34 | October 16, 2014 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News
the critical list: more hot tickets THOUGHT
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MUSIC
Seth Lakeman Festival of Ideas – our hot picks
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T’S a bit much, isn’t it, the Festival of Ideas? There’s so much happening it’s actually a nightmare trying to get your head around it all, combined with that creeping fear of missing out. Running from Monday, October 20, until Sunday, November 2, and organised by Cambridge University, there are a LOT of events to choose from. So, in the interests of ordering your diary and making life a little simpler, ELLA WALKER has sieved through the jam-packed programme for you and needled out some not-to-be-missed highlights. You’re welcome.
Week One: October 20-26
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For
ll Monday of ea details ch Hear Cambridge spoken word and t event, poet Hollie Mcnish launch ticke o book the whole shebang at the nec ts wher festiv essary, vise Museum of Archaeology and Saturday alo it Anthropology (6pm). ac.uk fideas.ca Create a graphic m o r . tw camid Explore mental illness via novel at Make easfe eet @ hip-hop beats, lyrics and live Your Own Comic st wit the h h as performance at Hip Hop Sych Adventure (Faculty #cfi2 htag 014. (West Road Concert Hall, 7pm). of Law, 11am) Tuesday Take a ramble around Better understand the community the city on the Walking Tour spirit of Arbury in photography exhibit of Early Medieval Cambridge (Faculty of I Come From A Place at Kettle’s Yard English, 1pm) (from 11.30am). See more than you’d probably like of Wednesday Russia’s top dogs in Russian Leaders, Can fiction predict the future? That’s Naked and Dressed (Alison Richard the question being asked by writers Building, 4pm). and scientists in The Science of Fiction Sunday at Cambridge Science Centre (7pm) Head to Cambridge Junction for the At A Mind Full Of Memories learn to Women of the World Festival (WOW) “re-wire memories” to combat PTSD for talks, workshops, mentoring, (Howard Theatre, 7pm). performances and martial arts. Thursday See ballet-dancing plastic bags at Week Two: October Cambridge Junction in Company Non 26-November 2 Nova’s L’après-midi d’un Foehn – Monday Version 1 (5.30pm) Hang out with some magical papierCurating Gardens is a chance to query mâché creatures at the Whipple garden design with museum director Museum’s new exhibit The Incredible Tim Knox at the Fitzwilliam (6.15pm). World of Dr Auzoux (2pm). Friday Tuesday Get interactive at Panopticon: are we Discover Budapest through art and losing our identity in today’s Orwellian poetry at the University Library via reality?, an art installation at Anglia Budapest Noir: City as Vision and Ruskin University (from 7pm).
Words (5.30pm). Wednesday How A Middle Class Feminist Fell In Love With Danny Dyer is comedian James Mullinger’s latest show (CB2, 8pm) Go behind the scenes at a 17th century library in Curator For an Hour at St John’s College (10.30am) Thursday Join a panel discussion to answer the question: Could Cambridge be a Smarter City? (Mill Lane lecture rooms, 6.30pm) Six researchers try their hand at standup at Bright Club (The Portland Arms, 7.30pm). Friday Get arty at Kettle’s Yard at The Practice Sessions: Big Draw Special (6pm). Saturday Learn to sew up a wound at Sutures and Stitches: A Roundtable Workshop (ARU, 3pm) Experience the Heffers Classics Forum 2014 (Faculty of Law, 9.30am). Sunday Ask: What Is Consciousness Made Of? (Newnham College, 11am) Find out when a poem is not a poem at a Wordplay workshop (Institute of Continuing Education, 3pm).
The Cambridge Folk Festival favourite returns to the city once again with a raft of new stories to tell. ELLA WALKER finds out more.
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ETH Lakeman’s voice is not as burly as his chiselled, lumberjack looks would lead you to believe. While his singing voice – one of the most recognisable on today’s folk scene – is richly wistful and melodic, his talking voice has a tired whine to it. But that might be because I’ve interrupted him trying to get his baby twins to go down for a nap. Which is fair enough. Classically trained and plucking strings and singing with his family from the age of 5 or 6, the 37-year-old from West Devon is a virtuoso fiddler by trade, and one third of The Lakeman Brothers – his siblings Sean and Sam complete the trio. They’re a family that reads like a ‘folk’ cored stick of rock. The youngest of the lot, Seth is the one – whether you’re a roots lover or not – you’re most likely to have heard of. A darling of Radio 2, in 2005 his second solo album, Kitty Jay, was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, getting beaten to the gong by Antony and the Johnsons (and where are they now?). He’s also a firm favourite on the Cambridge folk scene, having played here on a loop since he performed in his earliest band, Equation. “Coming back and playing is quite a buzz actually,” he says with real feeling. This time he’s visiting Cambridge Corn Exchange on his Word of Mouth tour, playing songs off his 2014 album of the same name. Recorded in an echoey church in Cornwall, each track tells a story based on interviews Lakeman conducted with local people, from a dockworker to female mineworkers and a farmer “who passed away a week after I recorded him”. It made the musician think: “It is really important to preserve these voices.” He explains how archivists and reading books like American folklorist Alan Lomax’s The Man Who Recorded The World nudged him to go out and earnestly
start collecting life stories from his native people in a move reminiscent of his journalist father, Geoff. His favourite he crafted into the stomping Last Rider. “It’s the story of a steam engine driver and his journey, his feelings about the age of steam, which I just found fascinating,” Lakeman enthuses. “It has an 80-yearold man whooping on it! Haha. “It’s the total opposite of pop records or singer-songwriter introverted records which are more about sat there coming up with ideas.” He describes how he sought out tales from across Dorset, all the way down to the fringes of Cornwall. “Piecing it together was a lot more work than I thought it was going to be, because I guess there’s no limit. It could go on forever.” Cambridge Folk Festival this summer is a case in point. Lakeman announced a few weeks before his appearance that he was searching for Cambridge stories to weave into a new song for his set, finally picking The Pebble Man as his subject: “He travels all round the country; he’s sort of a roaming gypsy and he builds these sculptures out of stones and people are fascinated by it. They come out and bring him food, and hot drinks.” This is folk at its truest, earthiest level. Lakeman was destined for nothing less though. “Music was the only thing I really excelled at,” he admits thoughtfully. “I’m not really a DIY man, or practical in any sense, but I enjoy writing and coming up with ideas and obviously I love playing tunes and experimenting with music.” When you’re submerged in a family who all play too, it would be hard not to be consumed by music (his brother Sam is also married to folk singer Cara Dillon). Do he and his brothers ever get competitive? “We always have. I think that’s probably the biggest drive, having three brothers so close in age and all
Cambridge News | cambridge-news.co.uk | October 16, 2014 | 35
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BOOKS
Cambridge Literary Festival
Seth Lakeman, Cambridge CornON HOT TICKETS WHAT’S Exchange, ON Wednesday, 22 WHAT’S HOTOctober TICKETS at 7.30pm. HOT TICKETS WHAT’S Tickets £20-£25 from (01223) ON 357851 or ON cornex.co.uk. WHAT’S HOT TICKETS
TICKETS to this winter’s News-backed Cambridge Literary Festival are now on sale. The one-day festival, taking place on Sunday, November 30, will see some literary greats descend on the city. Highlights include: Clare Balding, pictured, Eimear McBride, Ali Smith, Lynn Barber, Alan Johnson, Sheila Hancock and many more. Don’t miss three special preview events either: n Nick Hornby will talk about his new book Funny Girl at Parkside Campus on Wednesday, November 12. n Hear Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson read from her latest novel Lila on Friday, November 14, at the Cambridge Union Chamber.
n Cambridge broadcaster and poet Clive James makes a rare public appearance on Friday, November 14, also at the Cambridge Union Chamber. All tickets are available from (01223) 300085 or adcticketing. com.
Visit cambridgeliteraryfestival.com for full programme details.
fiercely competitive. I think that’s quite important to where we are now.” He says the challenges (“I’m trying to write a song sat here with two babies and it’s quite difficult. The writing part is the challenging part. Conjuring up ideas from nowhere is very difficult”) don’t outweigh the joys of touring. “Music is a communication and an entertainment. It’s all about
people responding esponding to that, not just cheering at the end but it’s about the rhythm, the feelings and actually ally getting people on their feet. The e more they ey respond,, the
more you respond. It’s It that celebrating of life.” So, post-tour, what has he got lined up? “I’m always working on w ideas. ideas Whether they’re any the good,” he go pauses, pa laughing, la “time will “t tell!” te