Keeping with tradition, Fairport Convention are following the Cropredy festival in August with an Autumn tour that finds the band performing at venues that differ from the annual Wintour that takes place at the turn of the year. This current run features the core quartet of Simon Nicol, Dave Pegg, Ric Sanders and Chris Leslie, and with the absence of a drummer and the band remaining seated throughout it all made for a very intimate setting. And while all of the Fairport staples were present, there was also one or two tweaks to the setlist to keep things interesting for both band and audience.
The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire was once known as the Birmingham School of Music, past students including Ric Sanders who informed us he attended for all of two terms before leaving for a life of Rock and Roll. A wonderful setting, the hall offered excellent acoustics with each instrument and voice sounding crystal clear as they began with the customary ‘Walk Awhile’. The songwriting partnership of Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick was responsible for some wonderful moments, with ‘Crazy Man Michael’, ‘Now Be Thankful’ and ‘Doctor of Physick’ all sounding as fresh and remarkable as they did half a century ago. Speaking about Swarb, Peggy acknowledged that Fairport owed him a lot, and he also owed them a lot when he left the band, so make of that what you will. Considerably more recent material written by Chris Leslie included a sublime ‘The Fossil Hunter’ and ‘Banbury Fair’, with Peggy’s jaunty instrumental ‘Bankruptured’ also highlighted before they closed out the first half with ‘Cider Rain’.
After ‘John Gaudie / Shetland Tunes’ showcased some frenetic duelling between Ric and Chris, the latter’s Sci-Fi inspired opus ‘The Year of Fifty-Nine’ took us back to a UFO sighting over Banbury more than sixty years ago. Simon then led the band into a cover of James Taylor’s ‘The Frozen Man’, a song Fairport have played live infrequently over the years. He then handed over to Ric for his traditional chat to the audience, including the usual dreadful limericks and puns, before introducing the quirky ‘Steampunkery’ from 2020’s Shuffle and Go. The evergreen ‘Matty Groves’ and heartwarming ‘Meet on the Ledge’ rounded off what was a terrific evening of high- quality folk music performed by some of the very best musicians around. Next year’s Cropredy is already confirmed, and with Wintour 2025 no doubt to be announced soon, it is reassuring to know there will be more opportunities to enjoy the music of this wonderful band over the coming months.
Set 1:
Walk Awhile
Crazy Man Michael
Now Be Thankful
The Fossil Hunter
Doctor of Physick
Banks of the Sweet Primroses
Banbury Fair
Bankruptured
Cider Rain
Set 2:
Slip Jigs and Reels
John Gaudie / Shetland Tunes
The Year of Fifty Nine
The Frozen Man
Steampunkery
I’m Already There
Over the Lancashire Hills
Matty Groves
Encore:
Meet On The Ledge
