Although it might not be a folk festival in the strictest sense of the word, Moseley Folk Festival continues to serve-up an eclectic mix of music to suit all tastes, with this year’s event is already being hailed as one of the best yet.
Saturday’s headliner Richard Thompson would be worthy of gracing the stage of any folk gathering the world over, though one might imagine Johnny Marr being more suited to traditional rock festivals like Glastonbury and V.
The Waterboys arguably sit somewhere between the two, fusing rock and folk music to great effect.
Former Smiths guitarist Marr was the festival highlight for many. Armed with a back-catalogue that would give even the likes of Nile Rodgers a run for his money Marr delighted an enraptured audience with songs spanning his musical career.
Smiths classics like Panic, Stop Me and Bigmouth Strikes Again were performed with passion-a-plenty but the undoubted highlight was an encore of How Soon Is Now? when The Cult’s Billy Duffy joined him onstage with his trademark white Gretsch guitar for a duet that will last long in the memory.
Marr’s set was also interspersed with impressive solo material like The Messenger and Easy Money, while Electronic’s Getting away With It sounded as good as ever. Marr’s inventive and inspiring guitar playing was also a joy to behold.
Fairport Convention founder-member Richard Thompson might not have had a band to back him up, relying instead on just his voice and an acoustic guitar.
Like Marr he could justifiably be described as a guitar legend and his unique playing style creates a big sound from a single instrument.
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Some of the best musical moments were Time to Ring Some Changes and Beeswing as a finale.
The Waterboys rounded off the festival in some style after the sun came out for the final day.
Some might have expected them to be revisiting the Fisherman’s Blues era when they were certainly more folk than rock, but while there was room for songs like Fisherman’s Blues and The Raggle Taggle Gypsy, this was more a return to the full pomp of an earlier era, Steve Wickham’s electric fiddle driving the musical proceedings, the high point being a truly rousing version of The Whole of the Moon.
Scores or other artists graced the stage over the three-day event, among the best were New York country folk outfit the Felice Brothers and Lau, who fuse traditional folk and modern music to great effect.