REVIEW: PORT ELIOT 2009
EVENT REVIEW
PORT ELIOT FESTIVAL
24 – 26 July
Port Eliot
Port Eliot Festival 2009 ran from 24 – 26 July with music, comedy and performances in the most beautiful surroundings for a festival I’ve ever been to. I was there all day on Saturday, and luckily the weather was also incredible.
My own involvement was blessing the decks at the B Bar tent with my choice of reggae and 60s belters. Plymouth’s grooviest bar was already in full swing when I got there, and I was told that DJ Power Lisboa tore it down the previous night with his Free Cuba (the B Bar’s successful Latin and Latin-influenced Saturday session) Mama Tokus also gave an outstanding performance in the tent, in her own unique, inimitable and charismatic way. As well as playing records at the B Bar, I got to enjoy other aspects of the festival and checked out a few performances I’d been looking forward to.
The Loose Salute (pictured) are currently my favourite band. Signed to the brilliant Heavenly Records (previously the home of Manic Street Preachers and Saint Etienne), the band specialise in beautiful melodies with harmonies aplenty, driven by country & 60s influences. They played at the Caught By The River stage, organised by their label man, Jeff Barrett (named after his new book). I was fortunate enough to have a bit of a chat with the great man himself, whom I knew briefly years ago. He has had a major influence on my personal music tastes over the years (and millions of other people’s) The guy’s worked with Primal Scream and Happy Mondays, for fuck-sake! At the Caught By The River tent, Jeff played some great records too, and I’d loved to have hung out there all day. But I had DJ duties of my own, and besides, there were other performances to check out.
The Magic Numbers (also signed to Heavenly Records) rocked the Cabaret Stage with songs from their first two albums plus new material. The band were on top form with plenty of power and presence. On the same stage earlier in the day, we were treated to some spoken word hilarity, care of comic genius, Murray Lachlan Young. His pieces had me and the rest of the crowd in stitches, one of which was a plea to Keith Richards to die in a dignified and rock & roll way, instead of falling out of a coconut tree: “If you’re gonna go, Keith, go Keith, go. But not like that, Keith, no, Keith, NO!”
Seeing Edwyn Collins perform was a truly moving experience. The former Orange Juice frontman (who has also enjoyed a successful solo career) is a hugely influential musician, known for his unique voice and amazing songwriting talent. The independent music scene owes a lot to him. In 2005, he suffered two strokes, so the fact that he’s back performing is both incredible and inspirational. Collins can no longer play the guitar, but his voice sounds as great as ever and he is certainly not lacking in charisma or humour. He played an acoustic set backed by three guitarists and a keyboard/saxophone player, which included his global solo hit ‘A Girl Like You’, as well as Orange Juice numbers including ‘Falling and Laughing’ and ‘Rip It Up’. I’ve never seen a crowd go so wild at an acoustic set, and at no point did I get the feeling that the crowd were being sympathetic towards him, based on what he has been through. Collins’ set was preceded by his wife Grace’s very touching readings from her book, ‘Falling And Laughing’, about her husband.
And there was more, much more. Although I’ve mainly written about some of my favourite music, Port Eliot is essentially a literature festival. Some of the authors who took part were Glyn Maxwell, Rana Dasgupta, Caroline Bird and Alexander Masters. And some of the other musicians I didn’t get to see were King Creosote, British Sea Power, Evan Dando, Ralf McTell and Noah and the Whale.
Being an upmarket festival Port Eliot was a chav & dickhead-free zone, with a relaxed atmosphere. I felt privileged to have been involved in such a memorable and enjoyable event, and I hope I will be again next year.
Words: Arash Torabi
Image: Neil Thomson
