Moseley Folk

Now another wonderful Birmingham cultural highlight, Moseley Folk is admittedly for those who can afford festivals, but a really special and relaxing weekend in the park, with excellent bands (and a broad church definition of folk) and a laid-back atmosphere to savour.
Moseley Folk website for more info.

Moseley Folk 5th & 6th September

Picture from www.moseleyfolk.co.uk homepage, accessed 19/09/09.

Great weekend of peace and love and that generation (and younger) in Moseley Park. Cara Dillon and husband Sam Lakeman and band, quirky (and rich) folk-rocker Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull the main acts on Sunday. I got a ticket on the day, a bit more expensive but well worth it, such an enjoyable event. Ex-comedian Adrian Edmondson has turned punk-rocker, assembling a high-calibre folk band to play their own versions of the Jam, the Clash, Sex Pistols etc, refreshing versions of what have become old classics. Handily for her, Edmondson's daughter is a singer-songwriter (not bad either, though there are many in this vein) who has a CD out on her and her Dad's record label.

Went with my other half on Saturday and sat in our new folding seats - local outdoor shops must have done a roaring trade in these - near the bar. Purity ales matched by the German and Czech pils on offer. No aggro or arguments, it's not that sort of place.
Beth Orton a little shaky on Saturday but an enjoyable range of bands as ever. Keeping the old stagers show running on the stage were Comus, a truly weird but inventive psychedelic folk outfit using Milton's Comus poem as their hook and song-base. "Power to Comus" ... peace man, but stick to the paracetamol.
Altogether a lovely English and international event. The same weekend that small but ill-intentioned bunch of right-wingers calling themselves the English Defence League were causing trouble in the city centre. Well, I question what they see as English. This was English, but needs no defence, and excludes no-one with artificial leagues. Music is international and welcomes all.
Thank you Moseley Folk.