LIVE: Old Songs Festival @ Altamont Fairgrounds, 6/24/12 (Day Three)

Review and photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk

On Day Three of the annual Old Songs Festival at the Altamont Fairgrounds, the main stage concert didn’t kick off until 3:30pm, but there was a lot of music going on way before that all around the festival grounds starting at 9am.

One of the key ingredients of Old Songs is the myriad of group workshops and spotlight performances on secondary stages throughout the day with many of the weekend’s headliners – including John McCutcheon, Archie Fisher, Hugh Pool, Pat Wictor, etc. – available for a chat or some impromptu instruction.

But when the main stage concert kicked off on that hot Sunday afternoon, the crowd was already sitting there in their seats and ready for the line-up of performers leading into the finale of the evening’s performers.

The Andrew & Noah Band led the way with their bluegrass-meets-singer-songwriter menu that left the audience hungry for more.

Sisters Cassie and Maggie MacDonald, followed, adding a little bit of fancy female “Lord of the Dance” footwork to their violin-and-keyboard repertoire.

Regional fave duo Magpie continued the final stretch of Sunday’s festivities with a who’s-on-next parade of special guest invitees, a concept that ran through Ken Whiteley’s set and continued into Kim & Reggie Harris’ closing performance.

By the end of the Harrises’ set, the stage was packed from end-to-end with Magpie, Ken Whiteley, Greg Greenway, David Roth, Bill Spence, Joe Jenks and many others joining in for the final chorus.

It was a grand and marvellous thing to see and hear, to say the least!

ALSO:
Greg Haymes’ review of Old Songs Festival, 6/22/12 (Day One) at Nippertown
Stanley Johnson’s review and photographs of Old Songs Festival, 6/23/12 (Day Two) at Nippertown
Glenn Weiser’s review of Old Songs Festival, 6/23/12 (Day Two) at Metroland