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plungermusic · 2 years

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“Indian Summer, It’s On It’s Way, Cool All Night…”

“… And Hot All Day.”

Maverick Saturday kept its (nearly) perfect run of perfect festival weather - blue skies, hot sun and light breeze greeted the gathering crowds, particularly on the open air Green Stage. Drew Young Band (below)had the honour of opening on the Green, and despite expressing shock at the early start (“I mean, I knew there was an 11am but the idea of playing music then was a new one!”) Drew and co (Kelly Bayfield second vox/bvs, David Booth drums/bvs, Kilby Mears bass, Andy Trill electric guitar) impressed with a suitably warm-but-breezy set, including a Knopfleresque Clearly with its airy harmonies, the chicken-picking line-dancing chug of It’ll Be Soon, the darker melancholic country of Georgia Line, and Sideways’ bouncy Tex-Mex-spiced stroll. The joker in the pack was the beefy roadhouse rocker Stuck On Believing, with Kelly doing a fine Shaun Murphy gritty counterpoint vocal, great drum and bass work, and gutsy guitar.

Following Drew, Suffolk locals The Joe Keeley band tempted us to stay put with a promising soundcheck for their twin-guitar line-up (particularly Jack Lawson’s cranked-up Les Paul!) Sadly once they got going proper, Jack’s way-down-in-the-mix sound and an opener drawn from the southern rock cliche songbook (name a bunch of states, mention outlaws, badmen and women) lost our interest and we headed for the bar.

Hannah Aldridge (above), another Maverick favourite, was playing as a duo (nominally… as her set progressed she was joined by various ‘friends’ from her UK touring partner Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes). Her honeyed Nicksian tones were perfect for the mix of Cali-country and southern gothic, with some excellent near-a cappella harmonies particularly in a cover of Lachlan’s Dugdemona with added atmospheric fiddle, and her own anthemic Burning Down Birmingham with its customary crowd-participation choir finale.

Blue Highways’ Brucetastic bluster was an ideal match for the Green stage: very much Plunger’s idea of ‘proper festival music’, they took full advantage with the full-on sprawling Bossness of Take Me Away, a barrelling She Moves, Have You Seen My Baby’s bouncy saloon country and the high-octane post-pandemic hedonism of I Wanna Party… and despite the setting they still held the crowd rapt with another emotional and intimate rendition of Tonight.

Canada’s Redhill Valleys (above) were another “Never heard of them… Oh, they’re great!” bonus: Chelsea McWilliams (bass/vocals), Tim Allard (lead guitar/vocals), Danielle Beaudin (guitar/vocals), and Matt Soliveri (drums) lit up the green stage with a mix of slick multi-vox Laurel Canyon country rock, Sunset Strip sleaze and 70s N’awlins funk. Nice to see them making full use of the two guitar line-up on Burn It Down and they also gave us a killer cover of Lucinda Williams’ I Lost It. Right up there with Mickelson as this year’s Maverick surprise discovery.

Evangeline Gentle’s self-titled release was one of Plunger's fave releases of 2020, but ‘events, dear boy’ had conspired against us seeing her live until now. She has a new look (think tycoon’s wayward daughter in a 40s Hollywood noir) but the sublime voice is unchanged, and although the rich production of the record was perforce absent in this duo performance, songs from the album (So It Goes, Long Time Love, Drop My Name) and new ones like Dancing At The Gay Bar, stood on their own right and stripped back highlighted Evangeline’s seductive fragile-but-defiant vibrato-laden vox… it wasn’t just the sun that had Plunger melting like mivvi by the end of her set.

Still a bit Evangeline-dazzled we drifted down to the Green to catch the end of Peter Bruntnell’s set. Shamefully (as he’s a bit of a ‘ledge’) Plunger have no idea what he played or even if it’s typical of his output, but it sounded pretty damn good blasting out across the sun-baked grass: Youngian anthemic progressions with extended wild flaring solos, eastern-drone spacey passages and hallucinatory shambling grooves with harmony guitar. One for further investigation, definitely.

The Sam Chase was a big Plunger favourite on our three viewings of him last year, and he proved just as entertaining here. His folk/rock/roots/kitchen sink-and-anything-else-to-hand set delivered tales of horror, murder, ghosts, drinking and despair with lots of excellent strings from violinist Chandra Johnson and cellist Devon McClive, as well as a generous helping of wry dark humour (like introducing Everyone Is Crazy But Me as “a children’s song - now what they mean is that it’s simple… since kids are generally at the dumber end of the spectrum.”)

Next up on the sun-drenched green were Treetop Flyers (above): presumably named for the Stephen Stills song they’re often billed as CSNY-ish. While chugging progressions and a splash of Youngian harmonica did hint at ‘Y’ occasionally (and there was indeed a brief snatch of intricate CSN harmonies) mostly this was robust, rollicking 70s roots à la Caravan-era Van Morrison, as epitomised in the soully bustle of Golden Hour - keys, sax and guitar driven by a Chapman-like powerful lead vocal - and several snare-led upbeat Motowny numbers, all ideal to get the Green moving.

Plunger’s first Saturday foray down to the Moonshine was for Tim Gerard: another return visitor and Plunger favourite, Tim proved equally at home in the Greenwich Village coffee shop troubadour narrative of Pretenders, the bluesy boogie of Trouble On The Move or the impassioned western-tinged Savannah. The impressive set also featured the live premiere of new song International Show a somewhat wry look at the ‘jet set’ life of the travelling muso!

Returning to the Green we caught the tail end of The Hanging Stars: despite the presence of the brilliant Joe Harvey Whyte on shimmering pedal steel what we heard leaned more toward indie rock than their professed cosmic country, although the not-entirely-protest song I Don’t Want To Feel So Bad Any More (introduced as being “for anyone who hates the Tories” - which raised a cheer from at least half the assembled crowd!) did combine pedal steel and jangly Rickenbacker to just that effect, so we could be wildly far of the mark…

Fellow Londoners Forty Elephant Gang (above) brought their newly beefed-up presence to the Barn, the addition of drummer and bassist adding a punchier feel to the mando folk-meets-punk field holler of Songs Of Praise (we did say it was perfect festival fare!) and the crowd-pleasing crowd-participation stomp of Hands Out Your Pockets. A particular Plunger favourite was the slow and Squeeze-y Nashville-via -Neasden waltz Young Man’s Game with its tight three-part harmonies.

Nashville native (and previous Maverick attendee… admittedly 12 years ago) Rod Picott drew a reverential crowd to the Barn. However for Plunger’s tastes his solo acoustic set was a bit unremarkable (despite some fine guitar and a nice line in US/UK culture clash gags… “A whole HOUR of radio for women?”) lacking either the variety of a Tim Gerard, the treacly warmth of a Drew Young or the grit of a Mickelson, so it seemed an appropriate time for a meal break …

Plunger often lazily pigeonhole Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes as solely purveyors of outback outlaw ballads, and while there were some of those in their Barn return, particularly Ballad Of A Young Married Man, we tend to forget the Springsteeny lopes, dark tom-led swampy grooves and of course the previously Hannah-covered epic Dugdemona that really is a ready-made classic (and notable post-festival earworm).

With night falling, Plunger took to the Moonshine for another dose of Mickelson, passing on the way the Peacock stage which was rammed solid for the Gram Parsons tribute. With songs from all available acts, covering the alt-country hero’s back catalogue, including Tim Gerard (above) and most notably The Sam Chase who covered the Gram and Emmylou cover of Love Hurts in their own inimitable gruff, threatening manner: you really believed that love would definitely hurt delivered in those tones… Down by the waterside, Mickelson’s smouldering twilit performance was another hugely atmospheric highlight (unchanged set or no) with some fantastic banjo playing, chiming Stillsian guitar and spine-tingling vocal sincerity.

Terra Lightfoot’s headline slot in the Barn (the first of two) was a stunning tour de force (and boy, what force - both vocally and with her cranked Gibson SG)! A trouser-flappingly loud guitar intro heralded Stars Over Dakota, followed by more heavy-riffing-and-doo-wop Stax/metal hybrids Called Out Your Name, It’s Over Now and Hold You with its audience call-and-response. Plunger can’t think of anyone else who can successfully mix light soully pop with rafter-rattling rock to make bobbysox metal (bubblegum rock?) Slightly (only slightly) more relaxed vibes came in new song The Only One Of Your Kind, and the shoutalong Pinball King. Slick Back Kid included showboating solo spots for both bass and drums, and a thrashy Consider The Speed (with Redhill Valleys sitting in) ended a thrilling set. Or almost… to the surprise of everyone (including the crew) Terra did return for a gooseflesh-raising solo encore of Angel From Montgomery, showcasing that phenomenal voice.