Black Isle festival Woodzstock's crowd danced into the night
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Woodzstock basked in sunshine on Saturday afternoon as a line-up of bands and musicians coped with the heat and challenges like “sweaty plectrum syndrome”.
Susanna Wolfe in the Haybarn – the festival’s second stage for a relaxed acoustic vibe – coined the phrase in her late afternoon set.
And it was there that one of the billed acts 14-year-old Wee James – James Macgillivray from Contin – got his chance to sing after all.
A broken arm playing shinty with Caberfeidh on their first game back, as his mum Miranda revealed, meant his slot had gone to Into The Pines, the new name and direction for the former Gordon James And The Power line-up. But they invited him up for a song. And James’s version of Brice Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark proved there is nothing wee about the voice from the young musician who first picked up the guitar aged two.
Another big story of the day was the first official live performance from Forres and Muir Of Ord band Bad Actress who unveiled Toby Michaels as their new singer. He takes over from talented Vinnie Vexx who has now moved on. The full-on, kick-ass rock, singalong songs and slightly tongue-in-cheek hair metal attitude of the band meets its match in the always dramatic Michaels.
With his powerhouse of a voice, theatrics escaping offstage into the crowd for some horsing about with guitarist Chick, and the sheer energy that the band hit the stage with, you could say the new Bad Actress made the perfect entrance.
Other line-ups making their debut at the one-day festival included Pale Moon, an irresistible mix of rock and old-fashioned blues with talents like frontman Isaac Sutherland and guitarist Lyle Watt on board.
Youngsters had a ball, running around and dancing, a big part of the family-friendly event.
As the heat cooled, Glasgow tribute band McFleetwood hit the stage with The Chain and the crowd got up to dance, kept up there by the superfunk of Tom McGuire & The Brassholes – led in front of the stage at one point in a dance sequence by singer Tom himself
As the darkness fell, legendary dance masters Utah Saints took over the main stage – Karawane had got the Haybarn on its feet and warmed up earlier.
The Saints’ Jez Willis introduced himself and Tim Garbutt: “We don’t talk a lot, but we make a big noise. DJ Tim, let’s go in!”
The whole festival crowd found it impossible to resist and danced into the dark. Master mixing from the DJs included everything from You Got The Love by Candi Staton and The Source to Donna Summer’s I Feel Love and Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics – whose There Must Be An Angel was the sample that gave Utah Saints their first hit What Can You Do For Me back in 1991.
