Home → Reviews→ Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Wainwright III - Cambridge Folk Festival - 28 July 2001
When John Prine
broke his elbow shortly before he was due to appear at the Cambridge Folk
Festival in 2001, the fully armed Loudon Wainwright III
stepped in at the last minute.
Unfortunately, the slot he filled conflicted with the act I had travelled there to see, Brian Kennedy. It would be a tough choice any day, but my reason for being there in terms of both the ticket and transportation to Cambridge that I had kindly been given was to see Kennedy.
Nevertheless, just before Kennedy appeared, I
managed to sneak in to the side of the
tent where Wainwright was appearing and was able to observe briefly from a distance his
bizarre but loveable affectations whilst performing: the tongue-stretching, the waggly lower leg, and the enormous beams in between his witty lyrics.
Just as I was thinking it had been far too
long since I had seen this brilliant man perform, I was called away as Brian
Kennedy had taken the stage elsewhere. Brian's performance was marvellous, but I
was
desperately sorry that I could not watch both sets.
Needless to say, the photos I took from such a distance in that lighting turned out to be rubbish, but I've included them here in case anyone enjoys looking at tiny, faint, pink-lit outlines of the loveable eccentric New Bob Dylan himself. I sometimes do.