Not an easy day for singing, it must be said, but very enjoyable nonetheless. The microphones worked well in an open-air situation — too well, perhaps, because the crosswind meant that we practically had to lurk at the back of the stage to keep the noise down!
We were delighted to be invited to take part in the 4th Suffolk Folk Festival, as one of five bands providing music in Woodbridge's Elmhurst Park on the Sunday afternoon. The weather could have been better, but although grey, it was at least dry, and there was a fair-sized audience, so we weren't singing to one man and his dog!
Our good friends Kiss the Mistress kicked off the afternoon's entertainment with a blinding set that got the event off to a great start; if you haven't heard them yet, we can strongly recommend that you take any opportunity to do so. Cruel Folk were as brilliant as ever and, as we didn't perform In Memoriam, probably won the record for highest body count of the day. The Bounty Hounds (fronted by festival co-organiser John Bosley) and the Simon Hopper Band were both new to us, but both were enjoyable, with the Bounty Hounds performing some great foot-tapping numbers and Simon singing some lovely, thoughtful songs.
We were fairly pleased with the way our own set turned out, although we do need to work on timings — we didn't get through the whole set we'd planned as we hadn't allowed for introductions and applause! (This would be a combination of us all being complete gasbags — but modest with it! SM) But the self-penned numbers went down particularly well, which is always pleasing, and the radio mikes worked beautifully (almost too well, in fact, as they picked up the wind noise as well as our voices). We still don't like using fixed mikes, but they do seem to be more practical for outdoor performances. But, then again, we've had bad outdoor experiences with fixed mikes as well ...
Sophie