Winnipeg

"The intense heat didn't deter people from dancing as hard to Horace X during an afternoon show as they did during the bands triumphant stage show Friday. The England club band, dressed in green, orange and red fluoresecent suits- played a mixture of progressive jazz fusion with traces of Celtic and world music anchored by a solid rhythm section and led by a wild female firecracker of a fiddle player wearing a red and yellow headdress."

Winnipeg Sun July 14th 2002

The night closed with what might be the most unusual group I have seen at the festival, Horace X. And I mean seen. First came the bass player, in a black shirt, with fluorescent orange suspenders and pants. Then the drummer -- coat, pants, and hat all made of alternating two inch bands of fluorescent green and black. The sax player wore more green, coat and hat -­ and, of course, shades. Then the fiddler bounded in, her dress bright orange and clinging tight, with a single line of black wriggling its way down...and a headpiece made of dozens of scraps of what looked like crinoline in various fluorescents.

Then they hit the music; reggae beats, jazz sax, rock bass, and a fiddler alternating between Middle Eastern, Celtic, heavily electrified prog sounds, and echo-effect strangeness, with extended dance-style sampled bits added to the mix. The lead singer eventually appeared, pounding out lyrics sometimes in fast rap, sometimes in fast reggae, bounding across the stage as he sang, vanishing during the instrumental pieces. The fiddler bounding and twisting in some most astonishing ways, all the more unusual because usually her feet moved together, not in the usual counterpoint.

Once I got over the dreadful fashion-victim effect of the costumes, the music was hot, hot, hot. Horace X has to be experienced to be believed -- and experience them live if you can. I have been going to the festival since 1993, and while I have loved many groups more, I have never seen anyone who struck me so completely as so truly original. Nor so horrifyingly badly dressed.

Lenora Rose, Green Man Review

The biggest gig of the tour, Horace X played the Winnipeg Folk Festival 11-14 July, headlining the mainstage on Friday 12th to a crowd of 12,000. As well as a daytime gig the next day on a smaller stage, individual members of Horace were involved in workshops with a variety of musicians including Nash the Slash, Frankie Gavin, Rory McLeod and members of Oysterband, Habana Sax, and the Filippo Gambetta Trio. Most of theses photos are from July 12th. The hotel handily kept the bar open for the performers until the early hours...

Thanks to the superbly generous barstaff at the artists tent, all the volunteers and all those that contributed to Simon's lost 24 hrs...

Simon	and again	Mainstage Pete, Simon and Hazel	Winnipeg musos all night party
The audience builds up...	All night party - Drew the record exec	Pete	Mainstage Hazel and Mark
Hazel	'The Firecracker'	Over the shoulders of giants...	The Funky Drummer

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Photos taken by Horace X and Drew Miller