Down at the front pt 3
Boia Festival, 2024, rounding up
In previous pieces from the Boia Festival 2024, I’ve posted about bands and artists that I enjoyed. Those posts were accompanied by short videos or, in some cases, whole songs. However, there were also artist who made an impact that I didn't video, so this post is dedicated to them. I have included some links to YouTube to give you a feel for their music and live performances.
Kathryn Joseph - Friday night
There was a buzz about Kathryn Joseph all weekend. She’s one of those performers who is a musicians musician (there was a lovely fangirl exchange between Lanterns on the Lake front-woman Hazel Wilde and Kathryn during the LOTL headline set on Sunday) as well as being very popular with audiences too. Kathryn did a number of sets across the weekend, and was a regular audience member at other artists’ gigs. She’s been around for a while, crafting beautiful albums and collecting awards at home in Scotland and beyond.
She’s one of those artists who sounds like nobody else – she reminded me a bit of Lisa O’Neill in that regard – her voice is unique and evocative, and her between song patter is funny and potty-mouthed! At the Tabernacle on Friday night she sat at her electric piano, looking around as if she was surveying the room for meaning; singing captivating, creepy songs that were dark and beautiful. Ghost songs and folk tales with cheery titles like of all the broken, and you survived, the harmed, the blood and this one, Tell My Lover which she sang on the night, and I loved. It comes from her 2018 album, from when i wake the want is:
Tell my lover it's not over until we burn Like the witches in the woods for what we've done To save ourselves from any other who might come We buried deep into this whole of and called it love
On Friday night, I came back home saying that it had been one of the best day’s music I’d ever watched – and Kathryn Joseph’s set was one of the reasons. As I said, she stayed until the very end of the weekend, and I know that she was one of the highlights of the whole festival for many, many people.
Slate – Saturday afternoon
I actually caught Slate twice on Saturday. The first was when I wandered into The Bishops pub and they were starting up. The venue didn’t suit them, I don’t think. There were too many people sitting around eating their dinners and talking. I left and decided to catch them in the City Hall later.
OK, so venue matters. Some acts are more suited to an intimate pub setting; others to a larger staged venue. Slate’s hardcore energy suited the City Hall stage like a glove. Their big indie sound and the prowling poetic, charisma of frontman, Jack Shepard, needed the space, and what seemed a bit underwhelming in a pub backroom, turned into something exciting and expansive in the larger venue. They are a post-punk four piece, with Raychi Bryant on drums, Lauren Edwards on bass, Elis Penri on guitar and the aforementioned, Jack Shepard on vocals.
I think there will be more to come from Slate – they’re beginning to make waves in and around South Wales, and it would be good to hear more original releases in the future. They had a single Tabernacl/St Agnes out last year and an impressive new EP, Deathless, which you can find on Bandcamp. Here’s Tabernacl – it’s really good…
Chloe Foy – Saturday early evening
Saturday felt a bit… well, bitty for me after the wonderful feeling of Friday’s billing. On reflection. I think I tried to pack too much in and so maybe didn’t appreciate everything at the time. A couple of acts have lingered though – Slate (see above) was one, and Chloe Foy was another.
I didn’t take video of Chloe’s set, which I regret, but her performance in the Tabernacle, accompanied by violinist, Charlie Schnurr, was lovely – even transcendent – her voice and songwriting really shining through. Chloe’s songs are clearly born out of life experience – together with a lot of gigging to hone her craft. The way in which she and her accompanist, Charlie (aka Lottie Gabriel) worked together really enhanced the performance, and the Tabernacle - an acoustic wonderland at the best of times – could have been built for her voice and performance.
Following up, however, it’s clear that Chloe goes well beyond the standard acoustic guitar folk performance, with strong band production on her recorded work. Her voice is beautiful and the songwriting melodic and sophisticated. Her first album, Where Shall We Begin, released in 2021, is seriously good. I’m spending a bit of time with it, and the title track is one of my favourite songs of the moment.
A revelation for me after the gig was discovering her full band performance from her album premier in 2021, so I’m posting this video from that Stoller Hall, Manchester gig. The songs work so, so well with the band.
Here’s hoping for new music soon, and maybe a tour!
The Ocelots
On Sunday afternoon, I wandered into the City Hall around tea time. I was a bit tired, cold and hungry. This isn’t a hardship story, just an explanation for why I didn’t stay long at Seamus Fogarty’s set. Seamus is a Boia regular, and I’ve really enjoyed his performances in St Davids ever since his first Boia gig in 2019, but I just wasn’t quite in the mood for his inventive DIY electro, infused Celtic folk (blood sugar issues probably) so went to get some food. Alongside him, on stage, however, were a couple of young players who I didn’t recognise. I wondered at the time whether they were his sons, as he often has family members in his band…
Meanwhile, earlier in the week, the amazing Rona Mac had raved about two guys she’d seen on the Boia Trail, The Ocelots, whose harmonies and harmonica playing was at another level. I decided to go down the the Tabernacle to see them after having me tea (Northern ‘supper’ to avoid confusion). Turns out it was the same two guys. Not Seamus’s sons, but actually The Ocelots. They are un-godly twins, Brandon and Ashley Watson, from Wexford whose harmonies are indeed exquisite; their in-between talk full of humour and sharp patter about growing up Catholic and such-like. At one point there were some weird noises sounding like voices emerging from the PA, which prompted Brandon (or Ashley?) to ask John the sound man, “Can I get less demons in my monitor please”, which brought the house (of God) down.
Their set was great, and on a couple of songs their two-part harmonies reminded me the Civil Wars1 (which is a massive compliment, because I don’t think anyone comes near to what the Civil Wars did with two voices over two brilliant albums, and what turned out to be an extremely ill-fated creative relationship). Over the three days, The Ocelots said that they’d done at least seven gigs, including two with Seamus Fogerty, always coming and going with a pair of smiles.
This video of an acoustic version of their new single About You, gives a feel of their performance – two voices, two guitars and nothing else. The recorded version of the single (with drums and stuff) can be found HERE, but this version is gorgeous enough for me.
Next, a final post from the Boia Festival on just what makes this festival so special…
Bonuses
Bonus vid: Any excuse to post a video of the Civil Wars. Literally, one of my favourite bands, who had, literally, one of the most spectacular fall-outs in the history of music. They made Oasis look like loving brothers just having a bit of a tiff. Maybe I’ll write about it one day. Here’s a version of 20 Years from the Union Chapel in 2012: