Small event with a big glow - Tartan Heart Festival

Published on Sunday 10 August 2008 21:16

TARTAN HEART FESTIVAL **** BELLADRUM

IT'S the early hours on Sunday. The Waterboys have long vacated the main Garden Stage after closing the festival, the smoke from the spectacular fireworks display has cleared and work has started on dismantling the marquees, but the enormous woven heart dominating the main arena is still beautifully floodlit. Tartan Heart may be a small festival, somewhat overlooked in comparison with the more mainstream Rock Ness, but it has a glow that lingers on.

No part of the arena is more than a five-minute walk away, but the organisers have crammed an impressive variety of attractions into their bijou space. In addition to the music stages, there was a cabaret tent hosting everything from a toddlers' disco to a masked ball. The Tir Nan Og kids' area, a poetry tent doubling as a comedy stage and general hang-out, Madam Fifi's Dance Parlour with a full programme of dance classes and even their own Hielan' Fields offering an array of alternative therapies.

Around and about in the arena, kids queued up to don sumo fat-suits and engage in wrestling bouts. Bouncers officiated at the Minuscule of Sound, the world's smallest nightclub, while the al fresco Village Disco, run by three country bumpkins with cheesy taste in music, reeled in passing trade, and the Headphone Disco proved to be the biggest clubbing attraction of the weekend.

Street theatre performers roamed about but were sometimes indistinguishable from festival-goers adhering to the fancy dress code. This year's most popular costume: The Choker.

The music bill could politely be called eclectic, but more accurately diagnosed as schizophrenic. Local bands performed on the Seedlings Stage and there was a random ragbag of styles at the Potting Shed, which is literally a wooden lean-to.

On Friday, Rachel Unthank and the Winterset brought warm humour and traditional Northumbrian tunes to the Grassroots Stage, and Kathryn Williams wisped through a set with Neill MacColl. Meanwhile over on the main stage, veteran acid rockers Jefferson Starship seemed to divide the crowd. Old hippies wigged it out to White Rabbit to the bemusement of younger members of the audience, who probably had no idea what they were witnessing. The addition of Grace Slick surrogate Cathy Richardson to a line-up which also includes Dave Freiberg of Quicksilver Messenger Service enhanced their distinctive harmony style, but their mix-and-match cover of Imagine and Redemption Song was painful.

With little programming coherence, they were followed by their polar opposites, Scouting For Girls, a flash-in-the-pan pop band whose appeal remains a mystery to non-teenagers. Back on the Grassroots Stage, Justin Currie combined solo material with Del Amitri hits, but there was more exotic entertainment in the Venus Flytrap tent in the form of a fire-eater and a jaw-droppingly athletic acrobat.

After a damp start to Saturday, the sun broke through and jugs of Pimm's and cream teas were at a premium. Sharp-dressed Leeds quartet Friends of the Bride were an easy listen on the Hothouse Stage with a mix of Sixties beat pop, Franz Ferdinand-style choruses and even a spot of surf twang.

Glasgow's Attic Lights were pleasant enough, but were outjangled by the Lemonheads.

After some last-minute rescheduling, Cold War Kids landed on the main stage, where a blaring sound mix did no favours for their quirky intricate sound. These US college rockers are typical cool festival fare – so seemed a little misplaced at Belladrum.

Saturday night was Eighties comeback heroes night on the Grassroots Stage. First, Pete Wylie rocked out in a naff sparkly shirt, but even he seemed more excited by the prospect of seeing Edwyn Collins. His expectation was rewarded with by far the best set of the weekend.

Flanked by his wonderful tight, intuitive band, including Roddy Frame on guitar, Collins looked cool and relaxed perched on an amp, powering through more or less the same set as he delivered around the country earlier this year. Orange Juice oldies Falling and Laughing, Blue Boy and a superfunky Rip It Up were highlights, but the material from his most recent album, Home Again, held its own, and Searching For The Truth, written after his stroke, was enormously touching.

He also made room for a snatch of The Campaign For Real Rock, though he would surely revise its wry reference to "the truly detestable summer festival" following this ecstatic reception.