Various Artists - The Co-Operative Cambridge Folk Festival 2010

Featuring a wide variety of performers from the 2010 Cambridge Folk Festival, this DVD is a treasure trove of live performances.

Seth Lakeman kicks things off with four tracks from his set, including the anthemic Kitty Jay, which never fails to wow audiences, and this is no exception.

A tuneset from Julie Fowlis is a welcome change from what is overall a song-biased DVD. It is also wonderful to hear her singing in Gaelic in Hug Air A’Bhonaid Mhoir. Alongside some of the other artists we are also treated to a short interview with her.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops may only get one track on the DVD, but Hit ’Em Up is a wonderful advert for their take on Americana, and in their interview it is interesting to hear their various differing musical backgrounds.

The Hand Weaver and the Factory Maid is a gorgeous song, but perhaps not the best one to showcase the energy and innovation of The Imagined Village. Happily Space Girl somewhat redresses that balance, with Eliza Carthy as ever unable to stand still when there is a rhythm going on.

Mention must go to Kris Kristofferson, who as one of the headliners, was a definite crowd-pleaser with his Nashville songs. And Show of Hands were as popular as ever, performing Country Life.

What is Life gives an exciting flavour of The Burns Unit, with reggae stylings. It also demonstrates, alongside The Imagined Village, the wonderful music that happens when different genres collaborate.

The bonus tracks on the DVD were recorded backstage in 2008. Whilst not so fresh, it is great to have these intimate performances in contrast to those recorded on the main stage.

Heidi Talbot is accompanied by Boo Hewerdine and John McCusker on Time, whilst Ruth Notman gives a beautiful acoustic rendition of Caledonia.

However, Eliza Carthy stands out from the bonus crowd for her wonderful performance of Two Tears, with Barney Morse-Brown on cello.

The track selection of the DVD is good, although bound not to please everyone, as an entire festival is compressed into two hours. However, the picture and sound quality is excellent, and for those who attended, or wished they had, this comes a close second to the real thing.