19th to 22nd July 2007

Stages 1 and 2

LEVELLERS (Thurs) • JOE BROWN (Sun) • SETH LAKEMAN (Thurs) • KATE RUSBY (Sun) • THE BE GOOD TANYAS (Sat) • HOTHOUSE FLOWERS (Sat) • THE MEN THEY COULDN'T HANG (Sun) • ERIC BIBB (Sat) • BELLOWHEAD (Sun) • MARTIN CARTHY & DAVE SWARBRICK (Thurs) • SHARON SHANNON (Fri) • VAN EYKEN (Sun) • SPOOKY MENS CHORALE (Sun) • JIM PAGE (Sat & Sun) • ROY BAILEY (Sun) • KENT DUCHAINE (Fri & Sat) • LIL JIM & DEEPZONE ZYDECO (Sun) • RUTHIE FOSTER (Sat) • WHAPWEASEL (Sat) • TICKLED PINK (Fri) • MARTHA TILSTON & THE WOODS (Fri & Sat) • THE PINE LEAF BOYS (Sat) • CROSSCURRENT (Thurs) • OOJAMI (Sat) • GARETH PEARSON (Sat) • BAGHDADDIES (Fri) • DEBBIE MCCLATCHY (Sun) • IDIOT & FRIEND (Les Barker and Keith Donnelly) (Fri) • BUFFALO GALS (Sun) • SPILL THE WHISKY (Fri) • NAKAIRA (Sat) • BARRELHOUSE BLUES (Fri) • CLIMAX CEILIDH BAND (Sun)

Stage 3

THE DEAD PLANTS (Thurs) • THE ROGUE DOLLS (Thurs) • SMERIN'S ANTI-SOCIAL CLUB (Thurs) • KEVIN BROWN (Fri) • DENISE MARIE (Fri), RHYTHM-ITES (Fri) • THE CEDAR (Fri) • FLIPRON (Fri), RAILROAD BILL (Fri) • JANE TAYLOR (Sat) • BILLY IN THE LOWGROUND (Sat) • PETE ROE & BAND (Sat) • BABEL (Sat) • THE VOLT (Sat) • SHEELANAGIG (Sat) • FANTAZIA (Sat) • LONG DOG (Sun) • JIMI DUBB (Sun) • AKASHA (Sun) • MOONSHOT (Sun) • THE SPEAKEASY (Sun)

2007 Review

This year’s festival got underway with most of the weekend punters already camped onsite and with all of the Thursday tickets sold out in advance. For the first time on the opening night all three stages were in action. Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick delivered a polished set on stage one but with many festival goers still getting aquainted it would have been better suited to a more intimate audience. The same could not be said of the next two acts with Seth Lakeman and Levellers storming the evening with outstanding sets of energy and passion.

The early hours of Friday morning brought some of the heaviest rain in living memory. With reports of towns in the area suffering from flooding and of people being marooned on the motorways it really was all hands to the pumps as festival workers set about ensuring that the festival continued to run. A J.C.B. was brought in to dig drainage ditches and the quick rental of pumps meant that all stages kicked off ontime.

Highlights of Friday came from Kent DuChaine with a blistering set of delta blues, a first chance for many people to see Martha Tilston and her band, and the celtic ambience of Sharron Shannon and her musicians. The Baghdaddies finished Friday night and did not disappoint with the main tent turned into a sea of dancing humanity.

Saturday was a much drier day but the previous days downpour was still causing problems with the running order amended to accommodate artists who were running late. Every cloud has a silver lining and Show of Hands stepped in at short notice to play a surprise set to an ecstatic band of fans on stage three.

Gareth Pearson dazzled the crowd with two sets of stunning guitar playing. He may only be eighteen but that probably helped with some of the licks that he went for. I'm sure that older players may have baulked at attempting them. A lack lustre performance from The Be Good Tanyas was followed by one of the best received sets of the weekend, Eric Bibb. Accompanied by Danny Thompson on bass and Larry Crockett on drums Eric delighted the audience with his presence and wonderful voice.

Over on stage three The Pine Leaf Boys were going down a storm with their brand of rocking two-steps, waltzes and Creole blues. I do not know if they had ever seen a mosh pit before at one of their gigs but the teenagers in the crowd were having a real good time. Back on stage one The Hothouse Flowers delivered their mixture of rock combined with Irish music but it was the last act of the evening that had the audience on their feet. Oojami with their blend of Turkish elements, myriad cultural traditions, rap and beats proving a stunning finale to the day. All this, a belly dancer and a whirling dervish too.

Sunday dawned dry and bright and the site was beginning to dry out. The plastic trackways and matting laid down through the site were making the going easier. The Spooky Mens Chorale from Australia lifted the festival goers spirit with a couple of wacky and humourous sets. Tim Van Eyken made a welcome return to the festival, this time with with his own band. Tim has gathered together some of the best young traditional musicians in the country and the band are in the forefront of not only keeping folk traditions alive but of also putting new ideas into the music. Likewise are Bellowhead and they were outstanding and received a well deserved standing ovation. The charm and personality of Kate Rusby along with her stunning voice won the crowd over straight away.

Joe Brown and his band were for many a surprise booking but you do not survive in the music business for nearly fifty years for nothing. He displayed his prowess on a myriad of stringed instruments and a diverse selection of material proved a winner. The solo encore of I'll see you in my dreams, a song he was asked to perform at George Harrisons memorial concert by Georges widow Olivia, proved an all time festival highlight. It fell to The Men They Couldn't Hang to perform the survivors set and the large crowd who had stayed to the end were rocking into the early hours.

This seems a very short review of a festival that contains so much more. A thank you to all the artists who appeared on the three stages, and in the beer tent, to the traders who strived throughout the weekend to provide sustenance, to the festival goers themselves for being determined to enjoy themselves and most of all a big thank you to the festival workers who worked wonders to ensure that Village Pump 2007 did not succumb to the elements.

Stowford Manor Farm, Wingfield near Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 9LH
24th to 27th July 2008