Ullapool, 19-20 September 2008

Alto Elite (photo - Karen Ray)

LOOPALLU is great and unique. It has the best location and the best fringe facilities. It is by far the friendliest and safest festival. It’s the same cops who patrol this festival as the other ones, but you don’t have to be out of your head to have a conversation with them. The security staff chat away while searching your bags, and you don’t have a five-mile walk from your car.

Because it is located at a proper campsite, the festival – and this is a rarity – has proper toilets. Only this year there was a mains water burst and for a while it looked as though we would have to rely Heilan Loos, but Scottish Water came to the rescue and all was restored.

The downside with Loopallu though, is also the very thing that makes it so good – its size. There is only room for one big tent which means hanging around between acts. One of the enjoyable things at other festivals is wandering around with always something to listen to or do.

At Loopallu, you have to walk into town for entertainment, which means you are forced to choose to miss what will no doubt turn out to be the best act of the weekend. Even worse, you may get distracted by the Fringe in some of the pubs and never make it back to the festival site.

Anyway; the music – highlights for me were Pearl and the Puppets from that most unlikely of musical towns, Kirkintilloch. I still can’t believe anyone under the age of eighty is called Pearl, but what wonderful music they make. Their sound was really together – definitely a band and not just a singer in front of some musicians. Pearl’s voice reminded me of a gentler Bjork, and I have already signed up for their soon to be released CD.

Alto Elite had a good, rocky sound too, despite being named after an agricultural fungicide (I am sure there is a deeper meaning to this than I am getting). I missed them at Belladrum, and this was the first chance I had to hear the Dundee-based band, but their music immediately sounded familiar. The crowd loved them too.

I must admit I was keen to hear The Rascals, as there has been a lot of hype about this trio from The Wirral (the Milngavie of Liverpool for those not in the know). It is difficult in a live setting to explore the lyrics behind the music, and I half-expected to come away disappointed, but that was not the case. Everyone was loving it, and it seems as though the hype was justified. Powerful tunes and a much bigger sound than three people should produce. I am definitely looking forward to discovering their lyrics.

The Family Mahone are almost as much a part of Loopallu now as the An Teallach beer tent. A fantastic festival band putting out the very, very best in English folk, with the occasional nod to other genres. They make no bones about how much fun they are having and put their all into making sure we all had a great time, which we did. So much talent in one family, their mother must be very proud.

I have waited a long time to see 80’s icons Echo and the Bunnymen, and the last 30 minutes wait was the longest. How many times did they check the Mac’s microphone and it still never worked? Sadly, it was not worth the wait. When they eventually strolled on to the stage, fags in hand, it was as if they were doing us a favour. Like many, I left early, finding a reggae party in one of the tents, and a warm, if drunken, welcome at the Ceilidh Place.

The festival should have headlined the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. They may not be cool, they may not have a deep message for us, but they are very talented musicians, they know how to work a crowd and they wanted to be there.

© Karen Ray, 2008

Links

• Loopallu