23 July 2025
On Tuesday evening we were at the giant Spiegeltent in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes, to see the legendary Québécois folk group Le Vent du Nord, performing as part of the Milton Keynes International Festival. The five-piece band were formed 23 years ago and have an amazing reputation but I had never seen them live before. Most of their tunes are upbeat rhythmic masterclasses, with frantic fiddles and rasping hurdy-gurdy, accompanied by hypnotic rapid percussive foot-tapping on sound boards by the two seated fiddle players (which is visually compelling to watch). Many of the songs feature typical French Canadian call and response vocals. The occasional slower ballads were very beautiful. Canadian folk music has a lot in common with Scottish and Irish folk, feeling pleasingly familiar yet different. I was also reminded of another great Canadian folk band, The Bills, who we saw many years ago (reviewed here in May 2006). Le Vent du Nord were on great form - a toe-tapping delight.
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