A great line-up at SolFest this year, but I was particularly looking forward 
to seeing the Peatbog Faeries, whom I've managed to miss seeing perform live 
for years and years, despite their being a Scottish band.

I didn't realised there were so many of them! 8 musicians: lead guy on 
highland bagpipes and low whistle; fiddle; trombone; tenor sax; keyboards; 
electric guitar; bass guitar; drums. They put out a fantastic, frenetic 
sound - dance beats a lot of the time, but based on Scottish tunes. The 
youngsters bopped away frantically below the stage while the slightly older 
fans stood or sat on the slope beyond, some sheltering from the midnight 
winds under small camping shelters, and many with quite young children.

The music was great. But they started three quarters of an hour late: a long 
long wait. To be fair, it wasn't their fault - I think all the other bands 
throughout the day had been gradually getting later and later so by the time 
the last band came on there was a huge delay. But the crowd was getting 
restless.

My biggest complaint, though, was the lighting. What's this all about, this 
fetish for shining bright lights into the eyes of the audience while the 
band plays in semi-darkness? I can listen to their CDs any time I want: when 
I go to a live gig I want to *see* the band! Is that too much to ask? They 
had a wee spotlight on the lead guy (why can't I remember people's 
names...?) now and again, but every one of them played like a virtuoso, and 
you couldn't see what they were doing. They had this brilliant young fiddle 
player standing in for their regular fiddler (who had gone to Denmark with a 
bunch of women??!!) but you didn't get much chance to see what he was doing 
as he was often in darkness. When he swapped his violin for a mandolin he 
was more or less in darkness: I really wanted to see what he was playing but 
it was not to be. The poor brass section fared even worse, although they 
played brilliantly. Even when band members were doing a solo they weren't 
lit properly.

I've come across this sort of thing at other gigs recently. I think some of 
these modern lighting engineers have learned their trade in nightclubs 
rather than concert halls. This sort of rhythmic thumpy lighting is great 
for providing atmosphere for dancers, but NOT for letting an audience see 
the guys on stage.

(Rant over.)

Anyway, now I've got that off my chest I feel a lot better. Back again 
today. We spent yesterday handing out bin bags for the punters to fill with 
their recycled waste. Today we'll start collecting them. I wonder how many 
have actually done as we asked? We shall see...

At the last count there were over 5000 people at the festival. They expected 
3000. And anyone reading this and wondering whether to go - Don't! ...unless 
you have a ticket. They are not letting *anyone* else in now, unless they 
have a ticket, although yesterday they'd been advised to let people in, as 
those who had travelled a long way might have ended up camping on the beach 
or something, causing all sorts of problems.

Now then.... which tie-dye shirt stall shall I visit first.....?

ally