Wychwood Music Festival 2007

A weekend of glorious weather, great music and a fantastic family-atmosphere made Wychwood Music Festival 2007 a resounding success, for the third year in a row.

The wristbands have been cut-off, the tents have been dismantled and streams of campervans and cars have made their way home as Wychwood comes to a close for another year and Cheltenham Racecourse is returned to its former glory.

For three days revellers found themselves sipping pints of Wickwar Brewery’s Screech Cider in the blazing sunshine, meandering through throngs of under-fives performing circus tricks, relaxing with the holistic treatments in the ‘healing gardens’ and listening to the impressive line-up of eclectic musicians who had travelled from all over the world.

The Levellers proved why they are such a force to be reckoned with on the festival scene, putting their two decades of experience into practice by getting the crowd jigging along to their energetic set. Their timeless hits had fans young and old singing along at the top of their lungs and their brand of folk punk could be heard resounding off the surrounding hills for miles on Friday evening.

Earlier in the day Etran Finatawa brought the sounds of West Africa to the county with an inspired and diverse set combining tribal drumming and electric guitars, while The Remedy’s youthful indie rock proved a particularly crowd-pleasing affair for the multitude of teenagers at Wychwood. Cheltenham’s own Ben Lee Harper lived-up to his burgeoning reputation as a talented soulful songwriter while in direct contrast punk band Heavyload provided a rebellious riot of a set, mixing original songs including ‘The Queen Mother’s Dead’ with some well-received covers.

With Saturday’s weather proving surprisingly scorching, sales of summer staple Pimms sky-rocketed and more than a few frozen margaritas helped cool down crowds who sunbathed and picnicked between acts. The festivities were carried through to the revellers’ fancy dress – with Santa Clause, Elvis, sheiks, pirates and Hawaiian hula girls dancing alongside festival-goers clad in psychedelic wigs, fairy wings, wrestling masks and tutus.

Saturday provided a jam-packed schedule of music with more than 30 acts lined-up on The Independent Stage, The Big Ask Stage and The Other Stage. Awe-inspiring guitar-playing came from Mexican double-act Rodrigo y Gabriella, 3 Daft Monkeys’ Celtic fiddle, strings and drums roused an impromptu ceilidh, while Anoushka Shankar’s spiritual world music left an indelible impression.

The Fun Lovin’ Criminals brought their laid-back blend of jazz, blues and hip hop from the streets of New York to Cheltenham’s rolling countryside as the headline act on Saturday night. With respect to the multitude of children in the audience lead-singer Huey may have toned-down his between-song-banter, but the trio’s live set was anything but limited. Favourites including ‘Barry White’, ‘Scooby Snacks’ and the ‘King of New York’ were highlights of the weekend and the only thing that didn’t go down well with the crowds was the midnight music cut off point.

Sunday saw another fantastically crammed schedule of entertainment spanning the globe. Afro Celt Sound System brought this year’s festival to a remarkable climax with their unique and vigorous blend of Irish and African influences. Balkan Beat Box mixed Mediterranean and Middle Eastern melodies, Ba Cissoko made an unforgettable impact with his West African kora-playing, while US singer-songwriter Catherine Feeny’s powerful pop proved music to the crowd’s ears.

They say that good things come in threes and Wychwood Music Festival’s third year would certainly support the statement, but we are already waiting to see what the organisers’ will do next year to top the overriding success of 2007.

And if you enjoyed yourself so much this year that you can’t wait for the next three-day musical extravaganza, tickets are already on sale here for Wychwood Music Festival 2008.

SoGlos.com
4 August 2007