The FarGo Tenth Birthday celebrations
Feature
In my preview of the tenth birthday celebrations for FarGo Village not only did I unfortunately reduce it to a two day affair, but in so doing didn't mention the Friday night's Drft RAVE dance event. Sorry.
Sadly the full enticing programme couldn't take place as both Ben & Nina of Clemency (one of the bands I most wanted to see) fell victim to the continued baleful effects of COVID19. Hopefully they'll recover quickly & we'll get to see them play live again soon.
As you will know, Saturday's headliners were The Primitives, playing a Coventry gig for the first time in ages & Sunday's new local favourites the Dirt Road Band (who also took part in a Q & A beforehand). While on both days entrance was free in the afternoon, these two evening performances cost as little as £3 and that went to Coventry & Warwickshire MIND: what great value.
Even without the joys of Clemency, I was spoiled by one of those powerhouse combinations when Batsch were followed onstage in The Box by Project Overload & then the Duck Thieves. Potent combinations like this are sometimes tricky to process as top class performances succeed each other so quickly.
Batsch, in my opinion, play too infrequently & I'd happily contribute to a campaign to persuade them to do otherwise.
As I said in my review of their new single "Golden Summer" only the other day, I find it hard to see how they can reproduce their complex songs live, especially as they are now "just" a duo of Mason Le Long & Matt Rheeston. I honestly thought that the single was too difficult. Of course I was wrong.
One aspect of their solution is technical expertise: they were on first so their complex kit could be set up. Another part is flexibility: both sang, Mason used (as a primary instrument) at different times guitar, bass or keyboards & while Matt played his drum kit all set, both were busy with additional items throughout: various boxes & pads etc which all added their parts. Given the complexity too of the drum parts, the overall effect was of songs played by many more people. Taking into account my enjoyment of the original four piece (which was considerable), I honestly cannot see that they needed the now departed colleagues. The sound is in no way diminished.
I've seen Project Overload four times in six months now & while hooked from when I heard their album before seeing them live, like so many others this summer, I'm now so deeply impaled on their qualities that I cannot possibly escape. Excellent to start with, this band never seem to stop. The confidence seems to increase with each outing & so does the set. Rapidly outgrowing their ‘New Beginnings' debut album set (and they tell me that their second is taking shape nicely), they are constantly replacing "old" songs live. (It must be remembered that neither Emily nor Lucas were in the band for the first few recordings of the album so it's utterly understandable that the numbers in question have less relevance for this now "classic" lineup of the band).
What did catch me unawares (thank you Project Overload: that's another reason I like you so much) was that one of them was an instrumental: didn't see that one coming….and that is pretty helpful in reminding us though one of their key assets is a vocalist with a charismatic visual stage presence (and in fact got them a slot on July's Love + Madness female orientated event at the Empire despite having an 80% male lineup), the instrumentalists are equally responsible for their reputation: their tightness as a unit is exemplary.
In contrast, Duck Thieves can totally mislead you on that score: their proficiency being almost deliberately masked by the air of near anarchy but sits thrillingly on the edge of live risk taking… as members embark on what looks like reckless on (and off) stage adventures, one always wonders if they'll get back in place in time. Which they do. Not only do they not even all start onstage (Michelle & Diana enter through the audience in full costume) but any opportunity to jump back off (Justin too) is taken, swirl their capes or barn dance with audience members is seized & where less possible, engagement carried on by throwing things like viruses or eyeballs. You have to be on your toes at a Duck Thieves gig. This time there was even a giant duck inflatable (with added shades) which was variously sat on, bounced on, chucked around & (by Callum of Project Overload) brandished overhead.
The audience in the Box at FarGo were, I'm delighted to say, as enthused by these local original bands as I was.
Like last week's COVtember audience, there were a lot of other musicians present in support, but quite unlike that event, there were also many people who were at FarGo for the many other non-musical attractions & whom were thus introduced to some great new artists. The number of children too was significant (after a most unfortunate very near miss at Art in the Park I was very careful where I was stepping while taking photos in relation to the high speed excited toddlers) in terms of long term audience building.
As noted before, FarGo is really impressively building its music profile and not only putting on more & more, but deliberately fostering diversity and bringing in interesting musicians from a widening range of often not-very-mainstream styles. And as what I said just now evidences, they are not only playing to the already converted and cognoscenti but attracting new fans: which can only be great for the wider scene.
As also mentioned last time, Holly Hewitt, Joe Colombi, their own teams & the individual business owners may be working very hard to work these wonders, but they do so against a background of awareness of the location, parking and profile: they deserve their acclaim for reaching ten years, but sustaining FarGo needs consistent support for these events all year round. I was persuading someone I knew to come along this weekend & she said "sorry I can't: I'm working. Is this on all the time?". Well I explained that the weekend's events were exceptional, but that the businesses were there all the time & other music happened there regularly: FarGo is not just there for High Days but needs footfall day in, day out. That's a useful message to share to anyone you know who you feel might appreciate what's going on up there: unfortunately people need telling as it's not a place many will find in passing.
