Sidmouth - was it good for you?

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Folkie
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 06:05 AM

I had a fantastic Sidmouth. I had a gold season so I only went to the Ham a couple of times in the afternoons - the smaller venues had everyone I particularly wanted to see so I don't think I missed much. The only problem was there was so much wonderful choice in the programme I had to miss things I really wanted to go to because I was somewhere else having a wonderful time. Keep it up Sidmouth. You're doing it right.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Surreysinger
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 05:09 AM

"The seating is as it has been for a number of years"
And is therefore one of the reasons I wouldn't normally contemplate going to any of the Ham concerts at the prices that were being charged for them this year. A friend of mine bought a ticket for the John Kirkpatrick concert at a cost of £15+ (actually MORE than the sort of price I've paid to see him or similar in our local theatre venue - which has comfortable raked seats); she has back problems, and had to leave at the interval as the seating was far too uncomfortable for her, and it was causing her problems. I think if you're going to charge theatre prices for tickets for these concerts then the seating and accommodation provided should reflect that (although how this could be done in a marquee venue, goodness knows), or the price of the seats should be reduced to a level which takes into account the fact that punters cannot be provided with the sort of facilities that that sort of price should normally command.

Tricky ... as I'm sure that the costings probably wouldn't allow for that :-(

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: fiddler
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 03:49 AM

Some good comments coming out here, I can say that the ham staff ans organisers in no way represented a take the money and run mentality! As any of the staff about their briefings?

Tuesday as a bad day, the straw, however, was fresh and was managed each day (reduced to let the ground dry out).

The seating is as it has been for a number of years.

Other alternatives can be considered but time & cost is often involved in the equation.

We did the best we could with what we could get to create a comfortable, enjoyable and safe environment for the concerts, if we failed it needs to be reviewed logically as to where and how and how we cna improve.

Glad you enjoyed the show though, despite everything.

Andy

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Bob TB
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 02:48 AM

As for the straw, I know for a fact that at least one long serving Task Force member was recommending the wood chip / forest bark that was used so successfully 10 years ago. Works much better, is easier to clean up afterwards, doesn't present such a fire hazard when it dries out and doesn't smell! Of course it costs more and can't be obtained with a quick call to a local farmer. I would guess that SH recommended the same. I suspect cost and convenience won.

The new road into the campsite was an excellent innovation though! Prevented a lot of the usual problems with mud at the gate without the expensive, noisy metal track. Anyone notice it? Congratulations to Alan W for this.

Bob

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Bob TB
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 02:37 AM

Large fans on stage at a music concert?
Ummm...

Bob

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:50 PM

I feel unqualified to sit here criticising the Sidmouth festival in any way as I was there for only the one day, but I should like to say the following about the Ham marquee and then be damned. I was there for the Tuesday concert featuring Altan. They were magnificent, but the venue was not. For starters, it stank. You are supposed to put down straw to cover the mud, not strawy manure. It was a humid and damp evening and the foetid atmosphere in the big tent attracted 100,000,000,000 biting midges. I had insect repellant with me but the guy in front of me, and his missus, were scratching their way through the whole evening. The tent is deep and long, and, as all the seating is on the same level, I doubt that more than 20% of the attendees could actually see a darn thing. Wheel 'em in, take their money and sod 'em seems to be the attitude of the organisers. There was a measly 15 minute interval, during which anyone who required a toilet had to traipse bloody rapidly (lest they missed the second half) to the woefully-inadequate public lavatories up on the prom. By the time I reached the gents they were in a disgusting state. Gawd knows what the ladies were like, but I've never had to queue like that for a pee in my life. I got one chap's life story while I was waiting.   Putting on a free gig? Yeah, great, we'll put up with anything. But charge big mazumas for tickets and assume we all love to be treated like defunct hippies? You're taking the pee, aren't you!

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: MBSLynne
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 03:38 PM

Probably sums up most of my thoughts on the Middle Bar Mike. It was great and there were no bad sessions, but there was something about the dark, crowded atmospherer of the old Middle Bar. I've considered it my spiritual home for the past 26 years and I miss it. On the other hand, the singing was much easier upstairs and we'll never have the old middle bar back so I think we've made the best move we possibly could. We now have to work towards making the Upper Middle Bar our home properly for the next 26 or more!

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: GUEST,MikefrromDorch
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 03:17 PM

I'm surprised more hasn't been said about the new Middle Bar location. I think on balance I preferred it, partly because I could get a seat and partly because you could hear everything that was sung. Downstairs quieter, particularly female, voices could be drowned out by the noise at the bar and from the gardens. The progress of the twig seemed more logical and fairer than it has at times in the past, However, I did miss that glorious feeling of being completely surrounded and swept away by voices in harmony that I used to love down in the dark and smoke of the real low-ceilinged Middle bar. It was a bit colder and clearer in the new room.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Crazy_Man_Michael (inactive)
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 03:09 PM

slightly off topic

a very much alive Gordon Lightfoot's 2007 tour schedule

Gordon Lightfoot Touring 2007

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: MBSLynne
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 02:03 PM

And if you read this before you leave.....don't bother to send me any more PMs if you sign on under yet another name. You've done yourself with me. You are everything they've all said.

Lynne

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 02:02 PM

I have to say, Surreysinger, I found that a good object lesson right across the festival. Next year I'll make sure I arrive really early for events I'm keen on, as there were a few things I'd set my heart on that I didn't get to attend. I was astonished at the popularity of some of the daytime events: the EFDSS films, for example, and the talk by Malcolm on the future of the library. It was great to see them so well supported.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 01:50 PM

Lizzie Cornish (Ay Up???), you gave your word that you were leaving Mudcat for good. I expect you to honor it.

I forget what it was I said about Lizzie and Diane and their conduct. I think I told both of them in a personal message -not in the Forum- that they were obnoxious. Lizzie and Diane are classic examples of what are known on the Internet as trolls. They get pleasure out of getting people riled up, and they are very good at what they do. I have to say, though, that the people who respond to the likes of Lizzie and Diane, are every bit as obnoxious.

Goodbye, Lizzie. You said you were leaving Mudcat for good. Please leave.

Most of our trolls are easy to exclude because it's obvious that they have nothing to do with folk music, and that they just come here to cause trouble. It's easy to classify them as non-persons and ignore them. They don't post to the folk music threads, so they're not really a problem.

Lizzie and Diane different, since they are actual people who do attend folk music events. Same with Shambles, I suppose. I'd really rather not have either Lizzie or Diane or Shambles leave us - I'd just like them to be part of the community, instead of constantly fighting against it.

I have enforced the non-presence of Shambles because he purported to leave, of his own accord, and then tried to come back under other conditions, as a non-member. I will also enforce the non-presence of Lizzie. She said she was leaving, and I expect her to stay gone unless she contacts me by e-mail [[e-mail]] and we come to an agreement on the conditions of her presence here.

Ordinarily, I would delete all of the messages Lizzie has posted under names other than Lizzie Cornish - since our policy is not to allow posting under multiple names. I would also delete all of her other messages, since she told us she was leaving us for good - for the same reason I have deleted messages from Shambles. The trouble is, a good many people have responded to her, and deleting only her messages would destroy the entire thread. So, people, if you don't want trolls here, don't respond to them. Both Diane Easby and Lizzie Cornish are prohibited from posting in this thread; and any messages they post in this thread from here on, will be deleted. If you don't want to sound foolish, don't respond to them.

So, about Sidmouth - was it good for you?

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Surreysinger
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 01:29 PM

>Downside, the timing of events during the day seemed to lead to far more clashes of events and especially across lunch time.

Definitely agree on the matter of timing of events, Malcolm, but from a slightly different point of view . I got to at least two events on time only to find the House full sign up. Because the events were all timed to start at the same time (for the evening one certainly - not sure about the others), there was no point in trying to get into another concert or event on the other side of town, due to wasted time, and the added likelihood that there would be no possibility of getting into that one either. Whitby on the other hand does have some staggered starts, which allows you the prospect of haring off to something else if you can't get into your first choice.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: KeithofChester
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 12:05 PM

Gordon Lightfoot may have been seriously ill in recent years, but he is still numbered amongst the living Canadians.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: trayton
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 11:59 AM

I had a great time at Sidmouth
Hats off to George for his work at the Volunteer and it should be a very large hat to reflect all his hard work and persistence just so the rest of us can spend a lunch time in the very best of company, singing and music.

It was very good to have the Ballad Sessions back but the venue is important it needs a quiet undisturbed room where people can sing and listen with the level of concentration that these fine old songs deserve. It is a minority sport but at each session there were enough singers to fill the two hour slot and people just there to listen. The Ballad Sessions have a long history at Sidmouth it will be a sad day when a small quiet space can't be found for them, long may they continue.

Downside, the timing of events during the day seemed to lead to far more clashes of events and especially across lunch time.

Finally my do something different activity was joining the John Kirkpatrick festival band workshops, I really enjoyed it and much to my surprise enjoyed the performance at the end.
malc

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: GUEST,Ay Up
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 11:18 AM

I saw Gordon Lightfoot years back at The Royal Albert Hall, I grew up singing his songs. Brilliant chap!

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 11:15 AM

Hell, Gordon Lightfoot will be spinning in his grave....

And at least one deceased Mudcatter too....

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: GUEST,Ay Up
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 11:12 AM

- Don T. (grey haired, but NOT a geography teacher) -

Phew! You had me worried there for a moment Don *wink*. Grey is good by the way, grey is VERY good! Although...'silver' is better, but just so don't get me going on white, now that's beautiful!

Now back to Sidmouth...

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 11:05 AM

Sorry, Massachusetts.
Consider deportation to Canada,
Gone.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 11:00 AM

Sorry Anahata.
I mean Cambridge, Massachusetts, obviously.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: treewind
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 10:50 AM

Not Cambridge. Please.

A.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 10:46 AM

"We wish we could but all we can do is do our best. Early feedback from attendees and artists is telling us that this year's festival provided the most extensive/quality programme for several years."

No one can do more than that, Guest,Me. The balance is a delicate one, and in the main you organisers have got it about right. That is possibly the major reason for Sidmouth's continued popularity.

For me, this year represented one more step in the progress of Sidmouth toward an even brighter future. The operative word is progress.

My suggestion would be that you are on course, and simply need to continue. By all means take on board the sensible feedback, while ignoring those who are complaining just to hear the sound of their own voices.

Don T. (grey haired, but NOT a geography teacher)

P.S. We do need a replacement for The Dove, tho'. I really miss that one.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 10:09 AM

Joe Offer criticises me, quite rightly, for bothering to argue with madlizziecornish. It is a complete waste of time. I do it only because the music and the artists do not deserve such a distorted and potentially harmful deal at the hands of such an obnoxious, self-obsessed, vindictive troll.

I've not contributed to this thread because I was not at Sidmouth this year. I know LC was thanks to a string of outraged texts describing bizarre sightings. Otherwise I wouldn't have recognised it from her postings here.

She hasn't the faintest notion of what Sidmouth is and what it means, despite being a resident for a couple of years. What she appears to want is 'all-star lineups' of MOR popstars who may or may not be prepared to put up with her vomit-inducing fawning. She could move. To Cambridge . . . or anywhere.

Outta this thread.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Surreysinger
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 10:07 AM

Guest, Me ... I would be guessing that you are one of the Festival organisers, but you haven't said so! Are you also the previous Guest:Guest?? Very confusing!!

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: GUEST,Me
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 09:54 AM

All of your points and comments regarding the artistic content at Sidmouth are valid. I can assure you that the festival has no 'black list' with regards to performers and that any 1 year's programme is based purely upon balance and variety, plus of course 'the balance sheet' which cannot be ignored as the figures do have to add up at the end of the week.

Unfortunately, some of the percieved 'younger bands'are charging huge fees for appearances and festivals are finding it hard to afford such artists even if the Ham Marquee was filled with £20 ticket holders ... and then we would face the argument that 'young people' can't afford £20! But with Salsa Celtica, Glorystrokes, Bollywood, Monobloco, Whapweasel etc etc ... we had hoped that this might of provided loads of opportunities for 'letting lose'.

Sidmouth has always had the reputation of providing a breadth of music ... young / old ... established / emerging and sometimes we cannot put on the ideal 'virtual' folk festival for everyone, at every event, every day. We wish we could but all we can do is do our best. Early feedback from attendees and artists is telling us that this year's festival provided the most extensive/quality programme for several years ... Thanks to everyone who makes a comment, as I/we do listen.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: MBSLynne
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 09:50 AM

Well if this is Lizzie and not only is it her style but she does seem to be admitting it, I'm disappointed. I'd stuck up for her in the past and exchanged friendly PMs. I begin to see what so many people had against her and why Joe said what he did about her and diane.

Ay up, Lizzie, or whoever. Please don't be ridiculously juvenile by saying Sidmouth needs more than 30 young people. I said there were 30 or more in the "Gazebo mob". They most certainly weren't the only young people there.

And now another enjoyable and pleasant sidmouth thread has been spoilt. I do begin to agree with those who suggest we shouldn't allow Guest postings on Mudcat. Whenever a thread is hijacked and ruined it is almost invariably by a guest. This is where I cease to contribute to this thread.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: GUEST,Ay Up
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 09:26 AM

Jon Loomes myspace - he IS good Richard!

- Make up your mind, Lizzie, is it commando or knickers? -


Well, it depends if it's in The Ham or The Bulverton I suppose *wink*

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: fiddler
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 08:08 AM

Ruth,

'I don't know why I bother arguing with you anymore, to be honest'

You're right!

Andy

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: ShadyLady
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 08:06 AM

Well, Ay up, i am a youngie, and I happen to know almost a whole stewards village full of young people, plus more, who wouldn't miss sidmouth for the world (including me). I also think that the oldies are entitled to it, as they were the ones who started it.

Shady

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:58 AM

Make up your mind, Lizzie, is it commando or knickers?

I nearly saw Mr Lakeman at Fareham and Gosport - I was not in the hall but could hear the bass guitar perfectly and the rest if I listened - and although I am a senile delinquent with a strong liking for bass and kick, I found it hard to hear a strong melody line (or more particualrly vocal melody line) in anything on his last CD, and I couldn't hear one at all at Fareham and Gosport.

I'm sure he's fine, in many circumstances, but he is not the only young scion of a folk dynasty, and at a festival one does need variety as well as excellence - and plenty of room for participation.

People keep telling me I'd love Sidders, and I really must get there one year. The variety in the fringe does sound a lot of fun.

Am I not right that Jon Loomes was there this year and booked? Did anyone see him? He always impresses me on so many fronts at once, from his fiendish sense of humour and lightning repartee, to his choice of material and his guitar wizardry - not to denigrate his multi-instrumentalism or his vocal technique. I'd much rather listen to him than the new-wave-euro-disco folkies or the euroceltique-million-notes-a-second brigade, and he's quite young (and an impressive drinker) as well.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:47 AM

I think you've got your own OAPs incontinence pants in a bit of a twist because you're no longer the champion of Sidmouth FolkWeek, and yet it's doing just fine.

Who'da thunk it? Lizzie Cornish: Moaning Minnie.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: GUEST,Ay Up
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:37 AM

Now, now Ruth, keep your big girls knickers on.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:31 AM

"We need more than 30 young people at Sidmouth. Seth Lakeman brought them in by the hundreds."

I love the way you selectively read, Lizzie. There were hundreds of young people at the Bulverton for Whapweasel and the Glorystrokes. Just because these are dance bands and not on your radar doesn't invalidate them, or the young people who went to see them.

I don't know why I bother arguing with you anymore, to be honest. You're in your own little world, you see what you want to see (this year, you decided that the Sidmouth lineup wouldn't be attractive to young audiences so you chose not to see all the younger people who turned up for the festival) and you read what you want to read. It's all about making the world fit with your perceptions.

The only thing that concerns me, really, is that there are people who weren't there, who will read your diatribe about Sidmouth and think it's an accurate reflection of the festival. I can assure them that it isn't.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: GUEST,Ay Up
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:28 AM

Poor Ol' Sidmouth, fancy missing out on Seth. *unhappy smile*

AND Jim!

Ruth, I think you may need to listen several times over dear. *wink*

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: KeithofChester
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:25 AM

Where was Seth Lakeman?

From what I read elsewhere Seth was gaining a rather large number of new admirers at Edmonton Folk Festival (that is the Edmonton in Alberta). Seth did actually interrupt a Canadian tour earlier this year and dash back to London for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, then flew straight back to resume his Canadian shows. I suspect that experience has cured him of trying to play on more than one continent simultaneously.

He is at Falmouth today, both V Festival Sites (Chelmsford and Stafford) this weekend, then Tonder (Denmark) and then Towersey later this month, so he isn't exactly under-gigged.

Seth has got Teddy Thompson with him as support for most of his Autumn tour, which should make it pretty good value.

Seth also did a "launch gig" for his new Poor Man's Heaven album in Regents Park two weeks back. Now, I assume that has a release date just before the Autumn tour starts (since they have the same name), but no where can I find the official date for that. Still, it should be easier for the folk awards panel this year, since they won't have to worry which of two different versions of a Seth album actually they are voting for as "best album". That so bewildered last year's panel that the BBC still can't tell us which version of Freedom Fields actually won "best album" in 2006...

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:17 AM

Andy, I should have been clearer in agreeing with you: there were a lot of contributing factors to the smell, as you said. The reason, apparently, that they were not going to go away was because the carpeting was contributing to the problem by trapping all the nastiness underneath. I think some suggestions with regard to "living" or organic flooring were made by Mr Heap when he visited in the week. I'm not sure it could have been to do with the sewage lines, to be honest, as there was a similar problem in the Blackmore Gardens marquee - though the smell wasn't quite as bad.

But it was definitely nothing to do with the straw, which was being replaced regularly and was clean.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: fiddler
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:09 AM

Ach well I tried, glad some of you listen!

ay up chucks I'll shut up now.

Andy

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:04 AM

Less cynical and spiteful? I'm just talking about Sidmouth. You, on the other hand, created a new identity yet again just so you could join in with putting the boot into Diane on another thread. That's spiteful.

The smell was nothing to do with the straw. It had started before the straw went down. It was to do with the carpeting in the merch marquee.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: GUEST,Ay Up
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 06:53 AM

Sidmouth Goes Commando could be even more fun though! *double wink*

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: GUEST,Ay Up
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 06:51 AM

- Well, I never realised the smell in the Ham was caused by all those old people. Perhaps some of them died last year and nobody's noticed yet. -

Blimey! Hadn't thought of that! *laughs uproariously*

No, it's the straw. Never smelt that smell before at The Ham and I've been there since the new sewage works were put in. I noticed it as soon as the straw went down.

We need more than 30 young people at Sidmouth. Seth Lakeman brought them in by the hundreds.

Uiscedwr were *brilliant* though! What JOY! What ENTHUSIASM! Anna positively radiates sunshine, as does Cormac and Kevin, that man can break and re-string guitar strings at the speed of sound. Marvellous!

Anna also told us all about her Bone Marrow Transplant and urged people to go out and give blood.

We went on Tuesday Anna! The Blood Transfusion people were astounded at how many new young donors they had at Sidmouth this week. I told them all about Anna and her wonderful vitality and love of life. That girls ROCKS!

Ruth, take a listen to Uiscedwr's song 'Everyday Cynic' here, you may learn to be less er cynical and spiteful m'dear. Too many years as a journalist I'd day. *wink*

Uiscedwr Myspace

I always like to help where possible.

Looking forward to seeing Jim Moray in The Ham next year! Without straw though. *bad idea that grin*

We need some Reg Meuross there too and Martyn Joseph, you know, Acoustic Up a little more! While we're about it let's have some Stephen Fearing, Oliver Schroer (when he's better) and James Keelaghan too. All wonderful artists.

Sidmouth Goes Canadian..WOW!! *wink*

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 06:48 AM

the smelly issue in the merch area was bad - a pair of my shoes seem to be permanently permeated with the smell. I can't help wondering whether sales were down as a result. But as was said earlier, it was a combination of factors that were to blame, and which unfortunately couldn't be resolved in the short term. But the organisers have been made aware of several potential future solutions, so hopefully the smells will soon be only a dim and distant memory...except to me, whenever I put on my ballet pumps.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Mrs_Annie
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 06:41 AM

I sympathise with everyone who had to work in the 'music room' sales area at the front of the Ham. The smell was so disgusting I could only stay in there for a few minutes at a time. Not conducive to CD browsing.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Surreysinger
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 06:33 AM

Dear Ay Up... or whoever you are... your comments about Jim Moray intrigue me... has it ever occurred to you that Jim may not have _wanted_ to be booked for the festival?? Artists too like to have their hols I have no doubt ... I have the feeling that I had read his own comments somewhere else to the effect that his touring etc this year was taking a back seat to other projects he had running in his life. And anyway, as pointed out, he did appear ... summoned from a swim on the beach by mobile phone at short notice to appear in place of Eliza Carthy who had been stricken down with illness, and then repairing back to the beach immediately afterwards.

As to "nothing for the young" looking at the programme there seemed to be any number of events specially designed for the very young, and the Shooting Roots age group. In addition, during the week I was mixing with quite a few young people who were happily joining in with us old fuddie duddies. I was involved in one evening session at the Volunteer nattering to a 17 year old fiddler (there with his better known dad), who didn't seem to be finding it a deadly chore to mix in with us lot; had grand chat with a couple of young morris dancers who were "locked out" of the folk club at the Woodlands at the same time as I was, and was made aware that some of their friends were having a Pimms party on the campsite; shared a singing session in the Bedford at stupid o'clock at which two extremely young singers (one male, one female) both of whom were VERY good didn't seem to have any difficulty in associating with us crinklies. And it was only too obvious that there was a completely different scene going on up at the Bulverton ... wish I could have been at the Glory Strokes event on the Saturday night... I'd love to see/hear some heavy metal ceilidh going on... maybe another time.

As Ruth said, Sidmouth is and always has been more than one festival ... it has numerous sub-sets going on within the overall whole. Dancers dance, singers sing, session players do their own thing, and those who don't "DO" put their bums on seats at concerts, and the sub-sets don't necessarily have any cross-overs. There is also a young person's thing going on that people like me are aware of but don't get involved in. So your Festival and mine, or Ralph's or Ruth's, and our perceptions of the whole are all likely to be very very different. I wouldn't presume to comment on provision for the young apart from to say that all of the young people (teens and twenties) that I spoke to during the week (and later this week back at home0 seemed to have been having a great time!

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 05:39 AM

"Of course Sidmouth is the only folk festival in the world, so it's very sad that it doesn't book all the performers in the world every year."

LOL!!

I did say earlier in this thread that one of the things I think is so interesting about Sidmouth is the vast range of activity on offer. A dozen different people could each have their own Sidmouth, as it were, and barely cross each other's paths.

While the big name acts are important for profile and revenue, for me they're not really what Sidmouth is about - and anyway, they all get around a fair bit. The Demons, for instance, played Cropredy (which takes place towards the end of Sidmouth week, so maybe they just had other things to do?) and are launching their new road show at Towersey. If someone wants to see specific acts, there are over 300 folk festivals in the UK where they will no doubt be able to do so. It would be dead boring if every festival, incuding Sidmouth, all booked the same acts (though there are Mudcatters who will argue that that's pretty much what happens anyway).

It's no use having a tanty just because the only festival you actually attend is the one in your town, and they don't book your favourite bands every year.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: treewind
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 05:20 AM

Well, I never realised the smell in the Ham was caused by all those old people. Perhaps some of them died last year and nobody's noticed yet.

As for dancing, I understand the Bulverton Marquee was the place to go if you wanted to do that (or the Church House or Blackmore Gardens marquees, or the Anchor Garden or several other locations depending on preferences).

I'd see it as very encouraging that Jim Moray saw fit to attend the festival as a punter - says something about its appeal to young(ish) people, surely?

Of course Sidmouth is the only folk festival in the world, so it's very sad that it doesn't book all the performers in the world every year.

Anahata

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: GUEST,Ralphie
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 04:47 AM

Ruth.
Well said
R xx

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 04:15 AM

To Ay Up:

*waves* Hi, Lizzie!

Are you sure you haven't simply had your nose put out of joint because Sidmouth was a roaring success despite no one having to read acres of your mindless drivel about it for weeks beforehand? Sadly, you are not the saviour and champion of Sidmouth. It survives and thrives without you. Personally, I think your rant is just sour grapes.

As someone who is constantly championing Show of Hands as the saviour of our youth (and of British culture), did they not bring enough young people into the festival and the town for your liking? Usually you're going on about how they bring thousands of young people into folk.

Jim Moray did play with Jackie, as it happens, at the Bedford late in the week. Very good they were, too.

You keep banging on about how the festival didn't book the Demons or Seth Lakeman. Lizzie, they can't have the same acts every year. People who are not obsessive about those acts would simply get bored. You haven't mentioned some of the youngsters, not so well established, who got a lot of positive feedback this year: Last Orders, or the Askew sisters, or Park Bench Social Club for instance. If you ventured away from the Ham at all (which I suspect you didn't) you'd have seen an incredible range of musicians, young and old, doing great stuff.

I don't know where you were all week, but I saw loads of youngsters enjoying themselves and being well catered for. Did you go down to any of the Shooting Rooots sessions in Jack's Bar? 30 or 40 kids at a time, under 18, playing folk music and having a brilliant time. There were also the LNEs at the Bulverton. Were you at the Whapweasel gig? No, I didn't think so. But hundreds of young people were.

I did a focus group on Friday with 18 - 30 year olds. They were all really happy with the range of events that targeted them (though they had some great ideas for how things could be even better). As has been explained to you before, a lot of young people in folk are not really concert-goers: they like ceilidhs, morris dancing and playing in sessions. If you're not seeing them in the concerts that you go to, maybe that's why.

You are a great one for criticising, Lizzie - why don't you do something about it? Volunteer. Do something positive. The festival needs the support of local people.

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: MBSLynne
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 04:09 AM

Interestingly the large and growing crowd known as "The Gazebo mob" consists of mostly teens and twenties some of whom came to Sidmouth for the first time three years ago and now wouldn't miss it for anything. The group of, probably 15 YOUNG people has grown to a straggling crowd of possibly 30 or more. I think the festival must be offering something that an awful lot of young people enjoy. Notably, this crowd doesn't distinguish between themselves and the older people, nor the much younger and accept both as friends and as an integral and necessary part of the festival.

My son, who is 16 had the best time he's ever had this year and my daughter, aged 11 was really upset because we had to leave at the end of the weekend. They wouldn't contemplate missing Sidmouth. And they have many friends there of all ages because they understand that it is a progression.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: fiddler
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 03:47 AM

Hmmmmm........

Ay up

Quite a tirade.........

Dancing was not stopped in the Ham but please note it is licenced as a concert venue with seating. We can take this on board in relation to future applications for licencing, you're not the first to raise this point but with over 6000 tickets sold and less than a dozen or so requests not sure how the powers that be will take that.

As for the straw............

This did not cause the flies it is a long and complicated story which I don't know the answer to. It relates to the wet weather, the hot weather, the sewerage scheme below the Ham the tide levels and the river flow. some of us had to live with it all week so we really do sympathise.

As for artists, email the festival with your wish list - they will listen, you may get some along next time you may not.

Their aim (and mine in my role) is that as many folk and folkies have an enjoyable, relaxed and safe festival, tell their freinds and come again the next year with their friends too.

We can only address our shortfalls if they are pointed out to us lucidly and constructively, so do it - contact the festival via the web site or pm me.

Andy

Subject: RE: Sidmouth - was it good for you?
From: GUEST,Ay Up
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 03:14 AM

Was it good for you?

No.

Far too many older people there, both in the audiences and in the line-ups. It mirrored the unequal balance of the population of the town that Sidmouth has throughout the rest of the year.

The people I most enjoyed seeing were The Devil's Interval, who were wonderful, as ever and Uiscedwr who took my breath away. Both acts should have been on in The Ham in the main evening slot. Jim Moray should have been there too, as should The Demon Barbers. Where was Seth Lakeman? Last year the town rocked to Seth's music and it was filled with young people.

Nothing wrong with older people, don't get me wrong, but along with the grey highlights Sidmouth badly needs far more blonde, red, purple and blue. It needs to update itself, like Moseley Festival, who mix all types of music up and bring in a far more diverse audience.

Sidmouth needs to stop living in the past and being 'our little festival' and it needs to concentrate urgently on offering far more for younger people.

The craft tent was so smelly you could barely go in it and it was filled with many of the same traders that are there year, after year, after year. There wasn't enough for children at the festival either, it would be far better to have the craft tent elsewhere and the whole of Blackmore Gardens given over completely to children's entertainers and entertainment.

And talking of entertainment, where were The Chipolatas?

Good to see so many morris teams though, I did enjoy those very much.

The Ham Marquee needs looking at though. This year apart from anything else, it was hot, uncomfortable and decidely smelly. The straw that some bright spark had decided to put down over the mud attracted all the flies which were buzzing round about happily. When I pay £15 and upwards for tickets I do expect to sit or stand in a relatively pleasant place.

Why is there never any dancing or even standing allowed in The Ham? It seems to me that there's just row upon row of chairs filled with serious faced folkies who don't even have the good grace to smile at the performers and let them know they're enjoying themselves. Compare this to a Seth Lakeman concert or Demon Barbers one, where the audience simply HAS to dance, where they break 'the rules' and just stand up and shimmy, far more enjoyable. Maybe they need far less seats and a big area for people to stand up/dance in.

Here's a copy of the message I left in the Jim Moray thread, just in case anyone from Sidmouth Fuddy Duddy Folk Week may be listening. I've put it in here because I think it's important, even if they don't.





- I wouldn't like to gauge how much he actually needs the ever-so belated approval of 'the f*lk world' who back then wanted him burned as their very own wicker man. -

-------Dear lady from Frollocks,

Jim would appear to suffer from the same 'Wicker Man' trouble as Show of Hands do, from things I've read. How strange those things were written by you.

For the second year running now Jim Moray has not been at Sidmouth despite him being -at- Sidmouth as a spectator. I found this bizarre, as his sister Jackie Oates was there, as she was last year, as was Jim Causley and The Devil's Interval, Jon Boden, John Spiers, Eliza and Mawkin. Don't get me wrong, it was wonderful to see all of them there again, but it wasn't wonderful to feel that Jim Moray had been overlooked once more.

Has Jim upset the people who run Sidmouth? He would have brought in many young people to the town and that is something that Sidmouth Folk Week needs very badly.

Where were The Demon Barbers also? Yet again they were not at Sidmouth and yet they brought in a huge audience last time they were there two years ago.

It really is time that these grey bearded geography teachers, who sadly seem to dominate many festivals, got a grip on how the folk world is changing, and that young, vibrant and innovative acts such as Jim Moray and The Demon Barbers are setting it alight and working very hard to make folk music inspirational once more.

I'll put this in the Sidmouth thread too I think, just in case any of the grey bearded geography teachers are reading it. --------------