MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD, MIDDLE-AGED, MAGICAL MIDLANDS
Toddy Walsh donned his stetson and
headed for the prairies of Meath to
sample the delights on offer at
Ireland's first country music festival
The Guardian
28 Wednesday, August 09, 2006
DON McLEAN'S
enduring anthem
'American Pie' was
too long to fit on
one side of a 'single',
back in the
times when vinyl
discs were the only musical medium,
so it was continued on the flip
side. I know this because as a
teenager I flipped it over many
times on my record player, listening
to it over and over again and
loving it more and more with
every play.
Fast-forward thirty odd years and
the teenager - now a middle-aged
man - is sitting in the sunshine listening
once again to 'American
Pie'. But there's no need to flip
over this time, because Don
McClean is on stage performing
his classic, with the help of a fourpiece
band and a few thousand
enthusiastic voices.
The head of woolly curls that he
once sported have receded somewhat
and he's rather more portly
than he was back then, but close
your eyes and the voice has all the
resonance of the original recording.
This is the Midlands Music Festival
- Ireland's first tentative
endeavour to bring middle-aged,
middle-of-the-road music-lovers
out into the open for a two-day
festival that would give them their
first taste of what many of their
offspring had become well accustomed
to.
The venue was the grounds of
Ballinlough Castle in the heart of
the County Meath countryside, an
idyllic and ideal setting for such an
event. Torrential rain on Friday
night and Saturday morning
attempted to turn it into a Glastonbury-
style mudbath, but an afternoon
clearance to bright sunshine
just in time for the big names banished
any dampening of spirits.
Where the music was concerned,
easy listening was the order of the
day on both days, unless you ventured
into the Stage 2 tent, a much
smaller venue which featured a
more contemporary or 'alternative;
line-up of artists.
Emmylou Harris was the first of
the big name headliners on Friday.
Backed up by two female musicians/
vocalists and a male bassist,
her gentle set washed over the
crowd like the warm sunshine that
accompanied it. Given the age profile
of the audience, fold-up chairs
were the order of the day and
Emmylou wasn't about to put too
much demand on their energy by
enticing them on to their feet.
Jackson Browne disappointed
because he didn't take a full band
with him. Second-from-top of the
bill demanded more than an intimate
acoustic set and, although it
was a wonderfully accomplished
performance featuring classics like
'Running On Empty' and 'Take It
Easy', it was far too downbeat to
give the lift required at that point.
But, as the saying goes, 'the auld
dog for the hard road'. Enter
Kenny Rogers and immediately
the fold-up chairs are surplus to
requirements. The term 'consummate
entertainer' must have been
coined for him as he crooned his
way through hit after hit, from
'Ruby Don't Take Your Love To
Town', through 'The Gambler',
'Lucille', 'Coward of the County' to
the big finalé of 'Islands in the
Stream'. An eight-piece band of
superb musicians and an easy line
in banter made his task all the easier.
Diversions to Stage 2 to take in
Albert Lee & Hogan's Heroes (terrific!)
and Donal Lunny's Mosaik
(slightly eclectic) had served to
make the first day a musical feast.
Roll on Saturday!
FOR those of us who opted to
camp in tents or
motorhomes, Friday night's
rain was most unwelcome.
Early Saturday morning saw a lot
of people in cars who had begun
the night in tents and some of the
makeshift roadways and paths
were becoming treacherously
muddy.
But by mid-afternoon the sun
had reappeared, albeit with a gusting
wind, and the fold-up stools
were being unfolded in their hundreds
in the natural amphitheatre
in front of the main stage.
Don McLean seemed a little tentative
at first, but warmed to the
reaction of the crowd as they
warmed to his set, particularly 'Vincent', his big Irish hit 'Mountains
of Mourne' and of course
'American Pie'.
The surprise package of the
whole event for me, though, was
Glenn Campbell. This septuagenarian
stepped lightly on to the
stage, a Fender Strat slung casually
around his shoulders, and proceeded
to enthrall us all with his
back-catalog and easy charm, not
to mention his not-inconsiderable
prowess as a guitarist.
'Gentle On My
Mind', 'Galveston',
'Wichita Lineman',
'By The Time I Get To
Phoenix', 'Try A Little
Kindness' - hit after
hit after hit, all delivered
in style with the
help of an excellent
four-piece backing
band. Halfway
through his set he
was joined by his
daughter Debby, who
sang a few country
standards before
duetting with her
daddy on the Everly
Brothers 'Dream'.
His finale, of
course, had to be 'Rhinestone Cowboy'
and by that stage
there wasn't a bum
left on a fold-up
chair.
Van Morrison's
inclusion in what was
essentially a Country
Music festival was a
bit of a mystery, but
whatever the excuse
was it was good
enough for me. Van took to the
stage with a seven-piece band plus
two backing vocallists. They
eschewed the space provided by
the stadium-sized stage, preferring
instead to almost huddle around a
grand piano and have one hell of a
session.
The presence of a pedal-steel
guitar and fiddle player provided
the nod to the 'country' element,
but there was very few country
standards here. 'Moondance',
'Bright Side of the Road', a wonderfully-
long 'St. James Infirmary'
with some amazing solos, Ray
Charles' 'I Can't Stop Loving You'
with Van displaying his tenor sax
prowess, 'Brown Eyed Girl' - every
one a classic and a gem.
Dwight Yoakam was top of the
bill for Saturday, but the Sawdoctors
were on at the same time on
Stage 2 and we were in the
humour for a bit of 'craic'. So we
left the comfort of our fold-up
armchairs and took our chances in
the throng of 'doctors fans. The
atmosphere in the tent was electric
with a somewhat younger gathering
who were more than familiar
with the Sawdoctors idea of a
rockin' good time.
Back down then for the last couple
of numbers from Dwight
Yoakam - a slicker version of
Garth Brooks but without the spiritual
zeal. A big finish of 'Crazy Little
Thing Called Love' and 'Guitars
and Cadillacs' had 'em all jiving in
the grass and going home happy.
MIDLANDS was magical.
Fair play to the organisers
for spotting a market
to exploit and for proving
you don't have to be a young
thing to either perform at or enjoy
going to a festival.
Let's just hope the coffers were
full enough to warrant doing it
again next year.
Yawl come back!
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