Since making the decision to leave Bristol time has ebbed slowly and the transition into a new place hasn't been smooth, this has led me to bouts of deep thought, weighing up my choices and questioning my motivations for leaving. Not particularly healthy, but natural, a limbo zone, it's like waiting at a crossroads not quite knowing which direction is best, having made up your mind which avenue to turn and being made to sit and wait for the lights to change. They haven't changed for days, and days, and days... Whilst waiting I decided to pack in as much of Bristol as possible, hence the erratic blogging my time has been consumed by dashing from destination to friendship gathering and back again.
Last night I attended a folk (tales) evening in a scout hut on the harbour, such a beautiful location for such an event. We arrived early and primed a seat at the front, before climbing the steps at the back of the venue to sit and watch the sky change its colours into night, rowers and swans providing a soundtrack. The event began with a young looking busker by the name of Fabian who told tales of singing for his supper in Italy and had vocal similarities of Seth Lakeman. Next on the bill was the 2010 storytelling slam winner Saikat - a rather animated well versed Asian dude with a face full of many characters, the time slipped by and a smile appeared on my face.
The preceded a rather nervous (cue hand shaking and face reddening) performer Electric Alice, who sang beautiful enchanting music with a slightly darker edge. A song that stuck out for me was the tale of a hit and run, the rhythms and harmonies created between guitar and vocal were particularly strong. The final performance on the evening came from an enigmatic Kid Carpet, who burst onto the stage with a staggering confidence that engulfed you in waves of fun. Performing his free to download album, Advert Break, with the aid of his kitchen stereo, folk karaoke, apparently. His next trick was to pull out a child microphone and amp (fisher price stylee) and a guitar head that worked by thrashing into the air - linking them up to get a distorted thrash sound. Cowboy get back on your horse was a particular favourite, however it was nice to be treated to a host of new material debuted live and intimate.
