Feature: Strawberry Fields Festival 2011
This page is part of the festivals section.
Festival report: final edition
This page: festival coverage for Saturday 27th August
Festival
overview
Friday
26th August
Saturday
27th August
Sunday
28th August
Our selection of the acts appearing today
These Furrows | The
Headstarts | Sally Hossack | The
Fan Club | Carol Leeming | Great
Imitation | Modern Faces | Ashdowne | Move | Grace
and the Magic Roots | Beardyman | The
Screening | The Mystery Jets |
These Furrows
These Furrows on the main stage
Leicester three piece, These Furrows set today's Main Stage
off to a great start. This excellent Leicester band is big on strong, dynamic
songs and playing some of the tightest tunes around. Their set included some
tracks from their latest album. Intricate guitar parts were layered with great
vocals from Darrly Reid, all produced with formidable precision. Tunes featuring
razor sharp stops and penetrating edges are what has made this particular band
stand out from many others.
Their sound is very contemporary and has caught the attention
of many reviewers and commentators both locally and in the national press. Signed
to Underdogs Music, they are one of the fastest rising bands in Leicester/shire;
Leaving the SFF stage they went off to play at the Reading and Leeds festivals,
this weekend. They are getting seriously big now and with music of this quality
they certainly deserve to be.
Brilliant.
Watch
These Furrows playing at Strawberry Fields | second
video | third video
The Headstarts
The Headstarts playing in the Strawberry Jam
A very fine set from this young band. With vocals from Jack
(ex Kid Vicious singer) they delivered a stomping set of punk/ska songs with
plenty of cantering rhythms and bouncy melodies. A lively and engaging performance.
Jolly good stuff.
The Headstarts playing on the SJ stage
The Headstarts also did an acoustic set on the OT Lounge Stage.
Sally Hossack
Sally Hossack singing on the OT Lounge stage
Leicester folk, "nu-jazz" singer Sally Hossack
played a pleasing set of her songs, accompanying herself on the guitar. Moodful
and melodious music.
The Fan Club
Members of London band The Fan
Club: Helen Bower, Lewis Tobia, Josh Todd and Colin Burstow.
The quartet's melodic sounds were augmented by the violin
of Helen Bower, to bring a set of delightful folk rock tunes to the sun washed
main stage arena this morning. Josh Todd delivered fine vocals. Having started
out in 2007, after meeting at school, the band soon found its feet, with songs
being written by Josh Todd. This was their first appearance in Leicester. They
also played at the JD acoustic stage at the Leeds festival, yesterday.
Video of the Fanclub on stage
Carol Leeming
Blues singer Carol Leeming on stage with guitarist Paddy
Hodgkinson.
Jazz and blues singer Carol Leeming is one
of the great diva songsters of the Leicester scene. Carol's considerable vocals
were accompanied by guitarist Paddy Hodgkinson as they delighted the audience
at the OT Lounge stage. An artist of formidable artistic stature, Carol's presence
at the festival was a star attraction. In fact, I had seen her a couple of days
earlier at the Basement where she performed an amazing set with her band The
Random Acts of Senseless Beauty. It was a wonderful night of top class music,
so it was completely satisfying to hear her again at this afternoon's performance.
I particularly enjoyed her calypso song, her song for vegetarians and her "eastern
European song", full of enchanting gypsy colours. She ended her set with the
iconic St. Louis Blues.
Completely enchanting.
Carol Leeming Video
Great Imitation
James and Ryan with their band Great
Imitation on stage at
the Strawberry Jam
What else can one say about James Scott-Howe's performances
with the Great Imitation, other than unforgettable. This amazing artists is like
no other. It's not just the memorable and amusing rap songs that he sings, it's
also the athletically wild theatricals that go with them. Long before the four
musicians arrived on stage, a crowd had gathered in front of the SJ stage, to
await the arrival of this amazing act.
They issued a loud cheer as the smartly attired rapper walked
on to the stage. James always begins his performances clad in his dapper country
squire outfit. Only to tear it all off as he gets into his act. James spent more
time in the crowd than in front of them. Vaulting over the crush barriers,
he was soon singing into the faces of people in the crowd. This seemingly anarchic
wildness is in fact controlled with considerable agility. Whilst I have seen
his act many times, he has never once fallen off or tripped over.
His raps are both sung and acted; James is a consummate performance
artist and if you have not seen him live, you would be amazed at what he gets
up to during his sets. His songs are introduced with witty jibes - "this
is the song we stole from S Club 7", he shouts at the crowd. He is a bit
like the Rik Mayall of rap. Comedian, jester, poet and singer, he defies definition
but his performances are always immensely entertaining. On stage is
Ryan Albutt, Jame's perfect foil, the steady, quiet guitarist in his smart gray
jacket and tie, occasionally trying to keep the cavorting vocalist under control,
steadily getting on with his backing, supported by band members
Mark Connor and
Joe Lambden. The ovation from the substantial crowd was well deserved.
Stupendous.
The Great Imitation band members enjoy a cool drink in the sun.
Video of The Great Imitation
Modern Faces
Modern Faces from Scotland, playing on the main stage
The Fife five piece delivered a set of well-stomping
sounds on this afternoon's main stage. They
are a band "who take their influences from the 60's and their attitude
and swagger from the 90's!", they say on their Facebook page. Their big,
pulsating songs reflected their Oasis, Stone Roses influences. Backed by complex
keyboard parts and throbbing with club-like vibrating bass sounds, they earned
an accolade from Kasabian's Tom Meighan - "Modern Faces remind me of us when
we were young, ready and willing to do anything for the thrill of being in a
rock n roll band, there highlanders."
I met the guys backstage and Lee Montgommery told me they
had been driving for ten hours to get here. "We only just made it in time"
he said, before going on tell me some really exciting news about some work the
band has been doing recently. Despite that they went on to a blisteringly good
set. They played at the SoundHouse on 3rd June with the Heartbreaks and Us Wolves.
That was a
good night!.
Exhilarating.
Video
of Modern Faces on stage | Another song
Ashdowne
Leicester band Ashdowne playing on the SJ stage
I ought to come clean here; both Kevin and I are huge fans
of Ashdowne. We have been listening to their albums and attending their gigs
for a long time and we both rate this band as one of the musically most attractive
and listenable on the Leicester scene.
Lee Wakeling's superb vocals are backed by the taught musicianship of
Andy Kempin (Guitar),
Ben Hepworth (Bass) and
Kev "Gripper" Groves (Drums).
Their set of beautifully evocative and atmospheric
songs were a sheer delight to listen to. They put such gifted craftsmanship
into their song writing and come up with hugely impressive anthems and superbly
dynamic melodies, they are always a real musical treat.
Wonderful.
See
Ashdowne playing at Strawberry Fields | Another Ashdowne Video
Ashdowne
is one of our featured bands.
Move!
Move!, from Leicester, playing on the SJ
stage
A relatively new Leicester band, Move! features the vocals
of JJ Kenna, also the drummer in SuperEvolver who played on the main stage on
Sunday. A richly rewarding set of songs that won some enthusiastic responses
from the audience in the SJ stage.
J J Kenna on stage with Move!
Move!
on stage video | Another one
Grace and
the Magic Roots
Grace and the Magic Roots on the OT Lounge stage.
Having seen them a couple of times before, I have gown to
like this endearingly lovely folk band. Grace is the lead singer and she led
the group in a fine selection of folk tunes to those assembled on the grass in
front of the OT Lounge stage. They started their set with a vibrant, bouncy song
that had a reggae twang to it and a lot of colour, nicely accentuated by
Jennie Clare's fiddle work. Lovely jaunty songs followed with Grace's fine guitar
work and captivating orchestration from the band members.
Delightful.
Grace and the Magic Roots video
The Screening
Tom Nurse in full swing with The Screening
The Screening have been at the top of Leicester's music
ladder for a long time. They were one of the first bands I became aware of when
I first got into the local rock scene. They are still going strong and tonight
they delivered what they are famous for: hit songs. Songs that are memorable,
sing-along-able and always infectious in their beats and rhythms. Needless to
say a lot of people were there to cheer them on and enjoy their set.
As a band they have over the years been a defining force
in Leicester's music. So it was gratifyingly apt that they were back at SFF this
year. They opened their set with their song ten green bottles and went
to do some of their most loved hit songs.
Awesome.
See
the Screening on our video | another
song | third
video | fourth song
Beardyman
Beardyman, one of the headline acts on the main stage tonight.
I have to admit that I have not seen Beardy man before tonight.
so, as dusk fell over the main stage arena, I took some time to see this act
that I had heard a lot about from local music fans who knew his stuff and had
said lost of good things to me about him
So, I wasn't sure what to expect. I could see a work bench-like
structure on the main stage with an assortment of wires hanging down and some
electrical looking units on the top. Darren Foreman has won enough acclaim for
his work to merit an entry in Wikipedia. He certainly caught my attention with
his first track. He plays the music and sings samples into a mic which are then
synth'd into the backing. It's all frightfully clever stuff.
I'm not an aficionado of electronica but to my ears some
of it sounded a bit like what I heard during the rave scene. With all the massive
production lighting it really came alive and clearly the huge crowd were loving
it big time. I had to say that when I was at Download this year, I absolutely
loved Pendulum's set. OK, well, this wasn't the same by any means but to me it
had the same electrifying exhilaration. I guess many others in the crowd understood
what was going on better than me, but I just wondered at how it was being made
on stage.
Amazing.
Video of Beardyman's set
The Mystery Jets
At night the lighting rigs make a great show for the Mystery
Jets
The skies had cleared as the Mystery Jets came on to the
main stage. Red sky at night ... they say, well that boded well for Sunday. The
five piece indie band from London are signed to Rough Trade records. Stomping
beats soon got the crowd going and clearly there was more than a few MJ fans
in the crowd. I said "indie" band but their MySpace says they play pop punk,
powerpop. Well, I guess these are just journalistic niceties. What matters to
the crowd is the engaging songs, the grabbing riffs and the tenaciously throbbing
beats of a great rock band.
Video
of the Mystery Jets on the main stage | Second video
Today at Strawberry Fields
Lots of sunshine, albeit with a few brief showers, saw all
the stages in full swing, with headline sets from Beardyman and then The Mystery
Jets. Lots of big name local bands were lined up on the Strawberry Jam stage
and some really nice acoustic acts on the OT Lounge stage.
The Dance Tent was a focal point for a large line-up of DJs
this year, as it was last year. This is a feature of Strawberry fields that attracts
a body of festival goers who like to dance to the sounds of their favourite DJs.
Just across from the Dance Tent was the Disco Boat, where
yet more DJs were spinning sounds outside on the grass.
Strawberry Fields 2011
Festival overview | Friday
26th August | Saturday
27th August | Sunday
28th August
Other pages you might like
Our feature article on Ashdowne
Our review of The Headstarts at the Soundhouse
Our review of Charlie & The Martyrs at The Musician
