While Beans On Toast - aka Jay McAllister - cannot take all the credit for the organisation of this boutique event (as he repeatedly admits throughout the event), there’s no doubting his eye for talent judging by his curating duties.
Somerset’s Nick Parker regales an attentive audience with wry tales of embarrassing his then teenage son with charity shop double denim purchases in Down With The Yoof, people watching at Heathrow Airport (Departures), and pursuing your perfect match in (one for the 1980s’ sitcom lovers this) in Terry and June.
Ruth Lyon is up next from Newcastle’s fiery folk rockers, Holy Moly and the Crackers (sounds even better when enunciated in a Geordie accent), and continues in a similarly spirited vein. The evocative Comfort In Lies is captivating, while a thought-provoking cover of folk troubadour John Martyn’s Don’t Want To Know is dedicated to god-daughter Bea who is in town to catch her.
Full of whacky, boisterous energy, Ben Brown scatters anecdotes about buying enormous heated jugs from the middle aisle at Aldi with bouncy folk pop ditties including Coffee & Oranges. There’s no doubting his commitment either – showcasing the selection of his T-shirts available at the merch stand by stripping off to reveal all three colours while his partner dances jollily behind him in a blackbird costume.
Self-proclaimed one-man army Funke And The Two Tone Baby shakes the masses out of their Sunday afternoon blissed-out state and ushers a number of them front of stage with his high-octane, bass-driven riffs. Backed by a box of electronic tricks, his blend of dance, blues and electro-rock is just the injection of energy required with Bella’s Kiss (about a Hungarian serial killer) a particular highlight while the call and response of Not Enough Bonobo hits the spot, too.
Leicester-raised and Sheffield-based, Grace Petrie is the day’s penultimate performer, and her firebrand, left-wing political guitar rockets galvanise the mixed crowd into foot stomping reverie. Taking several Conservative prime ministers from recent years to task while equally airing her abject dismay at the current Labour incumbent, offerings such as The Best Country In The World and Black Tie showcase her folk-rock credentials brilliantly. Meanwhile, her tales of finally accepting herself as a ‘butch lesbian’ in her 30s are both heartening and life-affirming, and her yarn about heading home (Northbound) also hits the mark on a number of wistful levels.
Wrapping things up just as the day started, Beans On Toast returns at dusk as picnic blankets are folded and plastic cutlery is squirrelled away. Set standards Watching The World Go By and M. D. M. Amazing are rolled out as the day draws to a joyous close. Not a bad little Sunday afternoon out, all told.
Foolhardy Folk Festival took place at Nottingham's Arboretum Park on 24th August 2024.
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
