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The Gathering
- a somewhat different kind of didge event A report from John Macdonald - Photos by Stan  Ever wished you could get up on stage with some knockout players and join in? Had enough of the type of didge festival where everything runs on schedule but there's little space for sharing? If so, The Gathering in Tapeley Park, Devon, UK might be just what you have dreamed of. Set in a very large country estate run on an extremely alternative basis, The Gathering is the didgeridoo event which kicks off the 'season' in the UK at the beginning of May. The location leaves very little to be desired: a profusion of lawns, shrubberies and cultivated gardens around the main house blend into a vast expanse of land ranging from cultivated to wild which just begs to be explored. Natural highlights include the lake, several magnificent trees among which is an oak said to be between one and two thousand years old, peacocks, highland cattle, and a profusion of wildlife. When i first attended The Gathering, the thing that struck me initially was the unusual combination of a cosy atmosphere in and about the buildings around the courtyard, with the enormous amount of lush nature in the environs. The second thing which stood out was how friendly everyone was, although i had previously met almost no-one there apart from a few e-mail acquaintances. Organised by Ant and Lin Scott, The Gathering has become the British 'didge family' event of the year. A host of remarkable musicians are among the increasing throng that now converge on Tapeley every year - and i don't mean just the well-known didgeridoo players, though they are most evident: this year's event saw Nick Burman, Steve Heath, Chris Holland, Richard Bridge, Shaun Farrenden, Jonny Cope, Gavin Blanche, David Stockdale, Gus Greaves, Rachel Tighe, Nicks, Rob Mantz... the list is long and impressive.  What's even more impressive is the fact that all those players turn up for the experience rather than a place onstage and a booking fee. While there are numerous workshops on a more-or-less impromptu basis, what they're there for, like most of the visitors, is to disolve the barrier between audience and performer, and give everyone else the chance to play for them of with them. Likewise other musicians, and multi-instrumentalists who are glad of a chance to put their didge down for a change and play something else. Of just hang out.  There is no stage as such at The Gathering, just a space at one end of the carpeted hall with a PA, mikes, and leads, which are available anytime to anyone who wants to go for it. Anytime seems to work out so that it's pretty laid back until the late afternoon, and then develops into intensive sessions starting around eight in the evening - though as the whole thing is unrehearsed anything might happen.  What starts as a quiet didge and overtone duet works slowly into a groove, someone starts beating the time on clapsticks, and before you know it there's another dozen people up there doing vocals, guitar, bouzouki, drumming: a regular full-on jam session in fact. But whatever the time of day, if you need a bit of quiet for a while, there's always somewhere to disappear to, someone to visit for a cosy chat, of a fire to sit around. So what's the downside? I had to think about that, but the one thing which i definitely missed in my ripe old age was a nice warm shower to freshen me up in the mornings after going to bed in the hall at somewhere between 2 and 4am for three days in a row. If you're the type of person who needs their sleep, then it's probably better to do what many of the regulars do, and roll up in a camper van or take a tent along - although you do then run the risk of a peacock alarm call or two. Peacocks: undeniably beautiful but piercingly loud! The Gathering has become a firm favourite on the British didge calendar: so much so that the numbers have been limited due to the relatively modest space available in the hall, and the wish to keep it as the rather intimate assemblage it is. So if it sounds appealing, don't expect to just be able to turn up on the spur of the moment next year: book well in advance. |
The
above article was first published in Didgeridoo & Co Magazine - Issue
9, and is reproduced
with kind permission of Didgerioo & Co Magazine. |
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