Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 04 Sep 07 - 08:40 AM

Not nit picking but does danensis mean Strawbs Acoustic Session rather than Swarbs Acoustic Session?

I thought the Strawbs a bit loud but also unclear, perhaps the engineer was trying to get over Dave Cousins unclear voice. I didn't care much for Paul Brady for the same reason.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Mr Red
Date: 04 Sep 07 - 08:26 AM

Don't bank on it. They have all sorts of answers that sound hollow (if loud) to an electronic engineer.
Volume complaints fall on deaf ears. Particularly those on the sound desk.

Now does anyone know the story about boilermakers and hearing? Trust me - it is the latterday equivalent of soundmen and bands.

I haven't given up on complaining but I do wear earplugs when I get near the tent, I have 50 because they are cheaper that way and I never want to be more than 5 minutes from a plentiful supply. Now if only they did red instead of Orange and Yellow. DITTO at ceilidhs. But it isn't the right answer - what happened to Folk?

Mr Red MIEE.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Kampervan
Date: 04 Sep 07 - 02:43 AM

We towards the front of the audience for the Sat night concert in the main marquee and the sound levels seemed O.K., given that it had to carry a long way to the back of the marquee.

I can understand that a lot of the performers now do so many gigs during the festival season that they need the amplification to stop them straining their voices. But I'm sure that if the organisers got enough comments about volume then they would do something.

It would be a shame to stop going to such a great festival cos of that.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: danensis
Date: 03 Sep 07 - 04:41 PM

Having been to all but the first Bridgnorth Festival we're seriously considering not going to Shrewsbury next year, as we had to leave three concerts because the sound level was stupidly loud. Indeed the Swarbs Acoustic Session was embarassing as the tent was almost empty, not because they were no good but because few could stand the sound level in the tent. However we all sat on the grassy knoll and enjoyed it from there.

John

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Mr Red
Date: 03 Sep 07 - 07:54 AM

Just as well I made a brief appearance.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,Sandra
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 05:32 AM

Mr Red - The meeting in the ticket office Thursday night was a stewards briefing!

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Mr Red
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 05:57 PM

FWIW
There was a session every night exept Mon in the Woodman. Thurs night is regulasr session night and there was a session on the Thurs. Keep that in mind for next year, if you arrive early. And given the traffic before 5 pm Fri - I would recommend stewards to arrive Thurs if they can. Not sure of the rules for punters. The ticket office was a committee meeting so I doubt they were dealing with punters' tickets.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Fliss
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 11:48 AM

http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/gallery/shrewsbury-folk-festival-07-sat?page=1

More virtual shropshire photos.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 11:41 AM

http://flickr.com/photos/alexbirtwisle/sets/72157601747569677/

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Fliss
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 11:22 AM

Great pics on both sites. Virtual Shropshire were filming too so keep an eye out for more pics and video. fxx

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,Alex
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 09:12 AM

I've popped a few photo's here on Flickr:

http://flickr.com/photos/alexbirtwisle/sets/72157601747569677/

I really enjoyed the weekend - lots of good things and very few bad things.

Beer on monday night was a _very_ good thing!

Alex

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Mr Red
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 08:06 AM

Free beer? they ran out of cider and perry before that and I don't drink beer. The only bright part of that is I was almost out the door home when they announced.

You can't win on all counts, the size of the site allows the venues to have plenty of geography between them and sound leakage was better but the sessions did experience it. And distance = time or tiredness.

Having said that I was in the stewards' office and I can tell you it was better all round but some venue managers had to work hard to achieve that. Credit to Martin and Margaret - many unscheduled problems got dealt with very quickly.

and of course the sheer size of the undertaking meant literally people were saying on Monday "I haven't seen you all w/e". I shall have to get a more high viz hi-viz red jacket.
I saw musos on Monday night who I hadn't seen all w/e. That is BIG and I am not so sure it is good.
We will see next year. Expect the same quality organisation.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Trevor
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 06:23 AM

There's a few piccies here

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Trevor
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 06:18 AM

Noreen! Wish I'd known you were there. Would have been nice to see you again.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Fliss
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 06:10 AM

Well done ALan and Sandra. Choice of West Mid SHowground excellent and free bussess great.

I stewarded the Morris sides in town and had great fun. Being my home town (i live 15 miles away now) I saw a lot of people I knew.

What performances... I slept thru them Saturday and Sunday evenings.. My own fault but I was so tired after stewarding in the heat and being on my feet for 5 hours. (Something to do with a health problem). I could hear all the music going on in the background and it sounded great. Ah well.

However I did manage to keep my eyes open for the Monday evening session in the Members Bar.

Am impressed with the lack of litter on the site. What showers, I didnt even bother, had a strip wash each day in my little caravan.

It was great camping with 3 friends, they didnt know each other only me, but they all got on fine and are keen to come again next year.

Many many thanks to all the organisers, it was a superb weekend.
cheers fliss

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,MC Fat
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 04:07 AM

Really enjoyed Shrewsbury. It was so well run. Had a belting time singing, finding some ace pubs, meeting old mates like Kampervan and Big Bird and I enjoyed compering my little concert on Sunday night. Hopefully I'll be asked back. Well done Alan and Sandra and team

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Kampervan
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 03:30 AM

Yes, the free beer did come as a bit of a surprise.

I thought that the overall standard of beer on offer was very good and I think that it had sold down pretty well, so it was a shock when they made the announcement.
But I have to say that everyone like gentlepersons! No mad rush for the bar, just casuall re-filling of glasses as they emptied. It was wonderful to behold, and very much appreciated.

Thank you to all the hard-working bar staff.

K/van

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Aug 07 - 05:31 PM

"Gerry, what time did you shower in the morning?"

Saturday was the day I queued...it was around 8.30 I think and there were maybe 7 or 8 people before me. On Sunday and Monday it was probably a bit later and I used the disabled shower next to the Big Shed (open to all but with priority to disabled)...but as I walked back there was no queue at the main shower block either.

Disappointed to hear I missed out on the free beer....

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,funkipickle
Date: 28 Aug 07 - 01:59 PM

Great festival again this year, and some fantastic bands. Highlights for me were the Wailin Jennys and Crooked Still, as I had not heard them before and they got some real atmosphere in the tent! I took some photos if anyone wants to have a nose. Mostly of all us folk who attended, rather than artists. I will keep adding as I work my way through as I have some of the last night when the kegs ran dry and the music played into the night, For some reason the photos get a bit blurry by then!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/funkipickle/sets/72157601728397167/

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,Noreen
Date: 28 Aug 07 - 12:22 PM

Gerry, what time did you shower in the morning? My guess is 6.30am (or earlier) as by 7 queues were building and by 8.15 there must have been 40 or more people at a time waiting.

18 showers for 5,000 people on a hot August weekend is not sufficient.

That is the only gripe I have about the festival this year though. Thoroughly enjoyed it, particularly the impromptu sing after hours in the members' bar until 2am- or was it later? We only left because they stopped selling beer :0)

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Aug 07 - 11:40 AM

Queues for the showers? I had a shower every morning and briefly queued only once. Just long enough to drink my coffee and flick through the programme....in fact I probably queued longer for the coffee (but it was worth it for a proper americano!). I never once queued for a beer or to use the loo.

It was a brilliant festival....their decision to book 'unknowns' like Crooked Still, The Wailin Jennys and Richard Shindell was totally vindicated. Great selection of workshops too...I thought the 'setting up a PA system' one was particularly useful. More of the same next year please!

Well done to Alan, Sandra and everyone from the organising team. The stewards were brilliant, helpful and knowledgable. I'll be back next year...

gerry

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Aug 07 - 10:17 AM

I totally agree the Wilsons were indeed 'BRILLIANT' all weekend, but their final concert spot was better than that! Great festival well done Alan,Sandra and the rest of the gang.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,Kampervan
Date: 28 Aug 07 - 10:01 AM

Hi, just got back and I've got to echo the comments of everyone who's got on before me.

Fantastic festival, great organisation, brilliant stewarding, great performers.
I'll single out the Wilsons for a mention, cos no-one else has yet. Their concerts were amazing, but more than that, they were around for the whole time. At other peoples sessions and at singarounds. How their voices survived I don't know.

The only little niggle was a shortage of showers and if we could have more loos, a little more strategically placed. But that's trivial stuff in the great scheme of things.

Best festival in the U.K.? Well if they keep giving away free beer the way they did at Monday nights final fantastic singaround, then it's got to be serious contender.

Thank you to everyone involved. You're going to have a hard time beating that next year.

K/van

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,Kay and Fi, Cleeton St Mary
Date: 28 Aug 07 - 04:11 AM

Had a fab time, everything was soooo nice, great atmoshpere, felt like the stewards and caterers etc were enjoying themselves too and happy to serve us with big smiles and good conversation.

Best bit for me; Show of Hands, also Salsa Celtica and Bellowhead. Also Sea of Sound were great, especially Natalie! REALLY enjoyed Rapsquillion, great to see some local talent and the crowd enjoying the banter as well as the music. Also enjoyed the giggles Kieth Donnelly provided.

Great mix of entertainment, great atmosphere, loved it....more of the same next year please!!

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Trevor
Date: 28 Aug 07 - 03:01 AM

What a great weekend! Everything that they said.......

Show of Hands - fantastic as usual; Bellowhead - Wow! Managed to embarass my kids with uncontrollable jigging; Keith Donnelly - wet myself; The Wilsons - loved 'em; Salsa Celtica - fabbo; Steve Tilston - clever, crafted, great; Paul Brady - hmmmm, need to have a think, something not quite right.

We really enjoyed our couple of sets and, although we were way down the list, we were made to feel special at our local festival.

Thanks, Sandra, Alan and all, and can we come back again as well please?

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,ms lemon
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 05:02 PM

absolutely fabulous. Sandra, Allan, you and your stewards should be making merry now cos you got it right. I vote Best Fest of the year!!!

Sal

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 03:20 PM

That Mary and Anahata were pretty good eh?

Not to mention pretty well everyone else

cheers

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: treewind
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 11:48 AM

Excellent festival!
We've been to Sidmouth, Dartmoor and Whitby too, and Shrewsbury (certainly from the point of view of performers with loads of instruments) takes the cake for best organization: stewards who couldn't be more helpful, easy access to all venues, reserved artist's parking and a perfect site with everything in the one large piece of ground, friendly atmosphere, lovely B&B hosts and even the weather was perfect! Can we come back next year please?

Anahata

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 09:32 AM

could do with having all the Shrewsbury threads combined?

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 09:27 AM

Mrs H will be seeking a fiddle workshop.

Will there be one?

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Kampervan
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 08:27 AM

Oooopps, silly me!!!!

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Mr Red
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 08:13 AM

Nah that's the stop time

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Kampervan
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 12:31 PM

Around 1900andfastasleep

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Mr Red
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 12:28 PM

anyone know what time the mid-day ceilidhs start?

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Kampervan
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 10:57 AM

That's cos they're posting on the other Shrewsbury thread! '

i.e. Who's going to Shrewsbury'

See you there.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,James
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 10:47 AM

Well there's only 2 days to go and no one has posted on here. Is anyone going?

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: muppitz
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 07:59 AM

Me and Chris spent most of our time propping up the bar last year, sadly it'll be back to the grind and business as usual this time!

muppitz
x

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Fliss
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 04:37 PM

It will be good to have Moor & COast on the same site this year. The late night sing songs were a bit thin on the ground last year.

f

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: muppitz
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:11 AM

I have no badge but I'll be slaving away in the Moor & Coast tent circa 10pm to last man standing (And also any time you lot max out on Whitby Cod and create mass queues around the site!) as usual, hope to be able to catch Kate Rusby and to see if Paul Brady is my cup of tea, I've been told he's good but have yet to see him!

I imagine I'll see some of you about!

muppitz
x

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Trevor
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 06:49 AM

Can't wait!

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Fliss
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 01:56 PM

Ive found my Mudcat badge... so hopefully some of you will come and speak to me.

Camping from the Thursday. Really looking forward to the festival. Will have to see if there are any of the workshops I can go to.

Fliss

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,Sandra
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 09:22 AM

I'll drink to that...

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Kampervan
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 09:13 AM

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. No worries then. Here's to a dry, (climatically-speaking),but well-lubricated festival.

And a bit of good music too, I shouldn't wonder.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,Sandra
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 08:24 AM

have no fear - the Members Bar is open to all at the festival.

hic

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Kampervan
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 05:10 AM

Thanks for the above info. V.useful.

But the Members bar is for the members of what? and how do you get to join?

And would they let me join anyway; and would I want to join anything that would let me join?

Either it all sounds very good and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 02:57 AM

Sandra, how wonderful, thank you for unearthing such reassuring news. It's clearly worth coming for the beer alone! But no more than the music deserves.

Cheers, so to speak, Les

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,Sandra
Date: 14 Aug 07 - 03:13 PM

right here we go!

Beer - all from Shrewsbury Breweries supplied by Robin Beddoes (the Woodman Inn) well know locally for good quality real ale and folk music sessions Thursday nights.

Hobsons - recently awarded 'Beer of the Year'
Hanbys
Woods
Six Bells
Three Tons
Salopian

95% of the beer will be cask

Ciders will be from Shropshire and Herefordshire.

There will be three bars on-site - the members bar, the beer tent and inside the dance tent.

Alongside the real ale there will be some John Smiths, Fosters and 1664 available in the members bar.

roll on!

I hope that appeals to all pallets.

see you in ten days!!!

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 14 Aug 07 - 03:21 AM

Thanks guest. We went to Wheaton Aston Festival. A small but excellent event which was amply supplied with good cask ale and all sorts of excellent music.

Looking forward to Shrewsbury lets hope the Seven stays in its place!

Thanks again

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: GUEST,kab
Date: 13 Aug 07 - 06:45 AM

bump

Subject: RE: Shrewsbury Festival 2007 - what's on?
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 12:55 PM

The tune book is an excellent idea and full of good tunes. I think I will go and spoil the peace and quiet outside by playing a few.

Any news on the beer?