were well in the mood for another of our most anticipated groups of the weekend.

Leatherat

A little light pushing and shoving during New Groove the previous evening had me wondering if anyone might be up for a bit of mosh and indeed it wasn't long into the high-octane Leatherat set before bodies were flying. I love a good natured mosh and we had the space and enough participants to make this a cracking good one. Leatherat were new to many in the crowd and from what I heard afterwards were one of the favourites from the whole weekend. This is what The Levellers should have become for me. Jono's haunting fiddle and the rock guitar and mandolin/bouzouki lines from James and Pete give them power and energy which are driven at full speed to whip the audience to a joyful frenzy. Phew!

Dan Donnelly

I'd pretty much given my last by this time and wanted to leave something for the disco later so I settled back as much as possible to enjoy the last few acts. Dan Donnelly is incredibly talented and drew a big crowd. Clever use of effects pedals, his charm and wit and some great songs; you can see the appeal. Maybe I was getting tired but it didn't hit the mark for me this time for some reason.

Mark Chadwick

The final act I'm going to comment on is Mark Chadwick. I really enjoyed this (far more than his set at last year's Dogfest). Of course the Levellers stuff went down best but overall it was an informal and entertaining performance with an intimate feel. I'd really like to have heard Miles and Erica but we have to eat and rest at some point and I've never been into The Wonder Stuff at all so we gave it a miss to refuel and chat with the family. By all accounts the crowd had thinned significantly by this point and perhaps the evening would have been better headlined by Mark and followed by a longer disco. Would have saved the organisers a fair bit as I think the audience would have been much the same on the strength of Mark Chadwick's name. It really was a Levellers crowd.

But Harefest had one final treat in store for us. We managed to drag our tired broken bodies back up the steps to the hall for the silent disco. If you've never done one before, get to one soon. Everyone has a set of headphones and can switch between two channels playing different playlists. So some of the crowd is dancing and singing to one song while the rest are doing the same to another. Result - hilarious fun! A few dancing the Macarena while most had Devil Came Down To Georgia on was side-splitting.

A couple of small criticisms. The camping field was at the bottom of a long set of treacherous steps. Even for fully able-bodied this provided a challenge of fitness on the way up and judgement on the way down. There were a couple of (less than sober) mishaps but nothing serious. However anyone with a mobility problem would need to stay at the hall or contact the organisers for advice. It was also a strictly over 18s event. While I understand that it is a beer festival and the site might not be ideally suited to children, I do feel it is shame that this excludes many from what is a brilliant event.

And brilliant is was. Mike and Elaine do a fantastic job, creating a tremendous atmosphere for music and music-lovers to meet and enjoy like-minded company. So thanks to them and their team for all the hard work. I heard rumours that this would be the last Harefest, but they said that last year and I sincerely hope it's not. Something this good should carry on if at all possible.

Something Else Solar Stage Launch

Grass Roots can mean different things to different people but, to me, a "grass roots" event needs to be small, independent and support unsigned and local acts. The Something Else festivals achieve all of this in spades and manage to create intimate, friendly events which have lovers of great live music returning time and time again.


So when Gail, the force behind the Something Else machine, announced she wanted to create a solar stage and was organising a launch party to help fund it, it came as no surprise that the limited tickets sold out quickly. At just £25, supporters would get two nights camping in tent or vehicle, a line-up of some of the greatest independent musicians on the circuit and a drink and meal thrown in for good measure; plus the company of some of the nicest people you're ever likely to meet anywhere. A crowd-sourced push to raise the necessary money and an iron will to make it happen meant the stage was ready on time - no mean feat. A vehicle had to be sourced and converted, solar panels, a sound system and canopy bought and installed and someone had to be trained to drive the thing. It's a testament to the dedication of Gail and her team when a project like this gets off the ground.


Having fallen in love with the Something Else way of doing things early last year we were among the first to get tickets and the date couldn't come soon enough. Sitting very early in the year it promised to be a great warm up for the main festival season. So did it live up to expectations?

We were a little late to the party as we had a gig to go to in Leicester the previous evening when many of the crowd were assembling for a pre-party session and a jam around the firepit with the famous Keef and his Ukes. By all accounts this was a excellent, if relatively gentle start to proceedings. Even so there were a few thick heads evident on Saturday as everyone started gathering and Gail's own Muddy Summers And The Dirty Field Whores kicked off the music, christening the stage with their irreverent, politically-loaded numbers delivered in typically flamboyant style. For most of the set we were still faffing with the van, getting settled next to our mates tent, renewing old acquaintances and enjoying the feeling of being back in a field again with a whole bunch of like-minded people.

Hangovers seemed to be fading as singer-songwriter Doozer McDooze continued the political theme and took to the stage again on his own. He soon had the slowly building audience joining in with his catchy numbers as old favourites like I Don't Wanna Go Home and I Think Politicians Should Be Put On Minimum Wage struck the usual chords. Whether on his own, with his full band, Deferred Sucess or as part of Muddy Summers, Doozer always puts on a good show despite often being on early in the day with smaller crowds. He's releasing I Think Politicians Should Be Put On Minimum Wage as a single just before the general election. Would be great to see it chart, so get your copy!

Next came one of the most anticipated acts for us. Firepit Collective is the brainchild of the hugely talented Jay Terrestrial of Inner Terrestrials fame and was born out of jams around fires and a love of resistance songs and folk roots from Europe and the New World.

You rarely get the same act twice with FC. Guest musicians drift in and out as they are available and the sound ebbs and flows with them but the core has always been Jay and Chesney Newman up to now. So it was disappointing to learn that Chez was away in Spain and we were to be denied his effortlessly complex Bouzouki on this occasion. The set was still superb though and crowd-pleasers like Deep Sea and Hanging Jonny were lapped up as greedily as ever by us fans. The debut studio album To The Lost is quite simply one of the finest works I've ever come across; a beautiful collection of new and traditional songs and melodies, moving, evocative and uplifting and if you haven't got a copy you are seriously missing out.


Before Pure Evil took to the stage we were treated to a moving set of poems performed by the writer Bethany Gee. Putting yourself in front of a bunch of strangers to reveal deeply personal thoughts and feelings is never an easy thing to do but she really pulled it off and the smile as she took her bow to cheers and applause was priceless. I'll admit to not taking to Pure Evil in the past and we grabbed an opportunity to take a little break from the music during their set and get some food and drink. But something about the raucous, rockabilly, bluesy rock and roll hit the mark this time as it drifted over to us and I'll certainly be paying more attention during their next appearance.

They were followed by festival favourites Tarantism - one of the best band names I've ever come across. Fronted by Mel Rogers and her brilliant whistle-play and folky vocals, the eclectic styles - sometimes rocky, sometimes reggae, always entertaining - really work for me and I always look forward to fun numbers like Tent Up and We Drank The Leveller's Rider.





No Something Else festival is complete without a turn from either Gaz Brookfield or Funke And The Two Tone Baby - often both. With Gaz on tour on the near continent, in this case it was the latter; Dan Turnbull's crazy, pedal-looping maze of sound, pumping out his high-energy, unique take on blues. You've probably never heard anything like it before but chances are Bella's Kiss and Cannonball will be ringing in your ears afterwards and the man in the hat will have you coming back for more.

It was about a year ago we first heard Leatherat and we were instantly smitten by the powerful rocky folk sound so closely allied to the original Levellers sound. Another festival mainstay for many years, we weren't the only ones keenly anticipating their performance, but it was to be another cut down experience. With talented fiddle-player Jono Watts on holiday (again!) and an acoustic lineup left to do the honours, many of the superb tracks from their brilliant last album, Snake Eyes, were missing from the set. What was left was delivered with customary raucous verve and gaps in songs like Rocky Road To Dublin were filled by a whole orchestra of, only mildly sarcastic, air fiddles from the audience at the front. This was where the dancing started in earnest! Leatherat was made for mad leaping about.

 Another quick break followed for us - a chance to top up on some of the superb beers and ciders available at the main tent (not to mention a nibble of top quality cake). For me the Spirit Of Warren James is the perfect pint and is an integral part of the whole Something Else experience. Named after a freeminer of the Forest Of Dean, a man instrumental in the fight to restore the rights of freeminers eroded during the industrial revolution. Freemining persists in some form to this day although Warren James himself paid dearly for his part in the miners' refusal to bow to commercial and political pressure. The Spirit Of Warren James By Gail Something-Else.

I'll admit it came as a bit of a surprise to me to learn that Les Carter's Abdoujaparov project has been around over 16 years. This and the whole Carter USM thing has never really been on my radar and, despite seeing the act quite a few times now, I'm struggling to warm to the band's sound. I guess I just like things a bit folkier these days. Les himself is of course a joy to meet and seems to have a permanent grin on his face. He is now doing sterling service with another Something Else festival mainstay, Ferocious Dog, sadly missing from this year's line-ups as they relentlessly tour and cast their festival net wider, continuing their steady rise in popularity.

So to the headliners. 3 Daft Monkeys are another long-running festival band with a strong following who pick up new fans every time they play. We were with a first timer at Boomtown last year who didn't like folk music and didn't dance. 3 Daft Monkeys proved him wrong on both counts. The music has a deep traditional folk basis but injects gypsy rhythms and innovative twists to create a beguilingly unique sound with lyrics inspired by tall tales from the band's home county of Cornwall. A fairly early curfew meant a fairly short set so the band kept it up tempo throughout with favourites old and new and we were all a sweaty danced-out mess by the end. Through the whirling orgy I thought I could detect more virtuoso fiddle than usual from the genius fingers of Athene, warmed by mittens donated from the crowd as she'd been feeling the cold.

It was a great way to end a great beginning. OK so this time of year can be a bit chilly, we had a little rain late in the evening and there were some teething issues with the stage's new sounds system. But none of this troubled the assembled party-goers. The debut of the Something Else Solar Stage was a great success, so much so that the event will be repeated next year as a warm up party for the season, which is what it proved to be this year. The original Something Else In The Dean festival in September grew out of the end of season party for the tea tent crew and it is kind of fitting that Something Else events will now mark the beginning and end of the festival season. Long may they continue!

A huge thanks to Danny Garton for allowing me to use his superb photos of the event in this article.