I caught the 6.40 train from Westbury yesterday evening and
nine minutes later arrived in the quaint little market town of Frome. I was
early as usual, so I went in the George Hotel for a drink. It’s a nice place
but they charged £4.55 for a pint of Thatcher’s cider so I won’t be returning there
for a while. Then I repaired to the Cheese & Grain which must be one of the
best music venues in the West Country. We are very lucky to have it on our
doorstep and I’ve seen some great acts here over the years, long may it continue. As soon as the doors opened I bagged myself a seat right on
the front row by leaving my jacket on the chair. Then went to the bar and got myself
a large sauvignon blanc. On the merchandise stall I spotted Fairport’s
legendary bass player Dave ‘Peggy’ Pegg. I bought the new album which Dave
signed for me. He also agreed to me having my photo taken with him. What a
great man he is.
I’m playing the album now. It is called 50:50@50. That’s because it is a mix of new material and live
tracks and celebrates Fairport’s 50th anniversary as a band. I find
it hard to believe that it is nearly 50 years since I bought my first Fairport
album which was What We Did On Our
Holidays. I was still at school at the time. Reading the sleeve notes to the album makes you realise what a
great contribution Ric Sanders & Chris Leslie make to the band because they
have written most of the new material. There are guest appearances by Robert
Plant and Jacqui McShee on the album. It is a great album which I highly
recommend.
Then it was time for the guest act who are called Winter Wilson. They are a male/female
duo and I liked their short but enjoyable set. I particularly enjoyed a song
about Jack London called I’d Rather Be
Ashes Than Dust. Another great song was a blues number inspired by the lady
singer’s admiration for Bonnie Raitt. At the end of their set they were joined
by Fairport for a song called There’s
Life In The Old Dog Yet.
Winter
Wilson left the stage and Fairport began their set with the very powerful
and political Jewel In The Crown written
by Julie Matthews. In these days of Brexit & Trump we need more songs like
this. I should mention that the line-up of the band hasn’t changed for many
years now. It is still Simon Nicol, Dave
Pegg, Gerry Conway, Ric Sanders & Chris Leslie. Simon told the audience
that the band were now on their fourth bus of this tour because the buses kept
breaking down. That led into a very jolly Chris Leslie song called The Bus Rolls On which is all about the
members of the band and recalls other songs in their history such as Walk Awhile and Meet On The Ledge. Simon then introduced the classic Crazy Man Michael from their Liege & Lief album which is the
greatest folk/rock album of all time. Chris played some haunting whistle on
this song. Shuffle & Go is a
wonderful rocky dance number with Chris again excelling on vocals and
harmonica. Ric Sanders then proved that he is a comedian as well as musician by
telling some great jokes. This led to his composition Portmeirion which is a beautiful instrumental. This was followed by
Hawkwood’s Army from their Sense Of Occasion album of 2007. The
first half of the show ended with the sad story of John Condon who came from Waterford and was the youngest soldier to
die in the Battle Of Ypres. This song is on their excellent Myths & Heroes album which I bought
three years ago when I last saw Fairport at this venue.
During the interval I got myself another large wine and
then the second half began with the rousing John
Gaudie and this was followed by Doctor
Of Physick written by Richard Thompson and the late great Dave Swarbrick.
It was originally on the Full House album
of 1970 which I think was when Peggy joined the band. I remember at the time
really missing Sandy Denny who had just left to form Fotheringay. A fabulous song written by the great Ralph McTell was next which was Clear Water in which Chris played some
great whistle. The lively little number called Gallivant was next up after more jokes by Ric. The Wood And The Wire is a great song written by Chris and Thea Gilmore’s
husband Nigel Stonier. Another equally fabulous song followed which was Weightless written by James Wood. Summer By The Cherwell is another jolly
song which celebrates their famous annual festival at Cropredy. Sandy Denny was only in the band for a
very short period, but her contribution was epic and Simon Nicol sang a great
version of her classic Who Knows Where
The Time Goes? Another great Chris Leslie song about an ill-fated
expedition of 1850 to find the Northwest Passage called Mercy Bay was followed by the great Matty Groves. The band left the stage, but we knew they would
return. They were joined once again by Winter
Wilson for a rousing rendition of Meet
On The Ledge.
After the show my friends Dave and Sarah kindly gave me a
lift back to Westbury and I had time for a quick pint of cider in the Ludlow
Arms. Thank you very much Fairport Convention for a great evening in Frome. If you get the chance to see them on
the remainder of this tour then I urge you to go along, you won’t be
disappointed. Also, buy the new album, it is great.
No comments:
Post a Comment