Darvel Music Festival

Darvel Music Festival | Richmond Fontaine | Hayden

The Darvel Music Festival has gained a solid reputation within the Scottish Music Scene for attracting the best new international acts as well as talented national performers.

In 2004 the town was host to the superb US band, Richmond Fontaine, Canadian sensation Hayden, multi talented Irish singer songwriter Garrett Wall, and the Russian Gypsy violinists Koshka. Home grown performers included The Endrick Brothers, Racin' Green and Laker. Young starlets Poor Old Ben, Odeon Beat Club and Kain also captivated audiences.

A special community concert brought the world premier of "For Darvel 250 Years" to mark the 250th anniversary of our town (1752 - 2002). It was composed and conducted by top Canadian composer Alan Gilliland (Darvel born) and performed by the combined wind bands of Loudoun and Grange Academies.

Thursday 30/9/04
Koshka.
The festival kicked off with a Jazz/World music evening featuring the talents of Russian/Gypsy/Jazz trio Koshka.

"astonishingly gifted" - The List... "masterly musicianship and an extraordinary range of tones and timbres" - Daily Telegraph... "the hottest gig in town" - Fiddle.

Yes, you are probably wondering why this mighty fine band came to be playing in the community hall of a small Scottish town on a night when strong winds and driving rain left no-one in any doubt that winter was approaching. But wonder no more because Richmond Fontaine really were on stage having responded happily to an invitation to open a unique festival organised by the local people of Darvel (pop 3,700) - 20-plus miles from Glasgow where a wide range of musical entertainment was also in full swing that night.

For the music loving Darvel Music Festival production team, headed by Neil McKenna, this was their third such event and, undoubtedly, getting Richmond Fontaine to appear was their biggest coup. The festival organisers really want to put the town on the festival map and McKenna, after Willy Vlautin and the guys had said "yes" to him, used his polite but persuasive powers to suggest they by-pass Glasgow and play their only other Scottish date in Edinburgh.

Their two-hour, sixteen-track show was as good as everyone in the 150-strong crowd reckoned and hoped it would be. Covering a selection from "Post To Wire" and "Winnemucca" but also brilliant offerings from earlier CDs 1999's "Lost Son" plus two tracks, "1968" and "Novocaine" from the "Safety" album released three years earlier, this was an inspiring, confident, free-flowing performance that makes you want them never to leave the stage. "Out of State" from "Winnemucca" opened followed by "Barely Losing" from "Post.." and such was the quality of the performance you wondered how they would maintain such a standard, but that appeared effortless to them. Perhaps, and we are being niggardly here, the instrumental "Twyla" was the only dip, but, hell, it was no hanging offence. Instead they then plunged into the heartbreak that is "15-year Old Kid in Nogales, Mexico" with its almost whispered closing vocals "And he walked to the sea because he'd never seen any amount of water worth mentioning or of importance to anyone." What a way to end a song about a runaway involved in a fatal crash, it was achingly good. "Post To Wire" and then "Western Skyline" completed their encore leaving the crowd wondering if anything in this venue would ever be as good. For sure, gigs don't come much better than this; musicians at the top of their game, and good on them for heading out into the countryside to support an event that deserves to go from strength. It's heartening that their love of music will take them to perform in places like Darvel, with its community of committed followers of great sounds.

The boys hung around chatting at the bar before heading off for some good old Scottish hospitality chez Neil and his lovely wife, Sheila. As we headed back to Glasgow we wondered why Neil and his festival cronies had been talking about Ryan Adams, Steely Dan and others, they couldn't possibly be in line for an approach to follow in RF¹s footsteps to serve up another memorable evening in Darvel. Could they?

"The Darvel Music Festival was one of the best stops on our tour. The crowd was great and the hospitality was the tops. I hope they invite us back!" Willy Vlautin of Richmond Fontaine.


Richmond Fontaine - Darvel Town Hall 1/10/04
(Photography by Alasdair Fraser)


Willy Vlautin - Darvel Town Hall 1/10/04
(Photography by Alasdair Fraser)

Review by Mike Ritchie

The good people of Darvel should be campaigning for a plaque to be mounted on the wall at the entrance to their Town Hall - and it should read something like: "In the first week of October 2004 this hall staged performances by Richmond Fontaine and Hayden these gigs will be remembered as BRILLIANT by all who were fortunate enough to attend." If there was enough space it should also carry a big "thank you" to the Darvel Music Festival's production team who got RF to open their third and hugely successful event and Hayden to close it.

It was fitting that Hayden should bring down this year¹s curtain. Mr Desser, don¹t be embarrassed, you are a star. The soft spoken Canadian seemed as at home as the locals as he eased through a 75-minute set accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and a grand piano. His laconic approach, dry black humour and beautiful phrasing remind you of another Canadian by any chance, (perhaps ace Leonard himself?) warmed and charmed his audience with tales of his cat, Woody, running away, and amok, in springtime each year, or his experience of song writing with his headphones on in an upstairs room of his Toronto home while a housebreaker went about his disturbing, unlawful business downstairs. Here was a poised, confident, hugely likeable artiste in his element in front of people many of whom would happily have taken him home for a coffee and a nightcap and a plea for more music. Members of his family from various parts of the UK were also present and no wonder they looked so proud.

Regular visitors to this website will know how rated his most recent offerings "Elk Lake Serenade" and "Skyscraper National Park" are, and he dipped in and out of both, although "Hollywood Ending" (a personal favourite) was not given an airing. In "Robbed Blind" from "Elk" he substituted "Darvel" for "Texas" at one stage, and then said he'd been trying to think of something that would rhyme with Darvel, l but couldn¹t come up with anything; "marvel" suggested my son, Steven, sipping Guinness next to me. And Hayden is a marvel; he opened with the haunting "Dynamite Walls" from "Skyscraper.." and closed with Leonard Cohen¹s staggering "Famous Blue Raincoat" which was quite breath taking. He also did a great cover of Otis Redding's "Dock of the Bay", complete with whistling, and then he revealed to us that he wrote many songs less than two minutes long as he didn¹t like repeating himself. This guy, though, has so much to say in his lyrics as in "Don¹t Get Down" when he writes "every day's too short, we're only here for a little while, you'd better make your mark." Hayden was only in Ayrshire for a little while and make his mark he certainly did.

This was a flawless performance that flowed like melted chocolate. It was enticing and totally compelling. My brother, and gig-going companion, Brian, said that Hayden created the same after-show feeling as had Bob Dylan at his triumphant June gig at Barrowlands in Glasgow in June. That's right, today I want to do that schoolboy thing and tell all and sundry "I was there", or at least tell people, who may not have heard of Hayden, to do themselves a favour and buy his music. Like Richmond Fontaine a week earlier Hayden cast a spell on Darvel with a concert we didn¹t want to end. But he had a lot of catching up to do with his family so we couldn't begrudge him that. After all, thanks to the supreme efforts of Neil McKenna, and his hard-working Festival production team, we had been allowed to share and bask in excellent musicianship, glorious melodies and thoughtful lyrics for the best part of an unforgettable night. Two top-notch shows in one week.

Thank you, Darvel. BRILLIANT.


Hayden - Darvel Town Hall 8/10/04
(Photography by Alasdair Fraser)


Hayden - Darvel Town Hall 8/10/04
(Photography by Alasdair Fraser)