Nibley Festival 2012 Review

 

 photo credit Rockman of Zymurgy

Since being featured in the Daily Telegraph's top ten list of independent festivals earlier this year, it was no surprise that the Nibley Festival would be a sell out event.

Held on the village playing field and run by volunteers from the local community, Britain's "Friendliest Music Festival" has what near-neighbour Prince Charles might describe as a sense of proportion. Here's a quick review from a Nibley newbie.

Location: 9/10

What's not to love about the stunning views of the Cotswold escarpment and the Tyndale Monument?

Weather: 2/10

Rain on and off through the early afternoon, turning into solid rain by the evening. 

Ability to Cope with Weather: 9/10

Regular updates via the website and email reassured visitors that the show would go on and that it was being held on well-drained, high sloping ground. Not like certain other more high profile music festivals held in the west country that one could mention.

Food: 9/10

A good supply of tasty, mostly healthy and reasonably-priced food stalls meant virtually no queueing - quite an achievement with four thousand mouths to feed.

Community Involvement: 10/10

The sight of pensioners cheerfully directing traffic in the rain while Imperial Leisure leaped around on the main stage was a memory that will last some time.  

Musical Quality: 7/10

Difficult to compare with the big players in the festival world, but signing The Christians, Dodgy and The Selecter on the same bill was an impressive feat for an event with no paid staff and a limited budget.

Shopping Experience: 7/10

Plenty of beads and trinkets on sale, from a range of independent traders, apparently at good prices.  

Family-Friendly: 10/10

A distinctive feature of Nibley is its appeal to whole families. The extensive arts and craft tent, along with drumming workshops, a magician, rocket building and plenty of space to kick a ball around, meant that the younger generation were well catered for, even through many of them were down the front enjoying the music with their peers and (I kid you not) their parents.

People Watching: 6/10

The mono-cultural nature of the event (I spotted one black face among 4,000 punters) limited the range of opportunities for gazing out at the breadth of humanity. Despite this, the sight of men who were presumably barristers or senior aviation consultants by day appearing in their exotic multi-coloured suits and top hats, with wellies, and flowers in their receding grey hairlines was a sight worth taking in. As was the number of local teens who had been given dispensation for the day to dress down and shelve their independent school uniforms and riding outfits in celebration of Nibley's grand day out.  

Toilets: 3/10

Alongside discovering the Higgs-Boson particle, designing affordable portaloos which remain clean through a weekend remains one of technology's last final frontiers. 

 

Which just leaves space for the official Trym Tales Nibley Festival awards.

Best Movement from Stage into Audience and Back Again: Imperial Leisure's lead singer Denis

Most Unlikely Combination of Styles and Human Geography: Wotton-under-Edge's white ragga collective Aranka's Cackle, whose song Wotton is our Town was a masterpiece of ironic rural toasting. I expected at any moment to hear the cry, "Let me Hear Ya Calling, the Stinchcombe Posse!"

Best Food: for simplicity alone, the corn on the cob was a minimalist wonder of efficiency and taste

Best Senior Moment: a conservatively-dressed white haired gentleman in his seventies moving his shoulders up and down gracefully to the smooth sounds of The Christians as the rain poured down upon the crowd.

Best Band: The Christians

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A Polite Request from St Andrews Park

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Out and About in Bristol

Traveling into and back out of the city (not once, but twice) today, the following sites caught my attention:

• an Orthodox Jewish man walking north on Clifton Triangle. Wearing a tallit, and it being a Saturday, I assumed he was on his way back from the synagogue on Park Row, home of the Bristol Hebrew Congregation. On my return from town (about 40 minutes later) I noticed that he had reached White Tree Roundabout. Driving on the Sabbath, except in a life-threatening emergency, is generally avoided by the majority of Orthodox Jews.
  

• the Whiteladies Road Farmers' Market, which seemed busier than I have seen it for some time, and which has now expanded to the east side of Whiteladies Road, with several stalls now in front of Barclays Bank. I also noticed some live music at the market, in the form of an acoustic guitar and accordion duo.
  

• a protest further down Whiteladies Road by the Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign against alleged bias by the BBC in its Death on the Med programme broadcast last Monday. I assume the Jewish gentleman (above) walked past this demo, which had around 20 participants with banners and placards.

• A black-lead gospel music event on College Green. No Greater Love appears to be a grass roots event, organised by a small team of local Christians. The music was cool, but the crowds were small.

• The Bristol Bike Show, organised by the local Motorcycle Action Group, had closed off the streets around St Nicholas' Market this afternoon for a get together, with live music and plenty of, well, motorbikes. Westbury on Trym residents may notice that the event's After-Show-Party takes place at 6.00 today at the Saracens Rugby Football Club at Cribbs Causeway, just up the road. Should make for a quiet end to the afternoon.

All in all, a good vibe and a nice cross-section of city life.

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Nicole Jackson on Parenting

Was I the only person in Bristol who was sad to listen to local singer Nicole Jackson talking on X Factor about her non-relationship with her father?

As the camera zoomed in on the Bristol teenager's trembling lip and tears, we learned that having not spoken with her father for two years, she hopes that if she does well in the televised talent show, perhaps she will be able to have a conversation with her dad.

Now, obviously, I don't know any of the history of this relationship and am in no way passing judgement on any member of the family. However, I do notice that there seem to be a lot of kids out there who appear to think that fame, or "success" is a necessary ingredient for enjoying a loving relationship with other human beings. I also notice that some adults seem to be of the same opinion.

I'm glad that view is incorrect. Otherwise the 99.9% of us of all ages whose lives will always be characterised by obscurity will be doomed to unhappy relationships.

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Bring on the New

I am beside myself with anticipation.

For several years now, I have been looking forward to the fulfillment of the promise boldly proclaimed on the side of the former ABC cinema on Whiteladies Road that the art deco building will become the site of "a new concept in entertainment."

This is marvellous news and my mind has been working overtime to imagine this totally new concept in food, music and entertainment hinted at by the enigmatic owners under the working title of "Vanity". Trampolining to Afro Pop while eating spaghetti bolognaise,would certainly go some way to creating such a new concept, though I'm sure the final outcome will l be more creative . Cossack dancing and frozen yogurts, perhaps.

Whatever the final concept, which, like Cabot Circus, has been about ten years in the making, I have no doubt that the fabulous building will burst forth with originality and new paradigms in amusement for the masses.

Which is why I was more than a little puzzled to discover that the licencing application for the former cinema that went before the City Council planning department in December included proposals for eating, drinking, live music, recorded (DJ) music and dancing and for opening hours to run till four a.m.

I am convinced - because the banner I see every day announces "a new concept" - that the owners have not the slightest intention of turning the building into a nightclub and am sure that the nightclub-like application is all just part of the clever PR to rev up anticipation ahead of the final unveiling of the un-nightclub-like cutting edge entertainment concept .

My view was confirmed when I subsequently learned that the application was withdrawn altogether in February. How exciting! Perhaps we will after all be treated to retro arcade games and live Gaelic folk music while being served Sushi by midgets on roller skates. Marvellous.

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One to Watch

If you would like to be able to say to your grandchildren in years to come, "I remember seeing them when they had just started out" about a band that "made it" (as those present for this U2 performance from 1978 might be doing today) , then may I humbly suggest that you keep an eye on the Bristol-based musical ensemble currently known as Young Hearts Society.

A busy week playing at The Louisiana and twice at the Croft has helped consolidate the band's local following.

The glam/rockers can be found on myspace and facebook.

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Carol Singing in Westbury

I know it's customary among some sectors of the male community to groan at the very mention of carol singers - all scarves, lanterns, croaking and joviality - but, last night some neighbours put on a very enjoyable event here in the road which expressed the essence of why Westbury is, as I've said before, a very fine place to live and raise a family.

There was no rattling of collection tins and no motorised sled with loudspeaker system and coloured lights. Instead, there were about 30 people of all ages who stood under a street lamp, sang two carols and then moved on to do the same a few times at locations further down the road. To conclude, the group (whose numbers were swelled by neighbours joining them as they moved on) ended up at a house down the road for warm drinks.

At each location, people came out of their houses or stood in their doorways to watch and listen. And very pleasant it was too, despite the absence of snowflakes.

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All Bristol's Independent Media in One Place

Bristol's growing number of independent media producers - writers, bloggers, vloggers, photographers and podcasters - have until now relied on diverse methods for letting others know they exist.

Due to the wonders of modern technology, the latest content from all of Bristol's independent media producers can now be accessed in real time here at Trym Tales.

The feeds on the right hand column are the latest offerings from the many blogs and web sites producing local content by local people. This is not a blog roll. It's a feed roll.

To qualify for inclusion in this diverse list, the site has to fulfill a few criteria. First. it must be written or produced by Bristolians and/or contain a significant amount of material with a Bristol theme. Second, it needs to be updated regularly. Sites with no postings since July, for instance, did not make it the cut. Thirdly, the sites need an RSS feed. Any such feed will do, but unfortuantely, there are a few good sites out there which I cannot include because they have no accessible feeds. For some reason, a few of the party political sites fall into this category, otherwise they would be included. Finally, I have tried to restrict the list to non-corporate sites. The Cabot Circus blog, if there is one, will not be included, for instance, nor those by the large institutional media organisations. The aim, instead, is to give a platform for genuinely small-scale sites written by local people about local issues.

I hope you find the sites of interest. Even a glance down the titles of these sites reveals a very diverse and creative independent media scene covering a huge range of issues, perspectives and neighbourhoods within Bristol.

I've no doubt missed many out that I don't yet know about. So, please get in touch and tell me about any that should be included.

Happy reading.

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Bruce Parry - Man of the West

Bruce Parry, host of Amazon and Tribe, is a west country lad, being educated at Wells Cathedral School between 1978 and 1987.

Here's a few other things you might not know about one of Television's current stars:

• he's a former Royal Marines officer; his specialism was physical training and sports - which is why he's well hard!
• when not traveling the world, he lives in a farmhouse on the island of Ibiza
• he doesn't own a TV
• "I've never pretended that I'm an anthropologist"
• after the Marines, he started a course at Loughborough University but dropped out after 18 months

He's also recently partnered with a number of musicians to release a CD - AmazonTribe - to raise funds for Survival International.

You can contact Bruce via his MySpace Page if you want.

You can also read about what some professional anthropologists think of his work here.

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Glastonbury Quote

A young steward who worked with Oxfam at Glastonbury was asked this week whether there was a noise curfew on site.

The reply was, "No, it wasn't really needed. Everyone pretty much was asleep by 7 anyway."

A.M. that is.

Made me smile.

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St Mary Redcliffe 6th Form Rag Week

Went this week to the Musical Extravaganza at SMRT, part of the 6th Form Rag Week.

A fine event - celebrating everything that is great about being 17 as well as raising several hundred pounds for worthwhile charities.

The evening kicked off with a tight 10-minute set from Johnny and his Birds, the eponymous Johnny being a very able guitarist and singer-songwriter performing his world debut with this particular configuration of musicians whose combined sound put me in mind of the Jam mixed with Nirvana. I was particularly pleased to see that the PA did not work properly for the first song - a regular feature of 6th-form musical events if my distant memory serves me correctly - and that there was one person (only one, inevitably) who knew how to fix it while the band played on.

Enter, with only the most tenuous link to SMRT, The Wild Gulloots who performed a slick and tight set paying tribute to their role models the Arctic Monkeys, while consuming quantities of Capri Sun.

This Way Up were a heavy metal sensation. Their front man - Frosty - was a thin Marc Bolan look-alike with a great stage presence that combined leopard skin drainpipes, a shock of long curly hair, teenage angst and a truncated mike stand. I am reliably informed that Mr Frost is in fact a very mild-mannered member of SMRT's thriving Christian Union. Marvelous.

An impressive folk duo - Rosie Garrard and some bloke - interspersed with sketches from the imaginatively named "Drama Group" sat either side of Filton College's finest, Moody Goose, who seemed to have the edge in terms of musical experience, though for me Johnny and the Birds displayed the strongest innate musical ability and depth. Which probably means they'll go on to become financial advisers or logistics managers in future life.

Money raised on the evening is being given to Bulgarian Partners who are supporting Sofia Baptist Church in their social work programme among the Roma community in their neighbourhood and to Ikoba School near Masindi in northern Uganda, with whom St Mary Redcliffe School has a long-term partnership.

In conclusion, a very fine evening.

Smile Please – You’re Now McColl

Residents will have been surprised this week when popping into their local Smile store on Westbury on Trym High Street to find it re-branded as a McColl’s.

The change is the result of a buy-out of the local Smile chain from Somerset-based TA Symmonds Company, who sold their retail business in September “for an undisclosed sum”.

The new owners – Martin McColl Ltd – were formerly known as TM Retail. Under that name, they snapped up 181 Dillon’s newsagents from Tesco (bet you didn’t know that) and have been actively consolidating their position as the UK’s largest chain of newsagents, with over 1,300 stores in their current portfolio.

Of more immediate interest to Trym Tales, however, will be discovering whether the new management and staff at McColl’s will continue the Smile tradition of playing American thrash indie at high volume inside the store during opening hours. My trips for milk and newspapers were always made more interesting by the high-energy sounds of Smashing Pumpkins late on a Tuesday night.

Watch this space for further developments.