Art in the Park 2024
Review
Having had to lower my expectations of the musical aspects of Leamington's "Art in the Park" over the years, with 2023 representing something of a nadir, I'm delighted to report that in 2024 several of the most serious concerns had been addressed.
Firstly, the musicians playing on the Mill Gardens stage had been allocated facilities on a par with those on the Archery Lawn: at the last the "lorry of doom" has gone: presumably to the nearest scrapyard. Given this year's heat conditions, this meant that artists were shaded when in past years they were not.
Secondly, the false economy on sound engineering has also been reversed & professional ones reinstated to the huge improvement in reproduction of what was being played.
And there's a third reason to applaud: the LAMP curated Youth Stage was the real step forwards in music: showcasing young local bands, I was delighted that two of them were ones I'd seen at the Live On Stage Summer Showcase the other week: The New Obsession & Lucent (my apologies but for obvious reasons, taking photographs of these young artists was not an option). Mason from that project was also part of the team managing the stage.
Their zest & enthusiasm put quite a lot of the acts on the main stages to shame.
I did however nevertheless catch a number of superb acts on those stages who fitted the vibe of a summer festival to a T. I'm talking about acts like the Danny Ansell Band, The Silver Wye, The Session, The Twin Flames, Man Made Moon & Scratchy Beard.
Highlights beside the Youth Stage? Well The Session dedicating "Bring Some Love" to the memory of Matt Hernández has to be up there..
The Twin Flames demonstrating a number of things: firstly that you can play other people's music with distinction if you choose them with imagination & re-arrange them similarly. Secondly, they gave a compelling demonstration of female instrumental prowess: in their case very many instruments (and still only a fraction of what I know lies within their repertoire). And the vocal harmonies were equally superb.
Danny Ansell previewing his new single: look out for "Hurry Up and Slow Down" (and our review) very soon.
Then there was Wes Finch advising the crowd that they'd neither know any of the songs they were about to play nor be able to dance to them: and getting applauded.
Catching Man Made Moon for the first time in far too long: what a class band they are.
Seeing Scratchy Beard for the first time: it certainly should not be the last time if I have anything to do about it. The find of the event for me.
So a year when I did not need to bring up previous concerns over lack of respect to the musicians, it's good to think that the organisers are addressing issues & hopefully turning some corners.
The obvious one to deal with next is that one of consistency of quality: I noted last year that the "filler" quotient had reduced: sadly it was way up again in 2024. The artists cited above proved how great the music side could be & that crowds respond positively to excellent original music which must be preferable to too many predictable & mediocrely performed covers.
May I suggest a possible way forward: as mentioned, the LAMP curation was a high spot: why not extend curation across the stages? I've recently reported on local festivals like the Godiva Festival & Warwick Folk Festival which use curation to excellent effect & drew the crowds. There is so much great original music talent available in Coventry & Warwickshire to draw upon.
