29. haldern pop festival. live review.

when: 9-11 august 2012

where: rees-haldern, germany

who: afghan whigs, the maccabees, ben howard, oberhofer, other lives, wilco, guillemots etc.

highlights: nigel wright, jamie n commons, honig, alt-j, zulu winter

it may sound a bit weird to people who’ve never been to this festival and even though it’s only been my second time, driving to haldern felt a bit like driving home. the atmosphere at the haldern pop festival is not easy to describe and probably very hard to understand for people who’ve never experienced the kindness of the people who attend and organise this festival. my own and other people’s experience shows that not only the festival goers, but also the staff, from security to the barmen to the young folks who sell the drink tokens (the poptaler), is extremely friendly and always happy to help if asked for assistance with anything. one thing is for sure, i’ll be back once again next year to celebrate the 30^th haldern pop festival. but for now, let’s have a look what this little but nevertheless very special festival had to offer this year…

  

things kicked off with four young gentlemen from denmark – iceage opened the spiegeltent at this year’s festival. it’s no secret that the haldern pop festival line up is always quite diverse and iceage is a band you might not necessarily expect on the line up. besides the fact that i’m not a fan of (post-)punk music, i’m still wondering if iceage really were the best way to start the festival. a fan of this kind of music or not, the fact that the band, except for the lead singer perhaps, seemed to be bored out of their minds, didn’t really add anything to their performance. 

on the plus side, we were sure it could only get better and much to my surprise, kraftklub actually proved us right. i never thought that a german band would be able to entertain me this much. due to another band having to cancel their festival appearance there was a surprise set and the act wasn’t revealed till the day. judging by the crowd’s response, kraftklub definitely was a brilliant choice. they opened the newly added beergarden stage with the statement "we are t.b.a.!" fantastic stage banter, lots of sunshine and a rock-pop sound that got the audience dancing… there wasn’t much more to ask for. in the spiegeltent, willis earl beal offered quite an usual show. an old tape recorder, a bottle of rum, a black cape, an electric guitar and a tooth pick belonged to his stage equipment. despite his rather strange stage appearance, his powerful voice left everyone more than impressed and i finally understood why people were looking forward to his set so much. it was impossible to resist his voice. 

same goes for jamie n commons. having seen him and his band twice before, he was on top of my list of bands to see on thursday. i remember playing my dad some of his songs and the first thing he said to me was "this guy sounds like a young joe cocker!" and i guess he has a point. when you see jamie, you wouldn’t expect such a voice but combined with his (folk-)rock sound, he delivered a set that simply left you wanting even more. but of course we were at a festival, so there was no chance for an encore. we decided to head out again to catch the last bit of the war on drugs set on the beergarden stage. nothing really to say here as we didn’t get to see much but to be perfectly honest, what i saw was enough for me. no stage presence whatsoever, simply another bored band up on stage. no matter how good the music might be, if the band is bored, the audience is bored. thankfully that was not the case with charles bradley. we watched his entire spiegeltent set outside on the big screen and i guess we were happy that we didn’t bother to go back into the tent. don’t get me wrong, his band was great (especially the brass section), he’s got one hell of a voice and delivered a special and touching performance but we probably had massive question marks on our foreheads when charles bradley walked through the audience after his set and randomly started hugging people. i still have absolutely no idea what that was all about but in the end the only thing that counts is his music and that was just a joy to listen to.

we started our second day at the haldern pop festival by listening to wye oak while browsing through the vinyl stand near the main stage. they were recommended to me but none of us really bothered to actually go and see them. therefore there’s not much to say about them as we only listened with one ear basically and didn’t pay attention at all. the next act on the main stage though certainly grabbed us – again. other lives played at the festival last year and delivered one of the best sets of the entire festival, even though we didn’t really get to see them per se as they played at the haldern pop bar and we didn’t get in cos we were late. but considering the fact that we got their album after their set, they were so impressive that we were looking forward to seeing them again. unfortunately the soundcheck took longer than expected which meant that we had to leave after two songs to secure good spots in the spiegeltent for the next two bands. but as always, other lives is a band that you just can’t ignore. the sheer amount of instruments that they have on stage can only mean something special is about to happen and that really is the case every time i see them live. their alternative folk-rock sound never fails to impress. 

back in the tent, steve smyth was about to entertain us next. another recommendation from a friend, we were more or less forced to go and see him – in a good way though. with a voice like this and the ability to be this fascinating, the crowd was on his side from the first song on. an immense rock sound that left you stunned. well done, mr smyth. up next was one of my personal highlights of the entire festival, a band that i honestly didn’t have high hopes for after seeing them once before supporting another band in folkestone almost three months ago. maybe it was the fact that i didn’t know them then or maybe it was because they seemed a bit lost on this massive stage, but zulu winter’s support set wasn’t that impressive. a whole different story in haldern, zulu winter (photo on the right) delivered one of the most fun and entertaining sets i’ve seen at the festival this year. five genuinely nice guys who seemed to enjoy themselves just as much as the audience enjoyed them. zulu winter are definitely worth checking out and i will make sure to see them again.

meanwhile dan mangan conquered the main stage after last year’s appearance in the spiegeltent. having seen him before, we weren’t that motivated to actually go and watch his set. the heat probably really got to us by that point. but not seeing him didn’t mean we couldn’t hear him. he’s got such a distinctive voice that you can’t ignore. he’s well worth seeing after all. thees uhlmann and his band were up next. none of us really wanted to see him as we’re all not into german music (or german lyrics) at all. nevertheless we made our way to the stage in order to try to get a decent spot for ben howard. much to our surprise, thees uhlmann turned out to be quite fun. he certainly enjoyed being up on stage and people singing along to his songs. i’m still not quite convinced but i guess it was a massive show for his fans. 

the third male singer in a row was ben howard, another act that previously performed at the festival. having seen him live three times before, this year’s haldern set was probably the worst i’ve ever seen him play – not because of him or his band but the sound was more than horrible. don’t know if the guys at the sound desk didn’t hear that or if they simply couldn’t do anything about it. unfortunately this kind of ruined it for us, even though ben himself was obviously in a good mood and very much enjoyed being back at the festival. it was a shame that his beautiful voice and unique guitar playing didn’t really come across due to the sound issues. two door cinema club seemed to be the complete opposite of dan mangan and ben howard – their description on facebook starts with "two door cinema club are 3 people with the help of technology and a thirst for anything quirky" and that’s exactly what it was. still don’t know what it really was but they sounded quite british to me. bombay bicycle club, two door cinema club, the maccabees… sooner or later they all start to sound the same. not necessarily bad, just the same. two door cinema club’s electro pop sound got the crowd dancing, maybe even a bit too much. they delivered a pretty good performance and that’s basically what it's all about.

at breakfast on saturday morning, we were discussing who each of us wanted to see that day. as always, we agreed on most acts. not on all of them which meant i spent the entire day in the spiegeltent while the others walked over to the main stage once to check out patrick watson and the maccabees. but the last day started with the guillemots in the spiegeltent. i was quite looking forward to seeing them as i've heard many good things about them. gotta admit though that i really wasn’t into them. their pop/indie/folk sound might have been quite nice but fyfe dangerdfield’s voice reminded me way too much of mika (whose voice i just can’t stand). fortunately, honig (photo on the right side) was about to follow them and he did not disappoint at all. he’s about to release his second album empty orchestra on haldern pop recordings next month, so of course we expected him to play at the festival as well. and thank god he did. the singer-songwriter from düsseldorf has an immense stage presence (which i honestly did not expect) and sure knows how to interact with the audience. it seemed like he was determined to make every single song the best one of the set. i remember saying that if his new album is anything like his song in my drunken head, we’ll be in for a real treat. judging by his live performance and the songs he played with his band, the album will be (or actually is) something very special and definitely should be part of every good record collection… 

…just like nigel wright’s millfoil which was released earlier this year on butterfly collectors. now if you actually know and love this album as much as i do, then you’ll be amazed by the live quality of those songs. i was worried that the intensity of the songs might not come across live as the focus is clearly on the vocals on the album and less on the instruments. but no need to worry at all – as soon as the first notes of solid muse filled the spiegeltent, nigel and his band won me over completely. i’m almost ashamed to say that i was worried but they certainly taught me a lesson. while the album sound is quite mellow, it’s amazing to see (or better hear) what they can do with those songs. and no, nigel’s vocals do not suffer at all live, the entire set was built upon them. they sound even better than i would’ve expected… and there was me thinking that wasn’t possible. nigel’s set was way too short if you ask me, but the rest of the day looked promising as well. 

when damien jurado walked on stage, he gave us the impression he wasn’t really in the mood to actually play anything. that quickly changed as soon as he started talking in between songs, telling us stories about what his fans think some of his songs mean (which is, according to him, normally not what he had in mind when he wrote those songs). as much as i like his music, i wish he would’ve played with a band as i think it is usually quite difficult to keep the audience entertained when it’s just you and your guitar. if you want it or not, the songs start to sound alike and people start losing interest. but all in all, damien jurado is simply someone you have to see live at least once and when he came down to the barrier to perform the last song unplugged, there was no one in the audience that didn’t grant him the favour of singing along. megafaun from north carolina, performed next. obviously quite different to damien jurado, they delivered a set that wasn’t necessarily full of energy but nevertheless convinced me. all four of them seemed a bit unmotivated, though always smiling. their sound is based somewhere between folk and indie i would say and full of catchy tunes. i certainly wouldn’t mind seeing them again, hopefully a bit more energetic the next time though.

the energy that i was missing during megafaun’s set definitely showed up when boy & bear came on stage. haven’t heard too much about them before, i didn’t have any expectations whatsoever but one thing is for sure, if there really is someone out there who did not enjoy this set, they simply have to be deaf. someone said boy & bear sound just like so many other bands – they might but their performance was really great and that’s what sets them apart. their indie/rock/folk sound is addictive, even though dave hosking’s voice is similar to charlie fink’s (who i’m not a big fan of). boy & bear were a great discovery at this year’s haldern pop festival. there wasn’t much time to relax as alcoholic faith mission continued to get the audience to dance. the band from denmark wasn’t really on my list but i’m glad i got to see them because their indie/alternative sound was quite impressive on stage. the mix of male and female vocals added the last special bit to their music that basically left everyone in the spiegeltent wanting more. no surprise at all, i could’ve listened to them for longer too. the dancing theme continued with arthur beatrice who were up next. on facebook they describe their genre as "other" and they’re probably not wrong about this. i’m not quite sure how to describe their sound, it’s not quite dance, not quite indie or rock – somewhere in between probably. no matter in which category their music actually belongs, their set was fun to watch and listen to, despite the two blokes behind me who had to scream like little girls as soon as ella girardot’s top was a little out of place. grow up, guys.

alittle more than two long hours were ahead of us before alt-j finally came on stage to end this wonderful festival, but hanging around for those guys was definitely worth it. next to nigel wright, honig and jamie n commons, alt-j were the ones i was looking forward to the most. i had the pleasure of seeing them twice before and therefore knew what to expect. despite the fact that it was already 2am, the spiegeltent was packed – rightly so. the people who weren’t there missed out on something amazing. alt-j’s sound has been compared to wild beasts' quite often. it’s obvious where people are coming from with this and it’s probably one of those comparisons alt-j can be proud of. nevertheless, alt-j have their own sound which is mostly defined by the quite unusual percussions (as there are no cymbals whatsoever) and of course joe newman’s falsetto voice. hard to imagine that there are still people out there who haven’t heard of alt-j yet and if you’re one of those people, go and check them out. the haldern pop festival could not have ended in a better way. staying up this late and waiting for what felt like an eternity just to catch alt-j’s set was more than worth it.

and that was haldern 2012 – sad it’s all over again as it was so much fun. many many thanks to everyone at haldern pop for organising such an incredible event year after year and all the lovely people i got to meet this year (you all know who you are!). new and old faces, we’ll see you again next year to celebrate the 30^th episode of this extraordinary festival!

nigel wright. advance. church sessions.

due to several ongoing discussions, some more objective than others, it gives me an even greater pleasure (than it usually already would) to present another new nigel wright video to you. butterfly collectors released the third (of seven) live videos that were recorded earlier this year. after anna and barriers, the newest video features the opening track advance from nigel’s debut album millfoil. in my humble opinion, this video shows once more that there can be more than one brilliant version of the same song. advance is one of three videos that were recorded with nigel’s band, clay dean and jamey merritt, at the st. johannes evangelist church in berlin. stay tuned for the last video from the church session and of course more from nigel’s barefoot session. i’m tempted to guarantee you that it’ll be worth it… but see youself. here’s advance... 

if you want to know more about nigel wright, you can read an interview with him here (which also includes the videos to barriers and anna) or simply visit his facebook page.

featuring: nigel wright.

the following message landed in my inbox about four months ago - "hi caroline, here’s another tip for you. maybe you’ll like it." a link was attached but that was it, no further information or any explanation at all. blindsided at first, i had no idea what to expect. little did i know that i was in for a special treat. the link brought me to nigel wright’s website, a few more clicks to his song solid muse and that pretty much sealed the deal. 

when you first hear that nigel lives by the blue ridge mountains in georgia (usa) and that he plays folk music, it seems like he fits right into this cliché of folk and perhaps even alt-country singer-songwriters. but nevertheless, nigel wright’s debut album millfoil shows that there’s much more to his music. millfoil has a clear line running through it from advance to the title track at the end. it’s an eclectic mix of well-crafted songs with vocals that seem extremely strong but yet so fragile at the same time. imagine william fitzsimmons’ songs with tom fleming on lead vocals. it’s not quite the same but it comes close. the fact that his voice sounds so unbelievably mature for his young age, easily got me hooked right from the beginning.

the influence of 70s folk musicians like james taylor, cat stevens or even carole king in his music is unmistakable, but nigel wright moves beyond this tradition of early 70s folk and creates a sound that leaves you not only impressed but most of all moved. i wouldn't say he invented a new genre, but his music is clearly about more than just a pretty voice, some simple lyrics and a guitar beat that you can tap your foot along to. it’s not hard to convince us that he’s "kind of nice to have around" (upside) and when he sings "you make me feel so safe" (solid muse), that’s all there is to it. his music indeed makes you feel safe, makes you forget everything around you in pretty much the same way as josh tillman helped us to do so over the last couple of years, especially with year in the kingdom. 

with millfoil, nigel wright definitely proves that it’s easy to be true to a certain genre and still add a modern touch to it by combining it with the sound of an electric guitar for example. all the songs on the album seem to follow the same pattern, yet they all can stand on their own. each song tells a different story and therefore makes the album so diverse, but they also easily work together as a unit. nigel’s new single anna/clear eyed plans is only one of many different sides millfoil has to offer (even though the single is not actually on the album).

"folk singers may be of an ilk that rarely goes multi-platinum, but their work truly resonates with people of all walks of life, and their legacy is astounding" (kim ruehl)

i certainly do hope that nigel will get the attention he deserves but either way, his music already has an immense impact on the way people (or at least i) look at singer-songwriters in folk music - or even in general. 

anna (live - church sessions) 

ever since i first listened to nigel’s music, i wanted to find out more about him, his motivations and his music. luckily i had the chance to do so by asking him a few questions myself and here’s what he had to say.

 

question: both of your parents are painters (the wrights gallery) and you’re doing music, so there’s no doubt that your entire family is obviously talented. how come you chose to do music? did you want to do it professional right from the start or did you have a plan b? 

nigel: since my dad sang and played guitar in a celtic band during the 80s i've been interested in playing guitar since i was 14 and he helped me get started with a few chords - but it wasn't until a year later that i really started to experiment with song writing. my renewed interest came after i heard two records. the first, and most importantly, was a record called for cedar by eleanor murray, my cousin. i was fascinated and inspired by how she accomplished such intense feelings in her music with such minimal arrangements. the second record was bon iver's for emma, forever ago, which increased my fascination to the point where i actually sat down in front of my eight track and started to try things. after i had gotten my first bad songs out of the way, and actually had one worth keeping, the experience had given me such a joy that i asked my dad what i needed to do next if i wanted to do this professionally and have a chance of making it my life. he said first write an album, and so i wrote millfoil. since then i've tried to approach music as professionally as i can. 

you’re signed to the german record label butterfly collectors, which is based in berlin and haldern, and you’re living in georgia, usa. how did this professional relationship come about?

after the artistic duo springerparker founded butterfly collectors last year, to distribute their music on their own terms, they were on the look out for artists that they felt fit into the vision of their label. a friend mentioned that they should check out this new zealand based ambient noise musician called nigel wright. what ended up happening though was that when they searched for him on the internet all that they could find was this other musician, also called nigel wright, who wrote singer-songwriter music. they got in touch with him (me) on facebook, and explained what they were all about, and asked if i would be interested in being their first artist. it was easy to say yes after seeing and hearing their work. 

didn’t it feel a little unreal though or simply too good to be true at first?

definitely. it took me a few weeks to get used to the fact that this was happening. working with a label was something i had frequently dreamed about, but i never expected it to happen so soon. 

you’ve just been to germany to record some live sessions with your band (clay dean and jamey merritt), and to switzerland for the one of a million festival. while in switzerland, you did a radio interview with tina nägeli for soundsofa on drs virus. you said in that interview that you started writing songs when you were 15 and that most of those songs ended up on your debut album millfoil. when you sing those songs now, do you still feel the same way about the lyrics as you did when you wrote them? or do sometimes think "well, this could’ve been better"?

i definitely feel i've gotten better at writing lyrics since then, but that fact doesn't make me "roll my eyes" so to say, when i play the millfoil songs now. though there are things in the millfoil lyrics i would avoid in a song i might write now, those things just add to millfoil's charm and specialness for me. (just to clarify, i was writing songs when i was fifteen, but the good ones came after i had turned 16, and all of those became millfoil.) 

what or who inspires you to write songs?

good music and good books, especially good music that i hear in the perfect context, even if the context is a simple one, for instance, just driving down the mountain to the store when spring begins to kick in. after those moments pass, i'm usually left with a feeling of yearning to create something that might have the same effect - might make someone else's trip to the grocery store, or wherever, the greatest. 

some musicians say that the best songs take ages to write – would you agree or do you think even songs that were written in a short matter of time (or simply very easy to write) can turn out to be absolutely great?

i think it's more complicated than that. writing great songs can come easily and/or quickly at times, but to even have the chance of that happening, sometimes you have to slave over other ideas for weeks. it's all about having a strong work ethic for developing your "voice" without compromise. when you do that, even if that song you slaved over never came together, the things you learned, despite if you didn't understand the lesson, will contribute to some others in the future. nothing's wasted - at least, that's my theory. 

when you came to europe in january, did you experience the typical culture shock? i remember from living in the united states that it took me a while to get used to a few things. was there anything that really struck you while you were here?

the shapes of things - if that even counts as culture. everything from the shapes of cars to toilets to doorknobs to food containers and kitchen utensils freaked me out a little. other than that, i didn't feel like it was that hard to adjust. 

millfoil is available digitally now, the cd version will be released on march 16th and you’re already confirmed to play at this year’s haldern pop festival in august. what else can we expect from you this year?

i will be touring europe in the summer and also for a month or two sometime in the fall with my band, during which vinyl copies of millfoil and the anna single will be available. also, a total of seven live music videos will be released online, four feature me performing solo and the other three include the band. the four solo videos, titled "barefoot sessions volume 1" will be digitally and physically for sale at the end of may. finally in october, a studio version of the millfoil record will be released, which features all the songs with 3 piece band arrangements. this will also come with a "scrapbook" documenting the summer tour.

barriers (live - barefoot sessions)

you will of course find the other five videos from the church session and the barefoot session, as well as all upcoming tourdates, here on the blog.  anna/clear eyed plans is available as a download in all good online music stores, such as amazon (us/uk/germany etc.) and itunes. millfoil is already available as a download too via the butterfly collectors website, where you can also pre-order the cd version. you can find nigel wright on facebook.

many thanks to mirko bogedaly from haldern pop for introducing me to nigel's music, special thanks to oli parker and maik springer from butterfly collectors for making this interview possible and of course massive thanks to nigel wright for answering my questions and most of all his wonderful record.

clay dean, jamey merritt and nigel wright

nigel wright. barriers. barefoot sessions.

there is a whole lot more on nigel wright coming your way in the near future but here's a little something to get you all going - or basically as hooked as me. 

nigel and his band, clay and jamey, went to berlin in january to record some live sessions, which were filmed by nigel's label butterfly collectors (which was founded in 2011 by maik springer and oli parker aka springerparker). seven videos will be released at some point or another, barriers being the first one. this song is taken from nigel's album millfoil which is available for digital download here (you can also pre-order the cd version there). 

after his first european show at the haldern pop bar last month, nigel will be a part of this year's one of a million music festival in switzerland. he's going to play at the hotel du parc in baden this saturday (4th february). the showcase starts at 6.30pm and admission is free, so if you're around make sure to catch nigel's performance. 

as i said, you will find all the other videos here as well, so keep checking back for more on nigel wright. but right now, here's barriers...