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Bournemouth Folk Festival

Venue: BIC
Town: Bournemouth
Date: 23rd-24th March
Website: http://www.bournemouthfolkfestival.co.uk

Saturday

Having refuelled and caught up with a with a few friends it's time to take a wander back into the Tregonwell Hall. There's a dance floor where the rowed seating was, with the tables dominating around the edge. Later on there would be ceilidh from Cut-A-Shine and then more dance with a world music vibe from Grupo Lokito, but that's still to come now it's time for the Moulettes.

The Moulettes are a difficult band to describe, there is definitely something of the night about them. They are one of those bands that you feel more like you are getting a show from rather than a set, as they build an atmosphere.

The songs drive the set forward with tight and at times almost plainsong type harmonies. The combination of voices with instrumentation designed more to create an atmosphere, rather than just to support the vocals.

The band have a new album "The Bear's Revenge" due out soon. Bournemouth Folk Festival seemed like a good opportunity to give them a new road test. They've also added a new vocalist into the line-up with allows them to play with even more vocal dynamics.

The Moulettes are a big band, percussion, strings, woodwind and have the imagine to combine that instrumentation into a sound that may feel like it's stepped out of a strange primordial musical soup also sounds like its fresh and of today.

It's also surprisingly easy to dance to, not that I did, but a good number got to their feet during the course of their set. Personally I concentrated on listening to the dynamic interplay of the voices, absorbing the words and losing myself in the imagery the band generate through their songs, which was what made it such a shock when they announced their last song.

The Moulettes were for me the highlight of the day so far and it's not over yet. All bodes well for the album, when it's officially released. There's going to be plenty of opportunities to see the band at festivals, not least when they return to Dorset for the Purbeck Folk Festival in August.

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