"...not just the hit of this festival, but probably every other festival this summer. It's not a totally original idea to play punk classics in a folkie stylee but there's something engagingly sincere, almost touching, in the way they deliver everything from Whole Wide World  to The Model. Surrounding himself with musicians of the calibre of  Troy Donockley  and Andy Dinan is an Ade Edmondson master stroke which lifts it far beyond a comedic level. Not that there isn't comedy too - their reinterpretation of All Around My Hat proves that and Ade's irreverent asides are very funny.

Colin Irwin

Photo Phil Bull

****

"AND you thought you didn't like folk music" states musician and comedian Adrian Edmondson after the crowd have lapped up several of his and his bands interpretations of punk classics filtered through the medium of folk ...at the top of the show you're wondering just how The Bad Shepherds are going to pull this off - the answer is beautifully.

Adrian Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds ("There are no sheep on stage. That’s how bad we are") stirred up memories of Vivian from The Young Ones by bringing a technically accomplished set of punk and other songs from the 70s and early 80s set in folk style, with clearly enunciated lyrics. Thus there was The Model by Kraftwerk, decked out in twiddly Uilleann pipes and mandolin, a medley of Teenage Kicks and Whiskey in the Jar that finished up with a Davy Spillane-style Irish hoe-down and a genius cover of Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads that was mesmerisingly bucolic and lilting. "And you may ask yourself… where does the M40 go?" I became aware about three quarters of the way through that I was crying with laughter and then they did the punk version of All Around My Hat. I won’t spoil it, but it was worth every prick of sunburn and insect bite of the weekend.

Emma Hartley

Photo Mark Woolley

Playing well known punk tunes on folk instruments may read very strange but in reality it's absolutely brilliant. We loved it and by the looks of it so did the other 19,997 people watching.

Adrian Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds performed a great set, his re-working of the Sex Pistols' 'God Save the Queen' and the rest of a punk back catalogue was inspired.

James Marshall

Photo Christie Goodwin

Folked-up versions of punk and pub rock classics shouldn’t have worked, but displaying surprising virtuosity as "the world’s only thrash mandolin player", the ex-Young Ones star  really got Sunday under way with an evocative version of David Byrne’s ‘Once in a Lifetime’.

Mark Reeves

On to the Big Top for one of the band's I'd been wanting to watch Adrian Edmondson & The Bad Shepherds. They don't disappoint, singing punk songs, but with a fluid folk musicality, we get a bunch of well known tunes, a little amicable banter from Edmondson, and some wonderful musical performances. Highlights include a rendition of 'Teenage Kicks' with the instrumentation to 'Whiskey In The Jar', genius. I particularly like that in some perverse way the original ethics of punk have returned to its roots - Joe Strummer would heartily approve.

Scott Williams

Photo Christie Goodwin

The Bad Shepherds came about after Edmondson woke from a drinking session in Soho to find he’d purchased a mandolin. Challenged, he started to learn his favourite punk songs on it, and so was born folk-punk. The Shepherds’ lead singer is a resident of the Exeter area, and like the City Football team he supports, his band played a promotion-winning 90 minutes. Man Of The Match was All-Ireland fiddle champion Andy Dinan. Promoting Yan Tyan Tethera Metheral (‘one, two, three, four’ in the Celtic language, Cumbrian – overdue a revival), The Shepherds reinvented punk classics with a fun Celtic edge that took the packed room and made it sway to intricate reworkings of threechord classics.

Bradley Smith

Taunton Brewhouse May 15 2009:

"Edmondson, looking uncannily like archetypal punk Vyvyan Barsterd's father, is an enthusiastic and cheeky front-man, striking just the right balance between fun and musicianship"

Exeter Phoenix May 16 2009:

"The Exeter Phoenix was packed and expectations were high – we wanted songs we knew the words to, great musicianship and for Ade to make us laugh too. They delivered on all counts."

Nottingham 'Seven' May 23 2009:

...four proper musicians performing their versions of the top tunes of that time with wit and artistry. You would imagine that there could be a sense of tongue-in-cheek when covering well known songs in this way, but you don't sense that with The Bad Shepherds. They just seem to be a bloody good folk band playing songs that they love in a way that they love, and it makes for a fun and enjoyable gig.

SOME OLDER REVIEWS:

This from Ian Anderson (editor of fRoots - not the one-legged flautist from Tull!) about The Half Moon, Putney, Dec 15th 2008

I went all the way over to the Half Moon, Putney tonight, for the first time in about 20 years. The Bad Shepherds made the trip well worthwhile. Could have been an easily failing gimmick but he's a good singer (reminds me of Robb Johnson) and mandolin player and he's surrounded himself with excellent musos. They hit the right balance between fun and musicianship, very much involving the audience who seemed to mostly be au fait with the lyrics, reliving their distant youth and well up for it. It's all presented with humour and much welly - energy with finesse rather than thrash. Some of the songs from that era turn out to be better songs than I thought: others that were iconic favourites that you couldn't imagine revisited in any other way actually survived the remodelling with ease. I'd half joked to Adrian a few months back that they'd stand or fall on how they did London Calling and it worked really well - I can imagine Joe Strummer (who after all had his spell in the Pogues) liking it a lot. Oh, and they've reworked All Around My Hat in the opposite direction!

Cox's Yard, Stratford

"The audience loves the songs, he [Ade] really loves the songs, and he also has the good sense to surround himself with some of the best folk musicians around; not that Mr Edmondson is any slouch on the mandolin himself in spite of what he might say."

Baby Blue, Liverpool

Needless to say, like any good comedy/ folk/ punk combo the Bad Shepherds are up for a drink and a laugh and the odd re-write of a psalm ("Ade is my shepherd, I shall not wank"). He is as good as a frontman and a host as you'd expect from the character you see on TV, easygoing and cheeky with a crowd, funny between songs..."

Pocklington Arts Centre

"...a fun-filled evening of quality music-making spiced with a couple of satirical swipes at the sheep parables of Jesus Christ. Edmondson proved an able front man. He has a fine singing voice and he’s no slouch on the mandolin. He described his style as "thrash mandolin", playing with such exuberance that he broke two strings during one number."

Intake Club, Mansfield

"... a very entertaining gig given that a lot were wondering what to expect. The Bad Shepherds don't come across as overly serious despite the wealth of experience in the line-up. The comedy aspect had to be in there. If Edmondson hadn't bantered with the crowd then many would have thought something was wrong and have been disappointed. An excellent show from an excellent set of musicians at an excellent venue."

The Brook, Southampton

'This was a brilliant gig with an atmosphere that left me as high as a kite'