A bit of an adventure. I always try and get to see Fairport Convention on their Winter tour. This year the nearest venue to me on their outing was Harrogate Royal Hall, some 70+ miles away from home. Not to be deterred I decided to ask my friendly taxi driver to take me on the journey down into Yorkshire. And so it was that last night my carer, Jackie, and I ventured south in the taxi towards the lovely Yorkshire town of Harrogate, leaving at around 6:40 PM. The journey was fine at first, however, my drivers Sat Nav decided to take us via Ripon, which led us down a country road which was thick in fog, so thick that he could barely see the road. Quite scary! Anyway, we arrived safely at the Royal Hall around 8:10 PM. The doors were closed and we looked around until we found one which was open and the guy who met us led Jackie and I towards the disabled entrance. We were soon seated in a nice vantage point in the Grand Circle overlooking the stage.
The Royal Hall is a wonderful, exquisite, old, building (see image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons). I have been there twice before, once to see Camel and on another occasion to see the Groundhogs, Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash and Focus as part of a Classic Rock package tour. When we arrived, Fairport were already on stage, just starting their first set.
Their official site promised: “Fairport Convention have been entertaining music lovers for over half a century, having formed in 1967. During that time the band that launched British folk-rock has seen many changes, but one thing has remained the same – Fairport’s passion for performance. This year’s Winter Tour will present a mix of long-established Fairport favourites and some surprises from albums old and new.”
The current band features founding member Simon Nicol on guitar and vocals, long-time member Dave Pegg on bass guitar, Ric Sanders on violin, Chris Leslie on fiddle, mandolin and vocals. This time round Fairport Convention were also joined on stage by former member Dave Mattacks on drums. Sadly, we arrived too late to catch the opening act Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage, however we did see them at the end of the show when they joined Fairport for the encore “Meet on the Ledge”.
Fairport always guarantee a pleasant evening with a mixture of fun stories, and songs old and new. The first set was exactly that with songs from their latest album and closing with “Sloth” from the 1970 Full House LP. “Stuffing their set with a surprising amount of new material for a vintage act, Fairport are still clearly having fun and brought the house down.” (The Guardian)
During the interval I picked up a programme, signed by the band. Dave Pegg was, as usual, at the merchandise desk greeting fans and signing items. He kindly signed two programmes for me, one for me and one for my friend John in the USA. I also purchased a lovely little book which Peggy had produced to accompany a box set some years ago. The cover is full of images of him over the years (see picture). It was good to meet up with Richard Houghton, the publisher of This Day in Music books, for whom I have written several entries in his books which include fan memories of witnessing bands in performance. He was pleased to see me and was selling copies of his latest book which includes fan stories of Fairport Convention.
After a glass of red wine, we took our seats for the second half of the show. Once again, we were treated to a selection of songs old and new culminating in the traditional folk song “Matty Groves” and the always highly anticipated encore finale “Meet on the Ledge”. The vocals of Hannah Sanders from the opening act added an extra dimension to the song which of course was originally sung by the sadly missed Sandy Denny.
We left via the exit (see sign, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) and were greeted by our taxi driver. The drive north was equally scary with a true pea souper fog that limited our speed. We eventually picked up carer number two, Elaine, close to 1 AM and they put me to bed just after 1:10 AM. An interesting, exciting, scary, yet worthwhile evening.
“Fairport is an institution, a festival, purveyors of memories, and keepers of the folk flame. But most of all they are a brilliant live band.” (Folk & Tumble magazine)
Setlist:
First Set: Walk Awhile; Cider Rain; My Love Is in America; Polly on the Shore; The Year of Fifty Nine; Steampunkery; Sloth.
Second Set: The Journeyman’s Grace; Banks of the Sweet Primroses; Bankruptured; Moondust and Solitude; John Gaudie; Portmeirion; Doctor of Physick; The Hiring Fair; Matty Groves.
Encore: Meet on the Ledge
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