REVIEW: LARMER TREE FESTIVAL 2010
The 20th anniversary Larmer Tree Festival was a mixed bag of sunshine and showers but the music was top notch with 4,000 festival goers cherry picking their favourite acts for the weekend. One of the most hardworking man in rock, Frank Turner headlined the Thursday night slot on the Main Lawn. Unfortunately the weather was more of a winter’s day than a mid summers, but no one let it dampen their spirits as Frank lit up the stage and involved the crowd as much as possible with his breath taking performance. As the weather took a turn for the worse, people where left soaking though, but the festival lost no spirit as people flocked together to watch Robert Cray as he performed a beautifully, memorable show. After Robert Cray, people sought shelter from the ever-worsening weather but the number of indoor shows and gigs left no one disenchanted before they retired from the second day of the festival. Across the five days, audiences were treated to a plethora of musical talent, from the likes of Toots and the Maytals, Jools Holland (with special guest Alison Moyet), Robert Cray, Toumani Diabaté and Newton Faulkner. Even Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch director Guy Ritchie treated his children and new girlfriend Jacqui Ainsley to a visit to the festival. Specialising in folk, world, reggae, jazz, indie, ska and Americana music, acts from all corners of the globe came to the Wiltshire/Dorset border for the intimate festival, as well as a stellar line-up of comedians including Russell Howard, Rich Hall, David O’Doherty and Jon Richardson. One new addition to the festival which sure to make a comeback at next year’s festival is Mark Kermode’s Film Club. The renowned critic showcased some of his all time favourite movies to a packed out venue, introducing each film personally. Thankfully, the weather brightened up over the weekend which made for a very hot Dukes Box session by an awesome small troupe of musicians sat in a giant Juke Box playing requests for the attentive crowd. Some of the highlights of the festival were down to our favourite local bands – Dorset cowpunk pioneers Pronghorn, who organised a dance off (none of this ballroom rubbish though, this was country dancers versus Kossacs – fun times) and Bristol’s Smerins Anti Social Club whose modern energetic jazz funk really got the audience jiving. The celebrations on the main stage ended with a pretty mediocre performance from Martha Wainwright (daughter of Loudon and Kate McGarrigle and sister of Rufus and Lucy Wainwright Roche). There’s only so much French crooning you can take at the end of a festival and a lack of her more angsty songs meant much of the crowd left disappointed. But Martha aside, the festival was a pretty decent showcase of a truly eclectic mix of music.
Words and photos: Laura Williams and Tom Laker
