Despite Covid restrictions and dismal weather, Norfolk and Norwich Festival delivered a fantastic array of creative delights in May.
Before the festival began, there was one thing I wished for over and over again. I prayed that the weather gods would bless the forthcoming festival with, at the very least, little rain or wind. With their programme full of live performances around the city, often in outdoor locations, It felt too cruel a fate for the return of the festival to be blighted by poor weather. Unfortunately that was not to be the case. For much of the festival heavy rain and high winds seemed determined to put a dampener on the event. However, alongside intermittent sunshine, the artists brightened our city, and our lives, after what has obviously been a horrid and challenging year for many. In fact, I’d even go as far as to say it felt unbelievably nourishing to the soul to be able to see and hear live performances again.
The festival team did a brilliant job in ensuring the event remained adaptable to the ever-changing situation, as well as keeping everyone safe as they enjoyed what was on offer. It felt like a really well-considered programme that hopefully had something for everyone. Choosing a Pay-What-You-Want model felt like a wise decision under the circumstances but it also served to hopefully widen opportunities for the public to enjoy some of the acts that otherwise they may not have been able to. Evidently the people of Norwich and Norfolk were eager to join in on the fun, with tickets snapped up quickly and many events becoming sold-out. People also had the opportunity to return tickets if they could no longer attend, allowing other people to still gain entry last-minute. I know I certainly enjoyed the thrill of jumping on tickets as they re-emerged.
I managed to see several events over the festival, but particularly special were the performances I witnessed at St. Andrew’s Hall. These were indoor gigs were social distanced and required attendees to wear masks throughout, with only one performer per event. It felt a bit strange sure but still very comfortable and safe. First of all, I saw Nabihah Iqbal perform a set of new compositions, using just a mic, guitar, pedals and amp. Iqbal created huge soundscapes and dreamy atmospheres, seemingly creating an interplay between her guitar and the natural acoustics of the medieval hall. I felt completely absorbed by the palette of sounds and resonance that surrounded me. It may have partly been due to the performance’s setting within a friary church, or the fact that I had really missed live music, but Iqbal seemed to create a sense of reverence to this communal occasion. I left completely buzzing and I couldn’t wait to see more shows. It felt like a tap had finally been switched on.
The day after I returned to St. Andrews Hall to see Sorathy Korwar, a fantastic percussionist who fuses the classical music tradition of his native India alongside spiritual jazz and the merging hip hop scene of Mumbai. For this performance Korwar was joined by five other musicians, including spoken word poet Zia Ahmed. Still feeling a high from last night’s fantastic performance, Korwar managed to raise my joy at the return of live music to even greater climes through an utterly enthralling performance. There was an abundance of energetic grooves that made staying still in my seat impossible. Equally immersive was the way Korwar and Zia Ahmed managed to articulate a vital perspective on being a Brown person in the UK and the hypocrisies of Brexit Britain through Ahmed’s incisive poetry and Korwar’s masterful fusion of Indian musical cultures and London’s contemporary jazz scene. I was completely captivated throughout.
My run of musical delights that week was not to end there, as on the following day I managed to get last minute tickets to see Manchester Collective perform alongside virtuoso harpsichord musician, Mahan Esfahani. They offered a rendition of several Bach pieces, a premiere performance of a new composition by emerging composer Lawrence Osborn, a Gorecki Concerto and finally a rather interesting performance of Horowitz’s Jazz Concerto. Esfahani was an incredible artist to witness. His mastery of the Harpsichord is rarely matched across the globe, and it was incredibly interesting to hear his thoughts on the instrument, and his performance techniques that help elevate the instrument from it’s technological constraints. Manchester Collective’s string quintet provided a brilliant accompaniment to his supreme playing, and it felt a thoroughly rewarding performance to have witnessed. There was terrible weather that evening, and the howling wind could be heard inside St. Andrews Hall, adding to the drama of the occasion. At one point during Gorecki’s Concerto, I wondered if the building was about to shake itself free from its foundations, which timed perfectly with the drama of Esfahani’s fast-paced playing. Sublime.
There were many more brilliant performances to witness at the following week at the festival, and whilst I caught short moments of theatre at Chapelfield Gardens, the rain certainly made things difficult for the organisers and performers. Luckily on the final Friday the weather improved and I joined in on the fun during Ray Lee’s Ring Out installation. It was certainly a spectacle, with a series of industrial towers suspending swinging speaker cones that produced a wonderfully eerie ambient soundscape. It reminded me of church bells swinging to and fro, but rather than metallic ringing, the sound produced reminded me of electromagnetic static or hum. Walking amongst them, the tone and pitch would alter as they swung higher and higher, or you moved to a different position. I could picture Nikola Tesla hearing similar sounds upon his groundbreaking experiments, with a church bell ring drifting in from a distance. Lee’s sound art installation drew the attention of many a passer-by as they walked through the park. The harmonious echoing ambience likely travelled quite far across the city, hopefully intriguing people who otherwise had never come across such a spectacle. Once again NN Fest has found a way of breaking down barriers to experiencing artistic endeavours that are otherwise kept isolated in a gallery or elitist venue, rather than echoing through the streets and parks of a city.
To end the weekend, there was two days of music curated by Wild Paths Festival, offering a tasty selection of local artists and other festival favourites, with a predominant neo-soul emphasis. Again, whilst people could pay tickets to be inside the arena, the music would still have carried across the wind throughput the park to all passing through. The excitement of the return of live performance hopefully also came to those who weren’t directly engaging with the festival, and brought some joy as well. It was a brilliant array of music, and the weather finally came out in support of the festivities.
Of course other years have been bigger, more global in their offerings, and without restrictions and bad weather brought bigger audiences. But it was clear that it was so positively received by the people of Norwich, and the organisers should be really proud of their efforts in offering a fantastic festival in very challenging circumstances, that felt all the more inclusive through their efforts. Bring on next year, which is set to be a huge celebration of art and culture for the 250th anniversary of the festival.
Noise Compendium 