27 May 2017 (gig)
12 June 2017
Tonight, is a special night. Fairport Convention are 50 years old having first taken to the stage in Wood Green, North London on 27 May 1967, so there is a real sense of anticipation from the audience before the band take to the stage.
Simon Nicol tries to play it down, a bit ‘business as usual’ he says. And that’s fair to a certain extent as Fairport never seem to be off the road with two long tours a year and the Cropredy Festival in the summer.
So, the ambulatory Our Bus Rolls On opens the first set. As jolly as it is, there’s a suspicion of going through the motions, that’s lifted by Genesis Hall, but surfaces again with the lively Devil’s Work. That’s the pattern of the night; dipping into their vast back-catalogue, interspersed with the new material. Still it’s hard to place why there’s a slight ‘ok that’s nice’ about it; possibly over-expectation on this writer’s part.
And they are in fine form with the usual banter going between them across the stage. Then, with the cheap version of Danny Jacks featuring the rhythm section of Gerry Conway and Dave Pegg, they just click, the breeze picks up and we are out of the doldrums.
The momentum continues with a guest appearance from Pentangle’s Jackie McShee to sing new song The Lady of Carlisle, and is a just foil for the evergreen – and ever poignant - Who Knows Where the Time Goes. Anna Ryders’ Bring Me Back My Feathers closes the first part of the concert.
With the band milling amongst the audience chatting and signing autographs during the interval, the concert and venue take on a more celebratory and convivial air.
Simon Nicol notes that Fairport were termed folk-rock in the early days which was ‘cosy’ and is as good a description of Sir Patrick Spens as any. Not so cosy is the fragile despondency of Fotheringay, one of the set’s highlights, the other being the magical, heart-pulling Portmerion - Ric Sanders and Chris Leslie’s interplay just never fails to move - then with Sally Barker on Rising for the Moon.
Ralph McTells’s The Hiring Fair is almost reverential, to the perennial closer of Matty Groves. We know what’s next but before the band get too far, they are greeted by an overwhelming and spontaneous rendition of Happy Birthday, and, then, we Meet on the Ledge, joined by Sally Barker and Edmund Whitcomb on the cornet. By this time the crowd is on its feet, swaying, cheering and there may well have been some tears too.
It’s a fitting finale to Fairport Convention’s 50th birthday, and as Nicol wryly mentions they are now into their 51st. The band look and sound great, and with a new album out, clearly aren’t drying up. So, while ‘here’s to the next 50’ may be a trifle optimistic you get the feeling they will be around for a while yet. No complaints about that here.
Photo courtesy of Ian Burgess
