Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Monday, February 18, 2019
Fairport Convention, Saving Grace, The Four Of Us. Bath Forum 2019
Saving Grace. |
I had a great time in Bath on Saturday. This is what
happened. I caught the 1.10 train which might have been a mistake. It was
packed with rugby fans, Bath were at home to Newcastle. I had to stand all the
way to Bath, but the journey is only 30 minutes. I had a couple of hours to
kill so looked in a few shops and visited a couple of pubs once the rugby crowd
had gone to the match. At 4.00 I met a friend back at the railway station. We went
for a leisurely stroll to Walcot Street. When we got to number 72 I took Jane’s
photo because this location is of interest to Van Morrison fans.
Down The Road. |
It used to be
Nasher’s Record Store and is featured on the cover of Van’s 2001 album Down The Road. We repaired to the Bell
Inn. I thought we ought to go in there because I found out recently that Robert
Plant helped save this pub from closure a few years ago. I thought there was a
chance he might be in there. He wasn’t of course but I’m still glad we went in
there because it’s a great pub, probably my favourite pub in Bath. The pizza
was really nice as well.
Eventually it was time to make our way to The Forum. I have
seen some great acts here over the last few years such as Van Morrison, Richard
Thompson, Kate Rusby, Patti Smith and Madeleine Peyroux. Tonight’s concert was
to be one of the greatest. In the foyer we met another friend John. At the merchandise stall I spotted Dave Pegg (Peggy). He was selling
copies of his autobiography called Off
The Pegg. I didn’t buy the book, but I might do so in the future because as
well as being the bass player with Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull Peggy
has recorded with the likes of Nick Drake and John Martyn and he was in a band
with Robert Plant years before Robert Plant found fame and fortune with Led Zeppelin.
I bet he has a great story to tell. He was kind enough to sign my ticket for
me.
Then it was time to take our seats. The first band were
called The Four Of Us which was a
joke because they are a duo of two brothers Brendan & Declan Murphy from
Newry in Northern Ireland. They played a short but enjoyable set and told some
funny stories such as one about Butlin’s in Mosney which has the coldest outdoor swimming
pool in the world. They have a recent album which has had great reviews called Sugar Island which you may like to check
out.
The Four Of Us. |
They then introduced Robert Plant’s new band who are called
Saving Grace. As well as Robert the
band has Suzi Dian on vocals. I don’t know where Robert found her, but she is
great. Also, they had Tony Kelsey on guitar and mandolin, Matt Worley on banjo
and guitar, and Oli Jefferson on drums. I don’t know all the songs they
performed but I remember a great version of Nature
Boy which was made famous by Nat King Cole. The song was written by eden
ahbez (Lower case spelling is correct!) and if you look it up on Wikipedia the
story of the song and it’s writer is very interesting.
Saving Grace. |
They also did two Everly Brothers songs Gone Gone Gone and Stick With Me Baby. The harmonising of Robert and Suzi was so nice
you know they were meant to sing together. Another highlight was a Patti
Griffin song called Ohio which Robert
has previously recorded with Patti. My favourite song of the whole evening was
their encore when the house lights were turned on and the whole band sang I Bid You Goodnight which I know from
the album The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
by the Incredible String Band. I knew Jane would be delighted to hear this
because she is a huge fan of the ISB.
Fairport Convention |
After the interval Robert introduced Fairport Convention. This is the third year in a row that I have
seen Fairport on their annual winter tour. It is still the same band of Simon
Nicol, Dave Pegg, Ric Sanders, Chris Leslie and Gerry Conway. I can’t remember a
lot of their set either because I lost my pen and didn’t take notes. I know Ric
Sanders is still telling the same jokes as last year. The opening number was
called Shuffle & Go and they did
a nice version of Jewel In The Crown. I
enjoyed a song called My Love Is In
America. A song I haven’t heard before was called Moondust And Solitude and was about Michael Collins the third man on
the Apollo mission to the moon. That song was brilliant. Other songs I enjoyed
from the days when Fairport were my favourite band were Walk Awhile from the Full
House album and The Deserter from
one of the best albums ever made which was Liege
And Leif.
Sadly, we had to go before the end of Fairport’s set to
catch our trains. I said cheerio to Jane and John and I hope we meet up again
for another gig soon. I caught the 10.36 train back to Westbury and had time
for a last pint in my local pub. What a wonderful night it had been.
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