Arts / Final foy proves fitting crescendo to folk festival weekend
Reviewer Carol Jamieson was blown away by the talent on show as the 44th Shetland Folk Festival reached its crescendo at the usual final foy celebration at Clickimin.
Rather unconventionally, I am going to jump to the end of the night. The hall was packed to the gunwales with people singing, clapping, dancing, laughing and even doing the conga to the last band of the evening – The Chair.
Just painting the picture to get across what an energy-filled and entertaining time we had at the Clickimin last night.
It genuinely never ceases to amaze the amount and level of talent the Shetland Folk Festival committee manage to pull together. It seems to get higher and higher with each passing year.
Chatting with people round about me, they were spoiled for choice which act or acts may have stood out for them. For me, a couple were particularly interesting.
The first was the harmonica player in the duo Will Pound and Jenn Butterworth. He seemed to be able to create the most incredible virtuosic music on the moothie which we would be forgiven for thinking was impossible.
Jenn’s wonderfully rhythmic and harmonic guitar work completely complimented his playing, plus she also sang beautifully. There seemed to be more sound from the stage than you would think two people could create. Everyone was hugely impressed going by the audience response and the length of the applause.
Another act which left me in awe was two Vivaldi sets. Obviously, Vivaldi was given a new and more upbeat and modern twist.
First on were three lasses led by Isla Ratcliff ably accompanied by Juliette Lemoine on cello and Shetland’s own Amy Laurenson on piano.
They were followed by three guys in the form of the Tim Kliphuis Trio performing Vivaldi in a jazz style. These seasoned players were at the top of their game and gave an astounding performance.
Something I have never seen before is the solo from the accordion player in Les Fils Canouche. While playing a wonderful and very accomplished solo, he managed to match his playing by singing along – in harmony!
There were too many bands (14 in all) to be able to list everyone who played last night, but I can say there were no weak moments. All the bands were superb and we would have been delighted to hear more of everyone if there had been time.
Another band who made a huge impact on the crowd were Los Vega, a Mexican band from Veracruz. At one point they all stopped playing and tap-danced, creating a fantastic percussive sound from the stage through the PA. Along with the superb lighting, it was one of the highlights of the night.
The sound and lighting team did wonderfully well coping with a band change every 15 minutes. An excellent format for keeping the audience switched on and engaged all through the night.
Although I’m sure it is a logistical nightmare, the Foy is an excellent way of seeing and hearing all the visiting artists in one night.
Well done to all involved who managed to pull it off beautifully.
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