Can’t Stand the Rain – Folk Fest 40 a wrap!
The Edmonton Folk Music Festival is one of those pivotal summer events that signal a forthcoming change in season. First comes the Folk Fest, shortly followed by the Fringe, and then the coming of First Winter.
While the temperatures were definitely below average for August, the music in Gallagher Park certainly kept things hot. The final day of the festival on Sunday was cloudy and cool, with park patrons still dealing with lots of mud and muck from the opening night thunderstorm. No one’s spirits seemed dampened though, with the afternoon main stage featuring the world beat groove of Dobet Gnahoré, a Grammy award-winning artist from Africa. She infuses messages of women power in her Afrocentric sound, combining traditional musical elements with contemporary funk and soul.
Stage 3 is known on Folk Fest Sundays as the place for gospel, and one of the highlights was a return visit by Mississippi’s Don Bryant. Backed up by the Bo-Keys, 77-year-old Bryant’s energetic delivery, bluesy vocals, and smooth moves had people standing and dancing. Bryant concluded his set with I Can’t Stand the Rain, co-written with – and made famous by – his wife of 45 years, Ann Peebles. With perfect timing, the wind kicked up and a light mist sprayed from the skies during that song. It was deliciously ironic. Bryant later appeared on the main stage as an interlude act.
Stage 1 tends to focus on blues, and the concert by Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne (right) brought a large crowd to enjoy his boogie-woogie piano stylings, accompanied by some of Edmonton’s finest musicians, including Rusty Reed and Dave Babcock.
Other Session stage highlights on Sunday afternoon included the Latin American sounds of Doctor Nativo, the soulful harmonies of The Hamiltones, and the vocal and instrumental prowess of Irish singer SON.
With the precarious weather hanging on by a thread, the evening main stage began with the joyful sounds of upbeat jazz and blues from the California Honeydrops, a band from – as the name suggests – California. Frontman Lech Wierzynski alternated between trumpet and guitar, while presenting his vocals with boyish charm.
Speaking of charm, Vancouver’s Dan Mangan (below, right) delivered original songs with depth and wisdom beyond his years. Fresh from already performing a concert on Stage 6 – the largest of the Session stages – Mangan’s smooth vocals and acoustic guitar were the main forces behind his songs, although he did have other musicians backing him up at times.
The Waifs is a band from Australia that has played the Folk Fest numerous times, and is composed of two sisters and one man. Their harmonies were heavenly, and of the entire evening, their set was the most “folk” in the traditional sense of the genre.
Numbers on Sunday were noticeably down from the preceding day, with some major gaps visibly apparent on the hill. This could possibly be explained by the weather and possibly the cancellation of John Prine due to health reasons. Prine was to be the final act of Sunday evening. Instead, there was a storm. No, not that kind – the weather miraculously held out for the evening. The War and the Treaty (top picture) – which is Michael and Tanya Trotter, a husband-and-wife duo from Michigan who debuted at last year’s Folk Fest – commanded the stage from the time they entered and began singing with intense passion and messages of love and healing. That rippled into the audience from the very first note. It was a powerful ending to the festival’s 40th anniversary. And better that the festival be remembered for that power and energy, rather than unfortunate weather.
