GIGS IN JUNE 2007

THE GOLOWAN FESTIVAL, PENZANCE (23RD JUNE)

What a difference a year makes, last year`s festival was all MEB, Marvins, NPBs and Bates and this year ...well no-one actually except for the mighty William Gregg and a no show from The Boycott Boys, (`how appropriate!` said the compare before vanishing into the crowd, obviously bored with the whole thing himself).

This year`s Golowan Festival Marquee line up appeared to be completely made up of children from The Humphry Davy School for mildly musical children. I endured tuneless songs sung badly by Disturbing the Flow (disturbing - yes), followed by an extremely bad version of Hound Dog by Louis and Kirk, (who were actually quite tuneful, if not visually boring, when playing some jazz keyboards together earlier) and some off-tune cover versions by a sister duo called Bonnie and Mica Smith who were described in the programme as `mellow`, (but that`s debatable).

And then finally, like a professional surrounded by idiots, came William Gregg. Thank the heavens above for talent at last! Will`s set was way too short and can be better appreciated at the end of a day in an atmosphere of warmth and intimacy. Unfortunately a windy tent on a seafront in the middle of a Saturday afternoon, right next to a fun fair at full pelt with a passing audience of children and parents did nothing to help. But for the one`s who were listening, his solo set was beautiful and tender, quiet and moving, (I swear he gets better everytime I hear something new from Mr.Gregg). At the end of his set of Cornish/World music Will brought out a guest singer in the shape of Cath Crowe and what a finale they produced together. Her presence seemed to light a fire in Will and he fairly danced across the stage whilst accompanying her beautiful and lively vocals.

At last the stage was set for a good gig...

...at which point the compare came to tell us that the next act, the Boycott Boys, hadn`t turned up and some other rubbish that he obviously thought was funny and entertaining.

Oh dear.

Then he did the most sensible thing and buggered off.

Eventually some tiny kids were ushered on stage holding instruments made for giants.

It was The Basics, (above), a three piece band from the H.D. School, but with one fundamental difference - they were fucking great!

Full of attitude, "Hey we`re The Basics and we`re from Humphry Davy School ...and we`re PROUD!" shouted the guitarist as he kicked some serious butt with the band`s first song. All of their material appeared to be original and bloody good. It was tuneful, catchy and performed with an attitude that belied their ages (around 13 apparently), with panache and dignity. Absolutely stunning!

The stage was a shambles after that; random acts seemed to wander on, perform a song and then wander off. One such pair was The Wondering Minstrels, (above), who should`ve been more `wandering` and less `wondering`, because they were rubbish. When the finale came to their blissfully short set in the form of Hallelujah by Lenny Cohen, there really was little contact with reality from where I was standing.

Next came another act to fill the gaps that this sinking ship seemed to be springing at an alarming rate. Apparently it was a couple of The Boycott Boys, (above), better late than never, but they were lively and sang in tune so that was a bonus for everyone. I think the singer in particular, had good stage presence and was clearly at home up there chatting and playing to the crowd.

When they had finished I could take no more and as The Wondering Minstrels returned to the stage with some mates and a different name, `Sounds Better in Red `, (better dead than red frankly!), I had to leave.

I blame the bloody X-Factor for this kind of crap - everybody thinks they`re talented and oh-so-bloody entertaining, but in fact as this afternoon proved, (with the odd exception), it is just not the case. The only good thing you can say about this year`s Golowan Festival gig is that it only cost a quid to get in.

(Photos by Lord Itchfield)

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