Last weekend the Larmer Tree Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary. In 1990 it was just a one day affair in front of 200 people, headlined by the late Dick Heckstall-Smith, this year the number of artists and performers was in well in excess of that or original audience, with around 4000 punters flocking to the beautiful Larmer Tree Gardens to submerge themselves into a wonderful abundance of music, theatre, comedy and all manner of festival treats.

Arriving Thursday evening I was greeted by a downpour in a near gale force wind. Tent erection was tricky, but I haven’t got a big one (fnar), so thirty minutes later I was catching the last fifteen minutes of Frank Turner’s set on the Main Stage. Plenty of passion, swearing and praise for the packed(ish) crowd who braved the wind and rain. One of just a handful of Dorset artists playing this year’s Larmer was Disco’s Out (Murder’s In) who took full advantage of the weather, playing a blinding set in the Big Top. The crowd came in big numbers, loving their up-tempo brassed up singalongs; getting a couple of hundred unfamiliar faces dancing and singing proved no problem to Steve Perry & Co who seem to be able to do no wrong at the moment. Their second set at the Social on Saturday night sounded just as lively, as I walked away from the lengthy queue of people tying to get in.

The Bookhouse Boys…

Alex Roberts…

Of the other local artists, Alex Roberts played his usual impeccable set of gutsy yet gentle folk, narrating tales from his beautiful new album Fairwood & Stone to a perfectly attentive audience in the Arc. The relaxed, easy going appeal of Alex is in stark contrast to the motley bunch of Dorset reprobates Pronghorn, who managed to pull off one of the best sets of the Festival despite having little or no sound on stage due to spilt drinks (tsk). The highlight being a dance-off – country versus cossack dancing – splitting the audience down the middle and getting alternate sides to compete with each other, not a single person excluded. Fantastic stuff and typical Pronghorn.

One of the appeals of this wonderful Festival is quite simply the quality of the artists; like last year many of the highlights were bands who I’d never heard of let alone seen before. Artists from every corner of the world playing every variety of roots-based music, from the melancholic (interspersed with phat beats) electronica of James Yuill from London, to the gloriously vibrant, hypnotic and ‘trance-inducing’ Sudanese sounds of Rango, a wonderfully uplifting musical collective from Egypt. I’ve picked these artists partly because they were two of the many highlights, though in reality I could’ve chosen from at least a dozen others, in particular Tunng, The Bookhouse Boys, Skip ‘Little Axe’ McDonald, Shooglenifty, Walsh & Pound, Chavo, Raghu Dixit, Grass Mountain Hobos and perhaps the highlight for me the beautifully harmonious Goldheart Assembly.

Chavo…

Rangu…

Of those artists with a name more familiar to the masses, Cornershop proved musically apt but lacking in any charisma whatsoever, whilst Martha Wainwright perhaps suffered as Sunday night headliner having to follow Ade Edmonson & The Bad Shepherds (main picture), who went down an absolute storm playing their folk set of new wave and punk covers to a ridiculously excitable crowd on the Garden Stage. Toots and the Maytals were extremely impressive with Toots leading his band James Brown style, conducting the bands’ improvisations perfectly. Opening up with the classic ‘Pressure Drop’ and including hits ‘Monkey Man’ and ’54-46 Was My Number’ the crowd loved it too, with one of the many (and easily the most successful) attempts at stage jumping during ‘Broadway Jungle’.

I’m not sure if there was a BOGOF ticket giveaway for overly excitable teenagers this year, but most stage fronts appeared to be heavily populated by hyper 16-year olds, no bad thing although the fella at the front of the Main Stage had his work cut out trying to avoid further (less appreciated) stage invasions. There were other slight changes to the layout at this year’s Festival, though thankfully Pie Minister had its usual spot and if there’s a better festival stage to play than the Garden Stage I’m yet to see it. Wherever you were however, you were never far away from something that would make you smile with an abundance of lunatics parading around the festival, some billed as part of the entertainment, others just enjoying the freedom.

Toots & The Maytals…

Skip ‘Little Axe’ McDonald…

Apart from the fine array of artists and walking theatre there was much to be discovered elsewhere. Although dj Connie (Voodoo Kitchen) was sadly missing from the Garden Stage, the Lostwood was as usual a perfect place to escape to, and whilst I probably missed ninety per-cent of the alternative entertainment David O’Doherty proved a quality comedy headliner in the Arc on Saturday, and despite certain excesses the night before The Cabinet Of Living Cinema was a wonderfully presented and performed excursion into experimental cinema put to music.

No surprise then that Larmer Tree’s 20th anniversary was a complete joy. A day or two of rain simply made some lovely puddles for the kids to play in. Lastly, a big thanks to Joe Parry for his help prior to, and over the weekend.

Here’s our collection of photogrpahs from the weekend. To watch a huge variety of videos recorded at the Festival including performances by Ade Edmonson & The Bad Shepherds, Pronghorn, James Yuill, Goldheart Assembly, Cornershop, The Bookhouse Boys, Tunng, Chavo, Raghu Dixit, Alex Roberts and Disco’s Out (Murder’s In) – please take a look at our You Tube page.

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