The change is audiences was interesting. Yesterday it was pretty much “Moseley on holiday” albeit the 30+ middle class Guardian reading muesli sandal bit of Moseley. Today there was a rather significant headliner and in response there was a rather significant shift in beard style and the occasional leather jacket. I even saw an Iron Maiden t-shirt. We were heading towards that part of the music venn diagram where Folk and Heavy Rock overlap.

But first there was the rest of the third and final day of the Moseley Folk Festival to enjoy and again my reviewing chops are somewhat blunted by my not really paying too much attention, but I caught the end of Jim Moray’s set which was pretty neat and Cara Dillon provided the perfect soundtrack to lying on a blanket, and I mean that as a complement. By sheer fluke I found myself sitting right at the front for Ade Edmondson’s Bad Shepherds punk-songs-in-a-folk-style and enjoyed it immensely, on the one hand ramming home the point that punk and folk are intrinsically related, while on the other having a lot of fun with the material. And it was lovely to see Birmingham’s other Balkan gypsy outfit Mama Matrix as the penultimate act, perfectly bringing the crowd to life after a lazy day in time for the main event.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Jethro Tull. They’ve always just been on the periphery of my awareness, sometimes in a reverential way, sometimes in a piss-taking way, but I couldn’t have told you what they were like. When they started Jez said to me “what are they doing here?” which I spectacularly misinterpreted as a comment on the relatively heavy rock sounds coming from the stage not being particularly “folk” and replied that Hayseed Dixie had played the first MFF in 2006. But what Jez meant was that the band he’d loved since the age of 13 were playing in the park at the bottom of his road where he walks his dogs. I’m still not sure whether I enjoyed The Tull more because I was feeding off Jez’s having a moment or if they were just fab, but enjoy them I did. Even the bits I probably wouldn’t have liked on record thanks to Ian Anderson’s stage antics and irreverent introductions to the songs. It was top quality music (always a risk with 40 year old bands) and it was great fun to watch. A perfect end to a rather nice weekend.

Well done Moseley Folk folk. Same again next year please.

Now to shave off this beard…

The second day of the Moseley Folk Festival was a lot more social for me. Fi got a Saturday ticket and I had one of those occasions where I couldn’t turn around without seeing someone I knew, or kinda knew, or just recognised, so the music took a bit of a back seat.

But that’s fine as I don’t really go to MFF for the music, more for the ambiance it creates. Vetiver were good but I’d seen them at the Hare and Hounds a few months ago so knew what to expect. And it was good to catch Samuel Walter again. He’s volunteering at the festival on rubbish collection and jumps onto the Bohemian Jukebox stage inbetween acts, but he’s up there as one of my highlights. He really needs a slot on one of the big stages next year. Seriously. The few people who’ve been lucky to stumble upon him has been entranced.

But other than that it’s been a case of mooching around eating food, drinking tea and cider, chatting and having a lovely day. Lying on the grass watching the stars with Beth Orton doing her thing was a nice finish too.

Oh, two jumpers and a jacket today. Much better.

Back tomorrow for more!

Enjoyed the first day of the 4th Moseley Folk Festival. This is the music event where I don’t really know any of the acts or, to be honest, have a great deal of passion for the sort of music on display, but I enjoy it because it’s a nice place to be for a weekend. The general folk festival vibe is amplified by the shockingly lovely Moseley Park which, when filled with hippies and gentle music, turns into some kind of faerie wonderland. Even in the rain.

I did, however, forget that standing outside on a cloudy September is distinctly unlike sitting indoors and just wore the one jumper. Won’t make that mistake again. But numb extremities were countered with lots of tea and I had a good time.

A few notable acts I intend to chase up.

Frida Hyvonen from Sweden brought an actual real piano into the park (which seemed incredible until I figured they couldn’t have dragged all the staging in by hand so drving it down the hill wasn’t quite so impressive) and impressed mightily. Comparisons with Amanda Palmer only went as far as “lady singing heartfelt and edgy songs while playing piano” and after that comparisons are hard to come by. But I fell in love, and not just because of the beautiful tapdancing drummer or the fact that she appeared to be wearing a curtain. Will definitely be getting a chunk of her tunes.

I enjoyed The Pastels and Tenniscoats but, if I’m honest, it was my shallow love of anything Japanese that did it. Any music event of a significant size needs at least one quirky Japanese act to make it for me and Tenniscoats were that. While I liked the collaboration I think I’ll seek out their own work.

Tenniscoats also played one song with a French guitarist who’s name I don’t know as he was a last minute replacement for El Perro Del Mar but I’d like to find out. Maybe it was my state at that moment – cold, tired, alone, coveting tea – but sitting on the ground by the stage, a band of people standing behind me making it feel like I was in a small room, I found myself lost in his deceptively simple music.

Over in the Bohemian Jukebox tent it was a pleasure to see Pete Green play again. I can’t believe I haven’t seen him since a gig in 2004 but maybe that’s right. But the highlight from this corner of the park was Samuel Walter who sung what I took to be traditional, often Jacobean songs from long ago. Nothing particularly interesting about that, you might think, but he did so in the style of Brian Blessed, bellowing in manner that would be quite at home in a wooden hall filled with men quaffing ales. And he had mad hair. His YouTube channel has him singing in his home. I’m not sure I’ve seen someone sing so loudly into their computer that it distorts. Wouldn’t want to be his neighbour. Although he did seem to be a lovely chap so I guess he’d keep it down if asked.

Other than that it was all nicely nice and nice, which is the point. Back again in a few hours. Will take more clothes this time.