A recording of the “apocalyptic folk night” that took place in Access Space Sheffield, 11th December 2018 from 8pm until 10:30pm.
My contribution was a hastily live coded arrangement of a famous tune that’s used in several songs, in particular the Red Flag, O Christmas Tree, and O Tannenbaum. I gave out lyric sheets with all three versions and asked people to choose which version they sung (based on their politics, nationality etc), or switch between them at random.
We wanted to create a space for an extra-strange open mic night, taking the feel of a folk night but with an open-noise policy. As organisers we didn’t know what to expect, but the room was full and the music was amazing. Even in 2018 it felt like apocalypse was around the corner, but lets keep hoping for a bright future where folk from all backgrounds can come together for music and cheer.
If you were one of the performers, please go to archive.org and comment with part (a or b) you’re in and the time in the recording you started performing thanks very much!
The event blurb:
“An undisciplined night of folk noises from the past and future.
Bring your instruments, voices, laptops, handmade electronics, other noisemakers and your friends.
The idea is to run this like a folk club, with people taking turns to play short pieces, but not subscribing to any particular definition of what ‘folk music’ might be. Non-western, improvised and generally strange music is very welcome.
Acoustic music is also welcome. A PA will be available for laptops etc but to be inclusive to all folk, we don’t expect things to get super loud.
Donations on the door are welcome. Drinks will be available from the bar.”
I adored the vocal song at the beginning of part b. <3