Post by andyhowell on Aug 15, 2016 12:50:55 GMT
I now many of you have been to the Fairport Convention festival at Cropredy over the years. Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the group and the Festival should quite special — all of the living group members have been invited to take part. If next year’s event builds on this years then this should be a spectacular weekend.
Cropredy is often described as the UK’s most friendly festival and it certainly is a welcoming event. Over the years Fairport have resisted both the temptation to expand the event and to add extra stages. The size is pegged to between 20 and 30K and that feels a nice size. There is no distraction of other stages and the PA sound for the weekend is, frankly, quite astonishing.
As ever Fairport offer a festival gig to a number of young acts. Each year a spot is given to the BBC Young Folk Award Winner. Featured this year was Brìghde Chaimbeul, a piper from the SHetlands. Brìghde played solo and with a couple of other musicians; this was a wonderful set that heralds the coming of yet another great, young, Scottish artist. Other notably young people (also notably good) were the Sound of the Sirens (two fantastic singer songwriters from Exeter) — Abbe Martin and Hannah Wood — who sound as if they might have graduated from the Steve Knightly Devon music factory. Gilmore and Roberts I suppose aren’t newcomers anymore but they are young and rather superb.
If anyone stole the show on the final day it was the Melborne duo the Pierce Brothers. The brothers had been in Europe for three months, travelling around in a VW van, playing basement bars and coffee houses and busking. This gig was their lst before flying home. These guys were amazing performers — great high energy stuff. And they were completely overcome with playing to such a big crowd. We are going to hear a lot about them.
The only downside to the festival might be — to you at least — a plus. Friday has become something of a feature for ‘Prog Rock’ bands. Now, these are not my cup of tea but I could appreciate Marillion a few years ago and Fish last year. But this year, oh dear. First off we had ‘Lifesigns’, a band that has decided that prog wa getting stale and that they could push the boundaries. Led by Rick Wakeman’s son this was terrible stuff. mind, if you like tapping electric guitar you might have had fun. Willie and the Bandits are a trio from the Cornwall who were billed as a blue band in the Cream fashion. The leader of the group played an acoustic equipped with a Sunrise pickup and then passed through the usual heavy electric rig. Rather self indulgent I thought. Having had a nice nap through Lifesigns I decided I couldn’t face the lat prog band ‘Headspace’ and I headed off for a stroll. But others had stayed. Apparently this was Sci-Fi Prog which peaked with a song telling everyone that science was dangerous. Apparently they cleared the field!
Madness had headlined on the Thursday evening. This was great fun but a little toto polished I think. Suggs and team were backed up by a brass section that had been well tutored with top class production arrangements. Still, you can’t help having fun when watching a band like this who have so many infectious songs that everyone knows. But, Madness were shown how to really do Ska by an amazing French band, Babylon Circus. Like madness these guys started as a ska band and have expanded. They were full of energy in a way that reminded many of us of Les Negresse Vert (which is no bad thing). A wonderful festival act. Elsewhere the Demon Barbers XL pushed boundaries by adding clog dancers and hip hop dancers to their set. Musically htye were competent but it was great to see the use of the dancers, mixing traditional and contemporary styles of dance.
At the end of the day it was heartening (for grey old me) to see old timers stealing the show. Steeleye Span were just awesome and showed the youngsters how to rock out. At 70 or so Maddie Prior doesn’t dance about much these days but her voice is in extraordinary good condition. A number of Steeleye’s songs were animated by rather stunning Morris dancers. They were just phenomenal. I’ve not seen them for a while but have watched them a lot over the years. This was the best performance I have seen them give.
Prior to the closing Fairport set the festival always features an old great. A few years ago it was Al Stewart. This year it was Ralph Mctell. It seemed as if 20,000 people were just in awe of Ralph’s craft and basic niceness! ralph was variously joined on stage by Dave Pegg, Chris Leslie. Ric Saunders and Graham Prescott (who had appeared with Griphon on day 1). But best of all we had the first return performance from Danny Thompson who has been quite ill this year (not sure what with). Danny looked a bit shaky on his feet and played while sitting on a high stool. But while he was clearly fragile as soon as he started playing the years rolled back. And Ralph himself was on fine form. I’ve always enjoyed listening to the audience singing along, especially to Streets of London. But 20,000 singing the chorus was rather special.
Finally, there is Fairport thmsleves. This line-up is possibly their best ever musically, mixing the classics with new material from mates and from Chris Leslie. Over recent yeas they have given up their old 3 hour sets and things seem better as a result. There are a few guests but the focus is on the current line-up’s current set list. they were fabulous.
Steeleye, ralph and Fairport at the top of their games. I guess we won’t have too many opportunities to see such a lineup in the future. But as Simon Nicol said, they will all be back again next year, touch wood.
Cropredy is often described as the UK’s most friendly festival and it certainly is a welcoming event. Over the years Fairport have resisted both the temptation to expand the event and to add extra stages. The size is pegged to between 20 and 30K and that feels a nice size. There is no distraction of other stages and the PA sound for the weekend is, frankly, quite astonishing.
As ever Fairport offer a festival gig to a number of young acts. Each year a spot is given to the BBC Young Folk Award Winner. Featured this year was Brìghde Chaimbeul, a piper from the SHetlands. Brìghde played solo and with a couple of other musicians; this was a wonderful set that heralds the coming of yet another great, young, Scottish artist. Other notably young people (also notably good) were the Sound of the Sirens (two fantastic singer songwriters from Exeter) — Abbe Martin and Hannah Wood — who sound as if they might have graduated from the Steve Knightly Devon music factory. Gilmore and Roberts I suppose aren’t newcomers anymore but they are young and rather superb.
If anyone stole the show on the final day it was the Melborne duo the Pierce Brothers. The brothers had been in Europe for three months, travelling around in a VW van, playing basement bars and coffee houses and busking. This gig was their lst before flying home. These guys were amazing performers — great high energy stuff. And they were completely overcome with playing to such a big crowd. We are going to hear a lot about them.
The only downside to the festival might be — to you at least — a plus. Friday has become something of a feature for ‘Prog Rock’ bands. Now, these are not my cup of tea but I could appreciate Marillion a few years ago and Fish last year. But this year, oh dear. First off we had ‘Lifesigns’, a band that has decided that prog wa getting stale and that they could push the boundaries. Led by Rick Wakeman’s son this was terrible stuff. mind, if you like tapping electric guitar you might have had fun. Willie and the Bandits are a trio from the Cornwall who were billed as a blue band in the Cream fashion. The leader of the group played an acoustic equipped with a Sunrise pickup and then passed through the usual heavy electric rig. Rather self indulgent I thought. Having had a nice nap through Lifesigns I decided I couldn’t face the lat prog band ‘Headspace’ and I headed off for a stroll. But others had stayed. Apparently this was Sci-Fi Prog which peaked with a song telling everyone that science was dangerous. Apparently they cleared the field!
Madness had headlined on the Thursday evening. This was great fun but a little toto polished I think. Suggs and team were backed up by a brass section that had been well tutored with top class production arrangements. Still, you can’t help having fun when watching a band like this who have so many infectious songs that everyone knows. But, Madness were shown how to really do Ska by an amazing French band, Babylon Circus. Like madness these guys started as a ska band and have expanded. They were full of energy in a way that reminded many of us of Les Negresse Vert (which is no bad thing). A wonderful festival act. Elsewhere the Demon Barbers XL pushed boundaries by adding clog dancers and hip hop dancers to their set. Musically htye were competent but it was great to see the use of the dancers, mixing traditional and contemporary styles of dance.
At the end of the day it was heartening (for grey old me) to see old timers stealing the show. Steeleye Span were just awesome and showed the youngsters how to rock out. At 70 or so Maddie Prior doesn’t dance about much these days but her voice is in extraordinary good condition. A number of Steeleye’s songs were animated by rather stunning Morris dancers. They were just phenomenal. I’ve not seen them for a while but have watched them a lot over the years. This was the best performance I have seen them give.
Prior to the closing Fairport set the festival always features an old great. A few years ago it was Al Stewart. This year it was Ralph Mctell. It seemed as if 20,000 people were just in awe of Ralph’s craft and basic niceness! ralph was variously joined on stage by Dave Pegg, Chris Leslie. Ric Saunders and Graham Prescott (who had appeared with Griphon on day 1). But best of all we had the first return performance from Danny Thompson who has been quite ill this year (not sure what with). Danny looked a bit shaky on his feet and played while sitting on a high stool. But while he was clearly fragile as soon as he started playing the years rolled back. And Ralph himself was on fine form. I’ve always enjoyed listening to the audience singing along, especially to Streets of London. But 20,000 singing the chorus was rather special.
Finally, there is Fairport thmsleves. This line-up is possibly their best ever musically, mixing the classics with new material from mates and from Chris Leslie. Over recent yeas they have given up their old 3 hour sets and things seem better as a result. There are a few guests but the focus is on the current line-up’s current set list. they were fabulous.
Steeleye, ralph and Fairport at the top of their games. I guess we won’t have too many opportunities to see such a lineup in the future. But as Simon Nicol said, they will all be back again next year, touch wood.