Midlands Music Festival live at Ballinlough Castle

“Is this Northern Ireland or Southern Ireland?” enquires Glen Campbell mid-way through his set on the second day of this inaugural event. “Oh, it’s the midlands, so I guess we’re somewhere in between.”
It was that kind of festival – it was as if people were waking up, stretching themselves and finding their range in a new and different field. But such was the quality of the music on offer, it didn’t really matter anyway. Billed as Ireland’s first contemporary country festival, it certainly had enough country on offer to live up to the claim: Campbell, resplendent in a bright pink western shirt, blue jeans, slicked-back hair and shades, was in fine voice on classics such as ‘Galveston’, ‘Wichita Lineman’, ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix’ and the inevitable ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’.
Earlier, singer-songwriter Don McLean had them eating out of his hands with ‘Vincent (Starry Starry Night)', his hit version of Roy Orbison’s ‘Crying’ and of course a marathon ‘American Pie’. Even Van Morrison was in uncharacteristically crowd-pleasing mood, delivering a greatest hits package that included ‘Moondance’, ‘Crazy Love’ and ‘Brown Eyed Girl’. “Sing it with me,” he implored at one point during the chorus to ‘Have I Told You Lately’, delivered in vintage Van style with the help of a superb band.
The previous day’s music was more acoustic in nature. Festival opener, the great Guy Clarke, was a tad early for most people, while Loudon Wainwright III battled with summer showers but delivered a lively set. Later Nanci Griffith and Emmylou Harris owned the stage, the latter’s gently keening voice easing the crowds into the evening with songs such as ‘To Know Him Is To Love Him’, ‘Going Back To Harlan’ and an updated version of Neil Young’s ‘After The Goldrush’. Jackson Browne appeared with his old sidekick David Lindley on slide and fiddle, performing a set that included gems like ‘The Pretender’ and ‘Running On Empty’, and closing with his environmental epic ‘Before The Deluge’. The day’s headliner Kenny Rogers might not be everybody’s cup of tea but you can’t argue with his star quality and the popularity of hits like ‘Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town’, ‘Daytime Friends’ and ‘The Gambler’.
Meanwhile on the smaller, tent-covered second stage, more left-field fare was on offer: Lambchop did their ambient alt. country thing, while Hayseed Dixie rocked the joint with their infectiously exuberant country metal. I missed Low but by all accounts they had the crowd spellbound, as did the wonderful Hacienda Brothers, whose blend of honky-tonk and soul should win them new friends in these parts.
But the highlight of the weekend had to be the terminally cool Dwight Yoakam, who closed the event with a high-octane set of pure Bakersfield country. With the hottest-sounding, best-dressed band of the festival, his set included tracks from his albums Hillbilly Deluxe, Guitars Cadillacs etc. and his latest Blame The Vain as well as a nice tribute to his friend, the late Buck Owens.
The site itself was near perfection, with the castle, lake stage and naturally sloping amphitheatre framed by tall trees. A hugely enjoyable, musically diverse event, let’s hope it becomes a permanent fixture on the festival calendar.