Our annual music review of the GREENBELT festival held at Cheltenham Racecourse.

London Community Gospel Choir (Greenbelt '10, pic by Stefan Metzler)

LONDON COMMUNITY GOSPEL CHOIR - Mainstage - 8:05pm
Britain's favourite gospel ensemble have now been with us for close to 30 years and in that time they have recorded with, well, pretty much everybody including Paul McCartney, Tina Turner and Madonna. An inspired choice for a Sunday evening Mainstage slot, there were plenty of hardy folk braving the cold in pursuit of some sweet gospel music. The 30-strong choir turned in a soulful, if a little brief, set full of grooving basslines, sweet harmonies and impressive soloists, including a spectacular turn by Abby Taduggoronn who possesses the most powerful pipes you're likely to hear this side of soul heaven. Not just great vocalists, the choir are snappy dressers and funky movers and soon the audience were having a whale of a time emulating their moves and clapping along which proved an efficient means of keeping warm! The choir told the crowd, "We'd love to hear you sing 'Amazing Grace'," and the throng happily partook in a mass singalong of John Newton's evergreen hymn backed by LCGC creating one of the highlights of the set. The group's final number was another old favourite, a joyous rendition of "Oh Happy Day" and all too soon it was time to seek a cup of hot tea.
Peter Timmis

THE FANCY TOYS - Performance Café - 9:00pm
Mickael Teo and James Duncan offer a brand of musical entertainment that would challenge even the most fastidious pigeonholer of musical styles. One reviewer endeavouring to describe their off kilter offerings suggested "music that conjures images of a sedated Gogol Bordello playing songs from Bugsy Malone and Monty Python outside a Parisian café on a sunny afternoon." All I can add is that at their crowded Performance Café gig James sat on top of a Cuban box drum which he played brilliantly while also occasionally switching to tinkling on a glockenspeil, Mickael switched from mandolin to acoustic guitar and sang in a falsetto voice which sounded like a cross between French chanson and Freddie Mercury, while their one accompanying musician played bass and trumpet (even playing both at the same time during one memorable moment). The Fancy Toys' songs were as unusual as their instrumentation. There was a song about a stalker called Zebedee propelled along by a rhythm in part achieved by a toy connected to James' foot; a song called "Gypsy Eyes", a tongue-in-cheek tragedy of someone who attracts "too many girls"; and a number dedicated to "the flower child in all of us." James made a funny quip about he and Mickael choosing to play mandolin and ukulele for one song as such instruments made the duo "look bigger" followed by a vaudevillian song called, appropriately enough, "Fancy Toys". They finished their deranged and often hilarious set to loud cheers. Clearly these guys are well on the way to becoming firm Greenbelt favourites.
Tony Cummings

BEVERLEY KNIGHT - Mainstage - 9:20pm
Britain's much loved R&B diva catapulted onto the stage (late, but it didn't take long to forgive her) with enough energy to warm up the big Mainstage crowd. Admittedly her first song was a rather mediocre number, but with such a powerful voice even such an item was elevated to being quite enjoyable. Luckily that was the low point, and as her set continued it kept improving. Beverly's stage presence was warm and bubbly, aided by her local connection (she was a student in Cheltenham), and she seemed genuinely excited to be at Greenbelt - the whole set had the feel of a homecoming. The quality of her songs kept improving too, "Keep This Fire Burning" and "In Your Shoes" were down-right catchy and it felt very special indeed to hear such classic oldies as "'Piece Of My Heart", even though we were made to wait until the encore for "Shoulda Woulda Coulda". The highlight for me though was "Gold", a beautiful, tender yet empowering anthemic ballad performed with such truth and wisdom that implores all of womankind to just hold on. Soulful and stunning, Beverly's set was, in my opinion, the best of the festival.
Chloe Walker

TRANCENDENCE - Centaur - 9:30pm
Close your eyes and imagine a very high church mass with chants and hymns beautifully performed. Then imagine some brilliantly deejayed ambient trance music with psychedelic visuals. Now try to put the two together. That was my experience in Transcendence - billed as an "Ancient Future Mass" - two completely different musical/spiritual approaches from two very different times brought together in one room. Our choir for the evening was none other than Accord whose members have performed in a number of well respected settings such as with BBC Singers and various cathedral choirs around the country. They performed a number of chants lead the hymns and a wonderful version of Tim Hughes' "God In My Living" all mixed with a ubiquitous ambient trance beat and mashed up stained glass window visuals. The service was jointly led by the staff of York Minster and the alternative worship collective Visions. A very traditional Anglo-Catholic service was followed with traditional vestments, processions up and down the aisles and incensing of the congregation with a thurible. Any Latin used was accompanied by translations on the screens. A number of priests both female and male administered the Eucharist. There were also multi-sensory prayer activities including looking into a bowl of water and grinding incense to scatter on a map as an intercession for different parts of the world. Due to the size of the congregation there was scarcely enough time for these even though we got time to go back to them during the communion. The hour passed much too quickly but I savoured every moment as certainly one of, if not the, high spot of my time at Greenbelt this year.
Dancin' Dave Derbyshire

BABY BLUE - Underground - 10:00pm
With a sound described as a fusion of hip-hop, grime and pop Baby Blue seemed like an odd choice to play a Sunday night headline slot at Greenbelt's most rock orientated venue and this was proven by the fact you could almost count those in attendance on one hand. This didn't appear to affect the diminutive Londoner as she confidently asked, "Any hip-hop fans? Any grime fans?" and when there was little response she humorously attempted to start chants of "when I say baby, you say blue" and "when I say Green, you say Belt" obviously knowing her attempts were in vain. Blue was joined onstage by male vocalist Ray whose sweet and tuneful voice was the perfect backing to her sharp, incisive rhymes. Tracks like "I Woulda" and the punchy current single "Run" showed that there's an emerging songwriting talent to back up the good looks and attitude making Blue the full package.
Peter Timmis

MONDAY, 30th August

SOUNDS OF SALVATION - Underground - 11:00am
There's really only one way to enjoy the joyous large sound of Reading's Sounds Of Salvation, live and whilst skanking. My fiancée was dancing with the best of the full capacity crowd but was rather surprised by how few people danced during their brass infused, unbelievably tight, gutsy, passion-filled ska-punk set. If you've never heard Sounds Of Salvation can I just warn you before heading to their myspace that what they've recorded is not a patch on their live sound; hopefully their next release will rectify this. Right from the off you can't help but be hit by the intensity of their sound; featuring a large brass section, tight drums, bass and guitar and the ever charismatic lead singer Michael Whiteman. Michael's passion is there for all to see and is contagious to not only the rest of the fun-filled band but every person within or even nearby the packed venue - few bands have filled the Underground this year and fewer still could manage it at 11 o'clock in the morning. The guys clearly have a polished set, with tongue-in-cheek cheesiness and well thought out segues between tracks. A particular highlight was the intro to their own brand of nu-metal; rap metal meets ska - 'skrap metal'. Yes, we see what they did there and we loved it! Alongside some of their familiar favourites were a nice dose of excellent new choons and a winning cover of David Crowder Band's "No One Like You". I challenge anyone who goes to see an in-form Sounds Of Salvation performance come away with anything other than a massive cheesy grin.
Greg Sammons

SURREY DIGGERS - Underground - 11:45am
Monday saw a performance from a new band to Greenbelt, Surrey Diggers, who are no doubt named after the historical "Diggers" who were an English group of Protestant Christian agrarian communists back in the 1700s. The band formed when they met at the festival last year and their write-up on the GB website states that they play "traditional folk, spotted along the way with sea shanties, reggae and punk" and that "they are picking up ardent fans among Big Issue sellers and shoppers as they busk their way to fame and fortune. . ." Sadly I doubt that fame and fortune will be arriving soon judging from their performance which was quite scrappy and at times downright boring. They may well have been together for a year now, it's just a shame that they don't seem to have spent that year practising that much. It really doesn't inspire audience confidence when the band interject into their set comments like "How does it go again? Oh yeah!" The start and end of songs were untidy and ropey at times. Another problem was this Surrey trio, consisting of two guys and a girl playing guitar, mandolin and violin, with all three singing, seemed to be trying too hard to be Irish. Frankly it would have been better for them to find their own style rather than what came across as a poor impersonation of the Dubliners. Their one saving grace was a rendition of the Peter, Paul & Mary version of "If I Had A Hammer", which did get the audience joining in. The band are certainly going to have to up their game in future gigs, or they could find they're digging themselves into a hole.
Simon Akehurst

STRANGER EDWARD ALLEN JONES - Underground -12:30pm
Less than 24 hours before they were due to play, Eden Wakes had to pull out of their Meltdown Sessions performance after their drummer broke his wrist. Thankfully the resourceful people at Meltdown found a replacement, Steve Speakman's latest find - Stranger Edward Allen Jones. The band are led by an American missionary who came out of drug addiction and in an attempt to remove himself from his past haunts shipped himself off to the valleys of South Wales. The band will no doubt be glad to hear that I really struggled to pigeon-hole their sound - psychedelic alternative rock with a real '90s grunge vibe ala Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots goes someway to describing them. There are also clear hints of modern prog rock bands like the Mars Volta and Tool. The frontman was somewhat lacking in charisma but their ethereal and shoe-gazing music takes you on a haunting and surprisingly captivating journey. I wouldn't say they've yet produced anything memorable but time is still on their side. For a band that's only been going for a few months they have a very mature and well crafted sound. I'll be keen to see what happens in the next few months when they start the process of laying it down on CD.
Greg Sammons

Malokai (Greenbelt '10, pic by Andy Stonehouse)

MALOKAI - Underground - 1:10pm
Rowdiest gig of the weekend award goes to this four-piece punk rock band from London. Frontman Alex Greig, sporting his trademark Mohawk, took to the stage and told the hot and sweaty Underground army, "We want to see you rock out. . . Go nuts!" and the pumped up crowd gladly obliged. The chugging riffing of songs like "Run" and "More Of You" prompted mass outbreaks of headbanging, moshing and even air guitar amongst the appreciative audience. "Still Yours" was introduced by Alex saying, "We're all Christians and no matter how many times we fall we still belong to him," before an industrial sized riff caused what almost looked like a riot to break out in the middle of the room. Nervous stewards looked on but everyone was having too much of a good time for them to dare intervene. "We're going to slow things down a bit," announced the band before playing "Pieces" a (not at all slow) pounding monster of a track with a huge singalong chorus. The band saved the best 'til last though and before performing the epic "Choose Day" an emotional Alex told the crowd, "We go up and down the country telling people about Jesus and how he wants to know you. Come and see us if you want to know more." Loud and unsubtle but with great hooks and a strong spiritual message, Malokai have been touted as successors to thebandwithnoname. Judging by their scorching performance they are worthy of that title.
Peter Timmis

EMILY DAVIS - Performance Café - 1:30pm
The compere reckoned Emily had an "absolutely beautiful voice" and though that was a bit of an overstatement it was indeed sweet and easy on the ear. The problem was that the songs emanating from this Australian-born, London-based singer/songwriter simply failed to hold attention while lengthy spoken explanations as to the circumstances that led to their writing only underlined their lack of memorable hooks or lyrical images. Perhaps I'm being unkind and maybe it is possible to write a memorable song about enjoying a cigarette and waving at busloads of tourists from the roof of a house in Bath, but Emily's song didn't connect with the audience. Neither did her offering about her brother going off to Dubai. The only high point in Emily's set was when she offered a pleasant interpretation of Lennon/McCartney's "Eleanor Rigby". Emily clearly has a good singing voice. I can only suggest that she brings more covers into her set. More importantly, I'd suggest that Emily experiences a bit more of life. Then, maybe, her own songs too will be able to connect with the audience like that Beatles oldie.
Tony Cummings

MANY FALLS - Underground - 1:50pm
Thanks in part to Conduit and in part to Davey Burch of JesusxCore, the Coventry Christian hard music scene is probably thriving more than any other part of the UK and for my money Many Falls are currently pick of the crop. Conduit may be more established and have a great debut album, Juinera certainly have a cracking female vocalist and a good use of light and shade, We Are Revival have the talent of Davey Burch in their midst, and Eden Wakes have just been signed to Rising Records. But Many Falls possess something that can't be put into words. . . I believe they call it je ne sais quoi. Metalcore could be fast becoming a dying (and unfashionable) genre but any band worth their salt has found a way around that to take them beyond your standard cookie-cutter fodder. In Many Falls' case it's the spirit the music is played in and some gorgeous backing tracks. They also have the distinct advantage of tapping two excellent musicians (making up the rhythm section) from the now defunct Where On Earth. Both provided melodic vocals to counterpoint the shrill lead vocals of Nato (not the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation). Sadly, it took a punter to point out to the live sound team that on two songs neither of the melodic vocals were anywhere near loud enough, although Nato did such a sterling job of leading from the front that only us music geeks seemed to fully notice. Once the band were sounding a little nearer to full strength they provided one of the finest performances of the festival and even threw in a new song from their soon-to-be-released debut EP 'The Teacher, The Lover & The Jealous Housewife'. Trust me, by their standards that's a reasonably sensible song title! The guys put together an excellent set full of freebies and energy, it shouldn't be long before they're all the more familiar with the festival circuit.
Greg Sammons

A.N.D. - Underground - 2.30pm
As with Jeff Scheetz closing last year's Meltdown Sessions, this year another guitar whizz closed proceedings in the Underground - Paul May. Britain's axe veteran has played in numerous projects since the late '80s (and been the producer of many more) but A.N.D. is the one band that still retain that '80s thrash sound. Dave Rowley of Temple Dogs and Crucifer fame provided his textbook gravelly vocals to the proceedings whilst Vic Barton and Tommy Power of Back Pocket Prophet filled in on bass and drumming duties, the whole thing having an almost "super-band" feel to it. After almost two decades of near inactivity A.N.D. (or should I say Paul) is promising a new album early in 2011 and this was our chance to hear the new stuff. Only one or two classics crept into a set of tunes we'd never heard prior, so Paul wrapping up with a gorgeously decadent rendition of "God Save The Queen" was lapped up all the more at the end. Prior to that moment we got elaborate classic rock style extended guitar solos, allowing Dave to jump into the crowd and mosh out, and nice tight battle songs. The tunes were pretty good and Dave is a great showman but there's no getting away from the fact that it was Paul's axework which was the band's strongest pulling factor. Timeless rock.
Greg Sammons

HHYMN - Big Top - 2:40pm
Walking into a gig for the last four songs isn't a good basis for a fair review. But considering those songs sounded tremendous, perhaps it's worth a mention. Featuring Nottingham's Simon Ritchie and Ed Bannard, this five-piece clearly have a broad musical-palette, a sound which isn't lo-fi and lyrical concerns which, from the snatches I got, appear to be looking at the bigger picture. I don't know if the group are Christians, but the name might give it away. Looking to pigeon-hole, they seem to be somewhere between Fleet Foxes and Elbow, and with Amy Helliwell's trumpet, they really threatened to soar. I got the feeling that there was quality musicianship and songwriting in there and I found myself wishing that I'd caught the whole set; as I was walking out, I bumped into a friend who had and she hadn't been so sure about them at the start, but that they'd got better, the longer the gig went on. Either way, their 18-month existence has already led to them being rich and engaging. I look forward to them storing up some greater riches, on earth - and next time, I'll hopefully hear them from the first verse.
John Cheek

INTENSI-T - Underground - 3:15pm
Has Schlomo met his match? Does Beardyman need to be watching his back? And should Eminem be worried? These are all questions that came up when I heard this breath of fresh air duo out of Norwich take to the stage. For those in the know in the beat-boxing and rap world, the three previously mentioned artists are at the top of their game in their respective fields. Intensi-T (aka Tom Povey) and Soldier A (aka Adam Davis) put on a punchy (if not slightly brief) performance to a fairly packed Underground crowd, that wouldn't be at all lost in the line-up if they ever got to play alongside the likes of Schlomo or Mr Mathers. Intensi-T is a very accomplished beat-boxer, and there appeared to be no limit to the rhythms that Soldier A was suggesting and (almost) literally throwing at him. The only minor criticism I would have was that at first it seemed that the act was all about Intensi-T and that Soldier A was only there to help fill out the act. But when he got started in his own right, he proved to be a more than competent rapper. The interplay between the pair was great, and I particularly liked their homage with a Remix Rap, beatbox version of Ben E King's "Stand By Me". These guys should definitely come back again - hopefully with a longer set, but I suspect that they both have a long, fruitful future ahead of them.
Simon Akehurst