My 12th & final festival of 2007 sees us back at Whitby for Musicport. And sadly this is the last time we will be at this wonderful venue as next year the festival will be moving down the coast to a new home in Bridlington. As well as enjoying the usual array of talent from across the globe we were spoilt with some exceptional weather for walks along the beach and around the harbour. I’ll miss Whitby! I only hope that the new venue will encourage people not to sit on the floor until they are invited to dance by the acts onstage. This really did get intensely irritating after a while. But nevertheless there were standout performances from Nuru Kane, Rachid Taha, Varttina & Sidi Goma to name but a few.
Coastline at dusk
Last time at this fantastic venue
Prime position
Sidi Goma
From Gujarat, India
Testing the smoke alarms
With both Sufi & Pagan music & dance
The Bollywood Brass Band
None the worse for their 9 hour drive
Linton Kwesi Johnson
With his unique reggae poetry
Musicport regular Robert Maseko
With another familiar face, David Moss
Varttina
With their inimitable versions of Finnish folk tunes
And a captivating stage show
Mary McCoughlan
Perfect weather for a walk on the beach
Ylem
Lunchtime entertainment on the North Sea Stage
Whitby Harbour
Flying alarm clock
LAU from Scotland
Traditional Bulgarian songs from Galina Durmushliyska
Amazing looped harmonies from Muntu Valdo
Forty Thieves Orkestar
With Sami Bishai on Violin
Kris Drever
The amazing Nuru Kane
With his band The Bayefall Gnawa
Assorted heavily taped up instruments
Rachid Taha
Saturday night headliner
A high energy set from the Algerian Casbah rocker
Flowerpot Man
Not bad for starters
Mistaken identity
Bingo!
Another glorious day
The Sex Patels
70's Punk classics
With a laid back Indian groove
Gambian griot Seikou Susso
His Allah Lake Band all turned up eventually
Tiris
From the Western Sahara
First time in the UK
Beautiful vocals from Susheela Raman
I'm not so sure about the Hendrix & Dylan covers however