I was invited along to taste the delicacies that the BLACK DEER FESTIVAL had in store for us over the weekend. With over 100 acts performing across 7 stages, we really were spoilt for choice and being a one man band, I could only be in one place at one time so despite agreeing a list of acts that I would shoot over the weekend, I will admit now that I didn’t get to do all of them. I think people forget that at festivals, you rarely consider the time taken to move between stages and lugging a large camera bag with you whilst traversing hilly landscapes doesn’t bode well for anyone, still, I did my best! Read on to see how the weekend panned out for me…

Day One (Friday) it’s 30 degrees and after a hellish journey to get to the festival, all is well…. The day culminated with a killer performance from JAMES, whilst I didn’t stay for the entire set, I did get to see them perform their first few songs which was fantastic and as I was walking up the hill to leave the site, they burst into ‘Sit Down’ which reminded me of the early 90’s. It was great to see them back on stage doing what they’ve done so well for the past 30 years.

Ahead of JAMES, I managed to catch a bunch of acts including Imelda May who was brilliant (what a voice!) and is currently in the middle of a tour, if you get chance to see her, you’re in for a real treat!

Madison Violet was another stand out moment for me and well worth the wait after recently purchasing one of their albums and listening to it for weeks, allowing me to learn all the words so I could sing along.

I think the biggest surprise over the weekend (for me) was Jake Bugg, I didn’t know what to expect and from the outset to the very end, he shone bright, his songs were incredible and despite only being a young artist, he has a good back catalogue behind him already. I am interested in seeing how he progresses going forward. All in all a great start to the festival despite the heavens opening up on us, but, being a seasoned festival goer, I buttoned up my waterproofs and knuckled down!

Saturday kicked off with Amy Montgomery who was giving it, dressed in a feathered bra top and warpaint and performed incredibly with her acoustic guitar and backing band, such a brilliant voice….

Then came Jack Broadbent with a set chock full of pure blues, he demonstrated his prowess as a slide guitar player (he is incredible). He had the audience on his side from the word go. It was just him and a bass player but he might as well have had a whole band owing to the sound that he was kicking out, a definite highlight of the day.

Next up was Courtney Marie Andrews who was in the middle of her UK tour having come all the way from Arizona. Her set was littered with some of the finest Americana I have ever heard, there really is nothing more to say other than I rushed out and bought one of her albums as soon as she left the stage, for me, she was definitely the star of the festival.

Kitty, Daisy and Lewis are siblings and they appear to be having a whole lotta fun on stage! They seemed to be playing a version of ‘musical chairs’ but using instruments instead, I think every member had a go at playing something different on most tracks throughout the set! If you get the chance to catch them live in the future, I recommend you do, you can thank me later.

Then of course came Cam. In the programme, it says ‘prolific and adored’ and after watching her set, I can see why as the tent was rammed with her fans who were singing every word back at her as she had bought along her personal fan club!

I left the site afterwards but heard the next morning that The Waterboys had their set cut short after the rain and lighting struck, shortly afterwards, which I feel was the right decision to make given the circumstances.

Sunday started off well but as the day wore on, things started to go downhill for me. I’m not sure if it was a mixture of tiredness and not sleeping as well I would have normally but after a couple of acts, I spent some time wandering around, catching a few of the sideshows and just people watching!

I did catch Blue Rose Code who I had read about and was initially interested but his act came across as less polished as I would have hoped, maybe my expectations were set too high but he was not really the right fit for me. His fans thought otherwise as he pulled a healthy crowd, maybe if I listened to him on another day, my view may be different…

Noble Jacks certainly upped the ante somewhat with their high energy blend of country/folk/rock, these guys were really good and I have just ordered their latest album to investigate further.

As the day wore on, I still felt lousy so I took a seat and watched the world go by for another couple of hours before heading home via a flooded M25 (which was fun). The festival for me was a real success, weather permitting of course but hey, what’s a UK music festival without a splash of rain and a few claps of thunder!

Until next year!

Words and Pictures by Leigh Bruin