The Dolmen on Weymouth beach, 16/08/2017

The Weymouth Carnival took place earlier this week, and because of a variety of things, we basically missed everything. Everything but The Dolmen's headlining gig on Wednesday night! 
I'd been trying to catch the band live since my move to Dorset in late January; last Wednesday, finally, I managed to walk away from my desk and make my way to Weymouth beach where The Dolmen were playing the headlining slot.
And let me tell you: we had a fantastic time, even though it started to rain early on during the band's set and we ended up absolutely soaked - I cannot dislodge Weymouth beach's sticky sand from my little red shoes! 
Deeply rooted in the landscape, the myths and history of the Dorset coast as well as Pagan beliefs, The Dolmen's music (described on their website as "Medieval Celtic Folk Rock") is rich and evocative, and its influences varied, reflecting the personalities and inspiration of the various band members.
There is a very special energy running through the band's live set - a spirit of freedom and passion which are incredibly infectious; frontman and founder Taloch Jameson is a powerful and charismatic character who leads a group of excellent musicians, tonight including his young son as a superb second drummer and his daughter on flute. 
I managed to take a few pictures on the night in spite of the rain... 
I will definitely catch The Dolmen live again, hopefully locally!  

The Dolmen are very much involved in the discovery and preservation of the local history and are currently helping promote Deeper Dorset, a project dedicated to "discover, record and protect the wealth of Dorset's maritime history..."

Below is the latest official video for The Dolmen's track "Free Will", shot mostly at the Tout quarry sculpture park and St George's church which is very familiar to us as it's only 10mn up the coast path from us! It is a really cool use of this very special place.