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.