Folk by the Oak
Hatfield Park, Hertfordshire
 

SETTING and context counts for a lot when it comes to watching live music. The last time I saw The Levellers, in the incongruous surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall, they looked and sounded like a tired old rock band with their best days behind them.

Yet here, in their more natural habitat as headliners at an open-air festival, they are an entirely different prospect; energised and returned to their old selves.

Perhaps it is the nicely relaxed atmosphere in the grasslands of Hatfield House that takes them back to that solid state, but whatever the cause it is heartening to see them produce musical pyrotechnics to go with the real-life fireworks at the end.

Also harnessing the Folk by the Oak vibes are The Staves, who precede The Levellers on the main stage. Now down to two sisters (Jessica and Camilla) rather than the original three, they’re less folky and more poppy in their current incarnation, but show they are still accomplished song-crafters and nurture a witty aura on stage with the three “lads” of their band lending a genial hand.

Over on the secondary Acorn stage, Calahen Morrison is another to rise well to the occasion.

From New Mexico, he’s been on the road for years, as his now greying beard attests, but has learned his craft in the process.

With a distinctive voice, a tangible feeling of loneliness and occasionally Dylan-esque lyrics, he would surely have been a boon to the main stage, save for the stripped-back quality of his presentation, which might have got lost in the larger spaces at hand.

On the Acorn, too, the all-female and largely Scottish six-piece band Heisk create a favourable impression with an energetic sound based around a modern drum and bass underpinning, while back across in the main arena, The Furrow Collective — three women, one man — deliver an equally engaging but more traditional folk experience with minimal instrumentation, save for the echoes and reverb of a harp, a guitar and an electric saw.

Other offerings across the day perhaps take the mellow Sunday afternoon feel a bit too far. On the Acorn stage the Grace Smith Trio feature some interestingly languid electric guitar from Sam Partridge, but are pleasantly uninspiring at best, while the Malin Lewis Trio deliver only a little bit more oomph.

On the main stage Darlingside, from Boston, Massachusetts, are the most insipid presence of the day, though jet lag may have excused their somnolence, and Seckou Keita are disappointingly bland as the tones of his kora are lost in the poppy Senegalese mush of his new collaboration, the Homeland Band.

Nonetheless, as an overall package this year’s Folk by the Oak is once again a success. Hats off to the organisers for actually encouraging festival-goers to bring their own food and drink, and for keeping the core ticket price at £65, which represents excellent value for such a good day’s worth of entertainment. Long may it prosper.