This was a wonderful weekend; indeed, as relatively seasoned reviewers, we’d have to say that The Village Pump Folk Festival was virtually faultless from start to finish.

The line-up for the price smacked value with the likes of Show of Hands, Oysterband, and Treacherous Orchestra treading the boards, but anyone who ‘gets’ the festival experience knows that the music is just one of a myriad of facets that melt to form a great event… and believe me, Village Pump was a great event.

Let’s start with the location at White Horse Country Park in Wiltshire. A fantastic venue to hold this kind of bash. The park is lovely, well groomed, absolutely spotless, and you camp (free of course – it’s that kind of festival) in the shadow of the famous White Horse. But that’s not the half of it. The Park hosts a splendid golf club house with a proper bar lounge selling decent food, and a fair sized concert room. This indoor stage was in addition to the three outdoor (tented) stages. There was a brilliant late night live music scene until 2am in the club house every night – it was like being at the best wedding reception in the world – for four nights!

Let’s not mince words - the weather was absolutely appalling – but Village Pump simply cruised serenely on about its business with much of the festival under cover. The main Village Pump stage was located in a massive open sided marquee and the sound across all four stages was excellent, particularly given the conditions. The kid’s area was under cover too and held a full programme of activities throughout the weekend. When the sun did shine occasionally (Saturday) the crowd spilled out onto the manicured lawns and the festival swung into Garden Party mode with a lovely relaxed quintessentially English picnic vibe.

The crowd were excellent and a pretty diverse bunch. One of the friendliest festivals we've had the pleasure to review, there is a real sense of community and comradery at Village Pump which hits you as soon as you arrive at the gate. Virtually everyone we spoke to said ‘Welcome to OUR festival!’  It’s one big Collective. Village Pump is volunteer led and everyone involved; organisers, volunteers, as well as the ordinary punters, are a player here… in some cases literally. There is a great club scene and loads of open-mic sessions in the Club Tent for instance. It sometimes appeared that most of those on-site had been playing or singing in a tent at some stage during proceedings. Around all the stages the audience instinctively sung and clapped along without prompting. It’s giving something back – being a contributor rather than a passive consumer. In this age of corporate sponsored blandness and passive observation - how wonderful is that?

The facilities were spot on (yet another big-up to Andyloos again) and the site largish and flat. With this audience all roads let to the bars of course. Not only was there a dedicated tent selling Wychwood ales along with the clubhouse bars, but a large marquee dedicated to around 20 real ales and ciders! We have honestly been to dedicated ‘real ale’ festivals with less choice. Pretty much faultless and at £3.50 a pint irrespective of strength it was edging into bargain territory.

The site opens on Thursday with the main bash kicking off Friday afternoon. Thursday is (supposedly) a low-key affair with just the clubhouse bars and stage open. That’s when the passion and loyalty to this event from those present really hit us. There was a great vibe and we had a cracking time, even better than some other festivals on a Saturday night – and Village Pump had not even officially started!

Musically the festival was excellent with a diverse and eclectic line-up of all that is good about the folk / roots / acoustic genres. Here’s just a few of the highlights for FFA. Apologies for the many omissions; it’s all opinion at the end of the day, and if we mentioned everyone then it would just be, erm, a list!  Safe to say we did not see a poor act. Indeed the quality around the lesser stages was exceptional – particularly the ‘amateur’ open mic / club slots. There is something life affirming in witnessing ordinary people do extraordinary things and give vent to their talents isn't there?

Friday we were in raptures about Barbara Dickson. The woman excels in putting her own stamp on the material of others, bringing a freshness and depth to some old standards as well as delighting in the presentation of material from the darker corners of the musical landscape. We were treated to everything from Vaughan Williams to Bob Dylan and Gerry Rafferty. Ably supported by the excellent Nick Holland on keyboards and vocals, Dickson took the time to put each song in context and her relaxed stage presence and easy charm was an absolute delight. Contender for set of the festival – and it was only Friday!

CoCo & The Butterfields took the 11pm slot on the main stage and were an ideal choice to close the night. Vibrant, bouncy, eminently entertaining, and difficult to categorise; the weekend’s dancing had begun in earnest - what more could you want? Splendid stuff.

Saturday was quality overload – a great day of music. Sam Green & The Midnight Heist were fabulous and up there with the best. This was an excellent performance from a band new to me. Their brand of sleazy country blues was truly a wondrous thing. These guys can rock and the lap slide guitar playing was exceptional. They laid the quality benchmark for the rest of the day.

Previously we had delighted in the Stonegallows set. What they may have perhaps lacked in rehearsal time was more than compensated by some absolutely splendid stage banter. Not laughed so much at a gig for a long time.

Show of Hands. What can you say? All round good guys, festival patrons, excellent musicians and lyricists; the list goes on. The set was recorded for a one-off CD offering to attendees – so both the band and audience were up for a good time – and so it proved. This was understandably a greatest hits set, and rightly so. Some in the crowd sung every word. You could feel the affection between artist and audience. Audience and artist. It was that community bonding thing again. Knightley’s thoughtful lyrics, sometimes full of controlled anger and biting social commentary about loss and change for the worse, were never better sung than in unison with a superb audience of thousands. I fear I may have got a speck of grit on my eye during an emotional rendition of ‘Cousin Jack’. It was, as they say, a little festie moment that will be long remembered.

Blimey – what a way to close the main stage – Treacherous Orchestra. An absolutely terrific set. The joint was rocking. There is a dynamic about these guys that is truly infectious. The crowd were bouncing along. Occupying a space somewhere out there between Peatbogs and Bellowhead which they have firmly made their own, the set swung anywhere between bawdy folk and psy-trance beats. An absolutely stonking performance.

Sunday perhaps bettered Saturday – which is some achievement. Spooky Men’s Chorale were a strangely entertaining bunch wrapped up in some cod antipodean Sufi alternative universe. Hugely entertaining and also very funny, this talented acapella choir even had the crowd dancing to Leonard Cohen at one juncture, and ‘Boogie Wonderland’ will never quite be the same again. Excellent.

The splendid Calan morphed Welsh traditional folk with a 21st century feel and presentation. A great set. Mark my words; this young band will single-handedly make ‘Clogging’ the coolest thing on the planet. Trust me.

Anyone with even a passing appreciation of the folk genre returns to the source to catch Carthy & Swarbrick whenever they can. This is folk as pure as the driven snow… and it was wonderful. OK, OK…there is a preponderance of Laments, Retreats, and Baroque Death Marches in the set. But there is a point-counterpoint thing going on here. Swarbs in particular you see, now fancies himself as a stand-up comic (well, sit down comic in their case). Some of the driest, wittiest stage banter I've enjoyed for many a year. An excellent rounded set from two Grand Masters. It was again a privilege to attend.

Now then. We love Oysterband. Nothing would stop us missing a minute of their set. Except we stumbled across Georgia Lewis & Friends. What can I say – this young woman is stunning. We willingly sat enraptured as one of our favourite bands played elsewhere. Believe me – that is praise indeed. A talented multi-instrumentalist and singer, the girl is already sharp enough to surround herself with exceptionally good musicians. As an youthful ensemble on the learning curve they were breath-taking. One to watch.

Oysterband. Old stagers. Know how to effortlessly work a crowd. A back catalogue to die for. Needless to say they were again majestic. With ‘Put Out The Lights’, the audience involvement mirrored the SoH set with a passion and shared spirit that gave you the shivers. What a class act.

Mad Dog Mcrea closed the main stage for the weekend with a great, positively boisterous set. This was no soggy Sunday night fodder as an event dies on its feet. No. This was polished, professional, good time folk-rock from a fine band; including a cheeky take on Afro Celts Whirl-Y-Reel somewhere in the mix. A splendid act to close the outdoor stages.

…And Finally. Sadly it has become the fashion, and indeed the policy, in recent years for many festivals that should know better to close early or slowly wither on the vine on the Sunday night. It’s the graveyard shift. Dead men walking they say. Some Festival Directors should wander along to Village Pump to learn how to end a festival properly. Village Pump ended with a bang – not a whimper. The golf club rocked on until 2am with not a hint of final night blues. Indeed, Village Pump is full of surprises and booking Big Mama & The Misfitz was a masterstroke to close the club’s Hall Stage. They transformed the Best Wedding Reception In The World into Gay Bar Cabaret (a compliment if you need to ask). Big Mama was a show-woman dominating the stage with funny, risqué, banter and some fine singing – particularly with the bluesy numbers. The backing musicians were fine & dandy and they played everything. The crowd danced & whooped, jived and twisted, spilled beer, laughed and danced some more, and then went home very very happy bunnies.

Village Pump Folk Festival 2015 was an absolute delight on every level. A cracking weekend. Thank you to everyone who played a part.


Article by Barrie Dimond