Wye Fayre 2007

United Kingdom | 07 July 2007

When the girl on the gate doesn't even bother to check your name on the guestlist it's obvious that Wye Fayre is going to be no T In The Park.

“I’ve been doing this all day and so far no one’s been lying,” she offers, wrapping a simple yellow band around my wrist to match the neon jacket draped over her. Looking through the gates into the site, however, it would appear the truth lies more in the fact that there’s hardly anyone here.

Fortunately, the clear lack of numbers plays on the mind no longer than it takes to eat a pint of prawns and drink double that amount of local, real ale (of which there is a huge amount of choice), after which we can revel and relax in the delights of Wye Fayre, held on the outskirts of the stunning village of Wye in Kent.

Spread across five music arenas, ranging from the outdoor main stage to a small raised platform in the bar where poets, string quartets and songwriters gather, the event promises a mixture of folk, country, psychedelia, rock and anything else that can be appreciated by toddlers, pensioners and everyone in between. Kind of new for 2007, the two-day festival takes over from Wye Blues, which was scrapped last year after hardly anyone turned up. We can only marvel at the tumbleweed souvenirs.

You can’t fault the detail and effort that’s gone into putting the new and improved Fayre version together, the most obvious example being the Bimble Inn tent which also spends time at Glastonbury and End Of The Road Festival. The lazy sprawl of canvas temporarily houses London's Electroacoustic Club and it’s one of the busiest and cosiest areas of the event, odd considering we witness one of the warmest weekend’s in recent memory following that bloody, floody June. Festival faves Nizlopi and Misty’s Big Adventure are some of the bigger name acts to play there, but it’s Glasgow’s The Phantom Band who provide the pick of the bunch after being shunted from the main stage, making up for their later billing like Tapes’N’Tapes tearing up a hoedown.

Talking of the main stage, there’s a lot going on over there, just not many people. Those who do choose to soak up the sun are treated to early outdoor enlightenment by Hub from Leeds and, more significantly, The Cedars, who do their upmost to alienate the few fans who are actually spread around watching them. Seconds after having a sarcastic pop at the sound desk over the “fucking reverb”, the sound mysteriously cuts out for ten minutes. Well they asked for it! Once the show gets moving again you can't help wonder at their country tilted dream pop, until it all comes crashing into a gutter once more when it ends. "Thanks for those who listened. The rest can go fuck yourselves." That'll teach those bastards cooking burgers.

A walk we think after such flagrant abuse. The beauty of such an intimate festival rests in the fact that it’s so easy to follow your ears (and nose) in the short walk between stages and find something you like. And so we wander, window shopping around the Brixton Therapy Centre tent (where you unwind), the Co-Operative shop (good fair trade chocolate) and the Play Tent (where you dump the kids), all the while mind whistling to the variety of sounds that flitter across the site, smugly aware that we could cartwheel back to our tent at any time should the real ale ever demand an afternoon snooze.

Instead we settle for the breezy barnyard of Shoreline, an eight-piece folksy collective of soaring strings, plaintive banjo and mass vocal harmonies. Shoreline come over like the Incredible String Band covering an Ennio Morricone score, the crowd around audibly gasping as the rich string arrangements cease to make way for the choral eight piece harmonies on stand out track ‘Heather’. A quick trip over to settle our bones in front of the ever-sublime Katy Carr is not wasted, her vocals are like colonic irrigation to the soul. We feel lighter, healthier.

A bizarre safari suited man hands out a flyer for the next band The Leisure Society, which proclaims, “As heard on Shane Meadow’s ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’”. Pricked by interest and piqued by the association, the set explodes from a soft banjo and vocal intro into a lush band arrangement of strings, bass and three-part harmonies, combining bittersweet lyrics with hummable melodies that even The Beatles would be proud of. Their sound is not dissimilar to Elliot Smith but has a distinct Englishness which was echoed by the decision to culminate their set with a barnstorming version of The Kinks ‘People Take Pictures’.

Up on the main stage The Crimea are just starting their hotly anticipated set but it’s all rather surreal watching them perform their perfect pop anthem ‘Lottery Winners on Acid’ to a crowd that could not have numbered more than 50. But as night descends, this little gathering set around a cobbled incline becomes the centre of our universe as Anglo-Swedish band Alberta Cross take to the main stage. Frontman Petter Stakke injects some energy into proceedings with his hyperactive bopping between band members. Like a laid back Kings Of Leon gently rocking on their heels, it’s a moment to savour in this very private of parties. There’s even an encore!

The festival’s music bill culminates with a performance from alt-folk festival stalwart Adem. You can’t help but warm to his smiling onstage persona and hearing live renditions of tracks from his debut album ‘Homesongs’ reminds us what a classic, understated beauty it possesses. The highlight of the Adem set arrives with the uplifting percussive drive of new track ‘You And Moon’ before the stunning ‘These Are Your Friends’ makes us look around to each other and affirm that, yes, today they have been.

jennygogo wrote on Wednesday 15 August :

So many cool bands, such a shame it was so badly attended, perhaps next year? Fingers crossed!

I actually saw The Cedars' set, I found them really excellent once their set was allowed to get going. I don't think they alienated the crowd, the singer was obviously not happy with the sound man who turned them off halfway through a song, after she mentioned how bad the onstage sound was. She had to publicly apologise to the sound guy before they were switched on again. I heard the sound guy being boo'ed by some of the crowd ("grow up sound guy!"), I suppose that's what you get for trying to humiliate a band on stage... Saw them at The Secret Garden Party, the area they played was rammed and people couldn't get enough of them...

Joan as Police Woman on Friday was cool as always but her set was marred by bad sound too, (she was laughing at how bad the sound was: "it's like Spinal Tap up here!"). In the smaller tents, things were bit cosier which better suited the vibe of a lot of the bands, More Story Fours were great, never seen them before, saw Katy Carr for the first time too... I'd go again if it became a bit more 'festivally', it lacked that 'feeling' which requires more people really, and yup, the Bimble Inn was very cool!