TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

The UK dates are now on the website here (http://www.fairportconvention.com/gigs.htm).

The Euro (Danish & Dutch) dates prior to the UK ones can be found here (http://www.art-music.dk/eng/kalender/unik.asp?Tdato=10/6/2005&BID=33).

Well! The gig on 7 Oct in Grolloo is listed as:
Koen, Groningen, NL
That should be
Zaal Hofsteenge, Grolloo, NL
Grolloo being some 25 miles away from Groningen. And Koen - me - definetely isn't in Groningen. And they're not playing at my place anyway (I wish!). It's at the local pub/venue.
I'll get in touch with the Danish promotor
(again)
(sigh)

I wonder why the Euro dates aren't listed on the FC site whereas the (later) UK dates are?

Koen

They'll go up very soon - the webmaster is a tad busy.....

Hi, can anyone tell me if there is any car parking at the Red Lion Birmingham as we are thinking of taking our daughter to see Fairports ( to complete the brainwashing !!!).......Anne

The pub does have a car-park, yes....but it does fill up quickly. Get there promptly, unless you're happy to use the roadside parking.

Thanks Chris, now all I have to do is get the tickets!!! By the way my daughter is delighted (no really) to be coming along to her first ever Fairport gig at the ripe old age of 24.

Anne: I live just down the road from the red lion! its in a residential area, and if you go up grove road, there are lots of residential streets, its a better area the further you go, but there are plenty of roads you could park on.

Having had a peruse of the Autumn tour dates, which is preceded by the Euro tour and followed in quick succession by the Dylan Project tour and (hopefully) the winter tour, our Mrssrs (?sp!) Nicol and Pegg are looking to be on the road until sometime next Spring!  Whatever they're taking for energy, can I have some?!!!  Please?

Now - which gig(s) to go to?  Chipping Norton will be good as the first one and it's not a huge journey; I've never been to the 100 Club before, sounds posh; Finchley's the closest to me; Grays is possible; Newbury is just feasible.  Hmmm.  Think I'll see which one(s) are getting a good group from here...

There are a few gigs that I can't pin down properly (or rather, Multimap can't) as there are two places of the same name in different places...  Blakeney - Gloucestershire or Norfolk?  Chippenham - Wiltshire or Cambridgeshire?  Radcliffe - Northumberland or Greater Manchester?  I'm not expert enough on telephone area codes to be able to suss it.  Think I'll contact Mr Webmaster & ask if it can be clarified; although I bet I won't be the only person doing that!  I suppose if you're in the area and actually likely to go to the gig, you'll know anyway!

Finally, who susses out the routes for these things?  They seem to spend a lot of time cris-crossing the country and going back near to places they were a few days before having gone somewhere a long way away in between.  I guess a lot of it is to do with the venues' schedules but drawing the route on a UK map is an education in itself!

Anyhoo, that's a bit of a book!  Good luck lads, enjoy the tour and I'll catch up with you somewhere!

The 100 Club is a typical London club - in a basement, plastic chairs & Tables, although the bar usually does stock real ale. In the middle of Oxford Street, twixt Oxford Circus & Tottenham Court Road. Certainly wouldn't secribe it as 'posh'.... ;D

The Arts Depot in Finchley used to be known as the Bull Arts Centre.....


My guess at Blakeney would be Norfolk - the venue (Harbour Room) rather gives it away..... ;)
Chippenham - Wiltshire - seems to be part of the Leisure Centre....sports hall gig?
Radcliffe - Greater Manchester....0161 phone number ;)


One of the most expensive parts of touring is accommodation - so, the more times one can pass 'go' (i.e. homes in North Oxfordshire), the fewer times you have to stop out..... ;) ;)

Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, my darlin of the MZ!   ;D
BD (ex pat Mancunian  ;))

The man who knows all!!  Thanks for the words of wisdom Chris.  And I bet the occasional night at home goes down well with the lads and their families too.  Hadn't thought of it that way. :)

BD, you never did claim your ride (on the MZ before anyone starts!).  But then I never told you where we were camped either...

A lot of venues have restrictions preventing artists from performing at a nearby venue around the same time as it makes it more difficult to get bums on seats.

Come to Chipping Norton, it's small but perfectly formed...

When was the last no-expense-spared tour? (Tour bus, traveling crew, Cupman and light show)

When Ms rydeR was support......1999 - 2000?

Not Cup Man, BD. That was the year before annA, 1998.

DH's photo of Cup Man on tour is the only photographic evidence in the history of folk-rock.  ;D

Must dispute Cocker! There is a photo of cupman in Ms Ryder's tour diary.......presume it was taken that tour, or am I being usual naive self?  ;D

Big Dave is right and I think that Cupman was also sighted lurking on stage at Cropredy 1999.

1999 might well have been the last Grand Wintour, but did it have the touring lights?

The little madaM!

I think they had lights on annA's tour. Johnny Mellen was there I think.

But I'm not sure about Cup Man being on stage in 1999 was he? I thought that was '98 when I was a guest on the Saturday night?

Cupman??  Definitely not on the 2003 tour (not that I noticed anyway).  Why did I wait so long to discover them??  :'(

Struggling to imagine Fairport with stage lights and presumably flash-bangs and so on?  Bet Ric was in his element!

On a slightly different angle, anyone got lists of which venues were played on which tours?  Would like to know the last couple of times they hit Croydon as it was one of the last 2 or 3 times there that I first saw them and I can't for the life of me remember what year that was!  I'll try Expletive Delighted...

<additional>  Found it!  MUST have been 2003.

The Danish agent has now corrected it.
As Zaak Hofsteenge, Grollo - that's 2 errors in 3 words. I've only mailed the correct info like, umpteen times.
It must be Dutch to them.

 :-\
Koen
(gives up)

It is indeed Blakeney on the North Norfolk coast - I'd guess the Harbour Room is probably at the Manor which is,strangely enough, in close proximity to the harbour. The other option is the Blakeney Hotel which is v. posh.

Steve

I settled on the Finchley gig and booked this morning (on the fourth row).

After a couple of painful experiences at the Half Moon (physically not acoustically) Martin K and myself preferred the certainty of getting a seat. As I understand it the 100 Club (which would have been closest for me by far) does not have very many seats, and they're not bookable.

SteveK

Hi , thanks for the parking advice at The Red Lion, we now have our three tickets in their multicolour glory (never been to a venue where all the tickets are printed on different coloured card before!) in our hands and are looking forward to the gig........Anne

Myself and Simon F should be there, all being well.  Anybody else for this one?

Anyone else going to the gig in Mansfield????

AmyJen

Interesting press cutting from their local rag here! (http://www.hendontimes.co.uk/features/newsfeatures/display.var.626436.0.folkrock_music_inventors_play_on.php)

I have to say that that report  is one of the most confused I've ever read. Still, the chaps are in the news, which is good, but the quality of the reporting is low, which is bad.

contemplating it........ :-\

Great Delphini.. see you there...  in fact come to our house and go there with us if you like!!!

AmyJen ;D

Yikes! Anyone wishing to come to the gig at Chipping Norton Theatre on Saturday 29th October best get a wriggle on. General booking opened this morning and there are currently only 34 seats left.

That's right folks, 34.

Box Office is 01608 642350 or you can now book online at www.chippingnortontheatre.co.uk

Don't forget also that Rainbow Chasers will be appearing on Saturday 14th January. Tickets are a bargain at £10/£8 concessions.

See you there!
Boatgirl

I had one hell of a job getting 4 tickets for the Chippy Norton show - I still don't know if I've ended up with seats in row B or row K ???  (I kept asking for the former when given the choice but I'm not convinced that I made that clear enough :-[)

Thanks for the offer, but it looks like it's logistically impossible with work committments  - and the amount of other gigs I seem to have planned for the autumn ;D

I'll review it nearer the time, hoping it's not a sell-out

If anyone is interested, Simon and Ric will be playing at a fundraising event at Chipping Norton Lido this Sunday (11th Sept).

The event is to launch Emma's Trust, a charity set up in memory of a local girl, Emma Curtis-Smith, to help young people realise their ambitions to work in sports and the arts.
King Pleasure & The Biscuit Boys are also performing, and there are loads of other activities and workshops throughout the day.

Tickets for the evening concert are £20, with proceeds going to Emma's Trust. For details visit www.emmastrust.com

There are also VIP tickets (to include champagne!) for £40. Shame I can't make it.

Time to bring this back to the top....

I notice that the European tour has had at least one extra date in Germany added. Check out the website (http://www.fairportconvention.com/gigs.htm)

Koen - it's the day after yours, so they won't be staying for lunch....

Just back from a weekend in North Norfolk - posters for the Blakeney gig all over the place!

To clear up confusion from my earlier post - Harbour Rooms are the new Britsih Legion function rooms at the top of the High Street for those that know Blakeney - very smart from the outside and apparently home to a recently established folk club.

Now how do we get from Chippy on Saturday to Blakeney on Sunday......................

I was thinking the self-same thing. It helps that I have friends slightly further up the coast, but it's a Sunday evening....

But I'd probably split the fuel costs if you were up for driving. The lads have to, so it can't be too bad!

Looks like the Mansfield one is about the clossest to me & I'm actually off work. Though it is the night before I'm supposed to be out doing a gig myself with the new band (not the one in my website). God, but I hate Mansfield though :-\ Though not as much as the alternative which is Negotiating Birmingham Traffic.

Oi Taliesin...  can you tell us why you hate Mansfield please...

I'll see you there.....

AmyJenwholivesafewmileseastofMansfieldbutwasn'tbornthere ;)

Also to attempt a potted history of FC without mentioning Cropredy is a bit weird!

Paul

I must have missed reading this, earlier. I thought it was fascinating but I suppose only from a historic point of view and, of course, being a local paper to Muswell Hill area they would of course dwell on the relevance to that local area. That'll be a shame if old Fairport gets bulldozed (if I read that aright) It should have a blue plaque I reckon, just for a giggle!

Jude

Shall we start a "blue plaque for Fairport" campaign?  ;D

Cover of the next album. . .The band standing in front of the old house as the bulldozers move in (as in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)

Good shout PLW.  Hope it never gets to the point where the bulldozers do move in.

Should we all club together and buy it???

AmyJen ;D

C'mon all you Photoshop experts, get to work on PLW's idea!!!!  ;D

Its something I really can't put a finger on, I suppose its more th indescript journey from my own dreary town, at least Mansfields outlook onto the sourounding country is nice & a mere stepping stone into the Peak District. I really have a dislike for most Metropolitan areas, there are very few towns I can visit gladly.

But that's by the by. Actually the thought of combining an evening gig with the prospect of airing my walking boots in the crisp early autumn weather does have its appeal.

Anyone going to the 100 club gig in November? My tix ordered. See you at the bar  [;-)

MikeC

Should be there.

Reports elsewhere indicate that Vo Fletcher played in place of Peggy last night, with nowt said. I suppose he's ill, any info out there?

Only what you've seen, Andy. I guess he's still on sebbatical.

It's 3 days after my birthday... you WILL see me at the bar  ;D

You will also find me at the bar in the Fat Surfer in Grays the night before... a 4-day birthday / Fairport binge!!!!! ;D ;D


(Edited to throw in the birthday - buy me a beer hint again.....)

#

I saw this report also Andy and it does beggar the question as to why, if Peggy is not on the current set of gigs, has no announcement been made.

If, as I know from friends of mine in the past, someone has bought a ticket to see FC because of Peggy being there, maybe Tullfanatics for example, and on arrival they find Vo (fine musician no disrespect) standing in they could rightly feel a little upset.

I don't care who plays bass frankly, Ashley, Maart, Peggy or Vo would all be great IMHO, but as a band who frequently comment on their close relationship to fans, I think an anouncement as to the line up for atour would only be polite.

Jackdaw

Then I think you probably do care.  :)

Polite, maybe. But not necessary, in my book. Just because we love 'em, doesn't mean we own 'em. (http://www.recognised.org.uk/tiara.jpg)

Well - we have the chaps here in Grolloo tomorrow (7th) and officially all I know is that Dave Pegg is on bass, and that's what's on our press release and that's what some people, I assume, come to expect. Still it's really up to the band to announce it or not ... but in these internet days it's not as if it stays a secret very long (as we see now!). I don't know why they haven't gone public with this - if only so that our press releases would be correct!
In the end though - at least I don't have to be surprised tomorrow. And I wish Vo all the best of luck and at least we'll get to see a very special line up. And I hope people understand.

Koen

I'm sure no-one here wants to gossip as such. I am curious as to the Grolo line-up. Do let us know how the evening goes.

And a set list, please. That would be most welcome.

Yes please, Koen - a set-list would be extremely welcome.

The line-up is GC, RS, CL, VF & SN.

The report on the FC mailing list from Reinhard Kox ended with
"According to me, a really rocking show, with the band in top form and obviously in a good mood"
So that's really positive. And if Vo Fletcher is the permanent bass player on this whole tour, I'm sure the bass job is in capable hands, for he's a top musician.
Set lists ... well it's not up to me, because I'd hate keeping notes at a gig. But who knows I may be able to lay my hands on a set list at the end, and if so I'll report it.
Wish us luck, ticket sales right now are still on the fairly depressing side but let's think positive! Come All Ye Dutch (or even German) Talkawhilers, make a trek to Grolloo ;-)

Koen

Hmm, I hear what you say Anji and I agree we don't own them but I do think they owe their fans.
I've got a ticket to see the guys next month and whilst I didn't order it on the strength of Peggy playing  I think I'm entitled to expect him to be there when the gig is advertised as Fairport Acoustic and is accompanied with pics of the 4 guys (Simon, Ric, Peggy & Chris). Now if they had said up front Vo was depping for Peggy then no problem and if I'm honest I'll not be to upset if he is depping next month as well. I just think that as performing artists they have a duty to the punters who pay for the tickets to tell them of changes to the evening.

I don't see this as owning them. If that were the case then punters would expect chapter and verse as to why he wasnt playing etc etc. Thats not the case for the average punter. Us lot on here could be viewed as slightly different and yes we do want to know more details. Thats from a concern point of view I would say rather than a "whats the line up" view.

Anyway, reasons aside folks. reviews please, reviews.

Here's the one Andy & I saw earlier today - from Reinhard Kox (yes, really)

Just a quick note on the first gig of the European tour in Horst/Holland. The location was "De Tiendschuur", a former barn, opposite to the ruins of an old castle. Very nice, but only room for perhaps about 200 people, so I would not be surprised if no other list members where present. The line-up included Gerry Conway, but Dave Pegg was once again replaced by Vo Fletcher, with no further comment on that. There were two one-hour sets, quite similar to the set lists posted on the list earlier this year, including some songs not heard recently like Genesis Hall and The Widow of Westmoreland's Daughter. Also quite a few songs from OTNH, which I liked much more than on CD. According to me, a really rocking show, with the band in top form and obviously in a good mood.

Anyone coming to the Blakeney one? It's the nearest one to us this time, as Norwich wasn't on the list last time I looked.
I'll probably try to keep track of which songs they play for a diary thingy, so if anyone wants to know I'll post it somewhere - especially if you tell me where to put it..

Leila

The setlist would be very suitable in this thread, Leila....

At one stage I was working on making both the Chippy gig and Blakeney (I have friends along in Hunstanton), but it ain't going to happen, unfortunately.

Ok, one setlist!

We got there a few minutes late - hey, we'd never been there before! so might've missed a song of two. But we arrived just in time for Banbury Fair.. then the rest were:
Too Close To The Wind
I'm Already There
Now Be Thankful
Canny Capers
The Wood and the Wire
Fossil Hunter
Slipjigs and Reels
John Gaudie
Hiring Fair
The Dancer

And a few instrumentals I didn't know the names of, and a song which could've been called The Lancashire Hills.. but probably wasn't.
So there you go!

...followed by Matty and Meat & Two Veg, I presume?

See Chris' set list for Chippy - Matty strikes no more - he's been usurped by The Dancer.

To paraphrase Simon _ MOTL will always end the set as long as he's in the band.

Steve

Oho! Fine by me.

I'm quite fond of Matty as it goes, but the Dancer is a good song too.

It seems the chaps are on form and having a good time up there.  Can't wait for the Grays gig!  15 days and counting...

Meat & Two Veg...  ho ho!  :)

Just as well my brother wasn't there, really, he loves Matty (though being 11 he'd never admit it) and wouldn't've known any of the others..
I didn't let myself get excited by the Blakeney gig right until the day before 'cos I thought they'd run out of tickets..
Wish Feb would hurry up now! Going to drag the rest of the band along, not that they'll need much encouragement.

A quick post about last nights gig at Lickey Parish Hall.
The guys were (inevitably I guess) more relaxed than the first night at Chippy. The "flat" lineup means that you can see as well as hear how much Gerry adds to the music without imposing on the acoustic setup. Set list was much the same as that posted by Chris on the Chippy thread although there were a few changes in the order and "Meet" (despite what Simon said at Chippy) has fallen from the ledge - the encore was (I stand to be corrected) the Dirty Linen close which usually follows Matty.

Many highlights, but, as has been said previously, Hiring Fair/Summertime was sublime. Would it be possible for Rob to pull a recording from the desk for a future live release?

Thanks to the lads for a terrific evening and to Paul Edwards of Shiningfriends for pulling it together.

Steve

See you there!

Anybody going to the Newbury gig on 22nd November? ;D

Bentley Ben and I are going to Newbury Sian.  I really hope I finally get to meet you.

Excellent Suzanne and BB.  See you there. ;D

I should be trhere too....and the 100 Club!

I'll be at the 100 club and then at Lewes on the saturday.  Has anyone seen the merch from this tour, I'm keen to pick up Ric's trio album and wondered if it might be available from the desk.

There is one on the FC website.

Set List from Chippenham (well, almost)

Over The Next Hill
Woodworm Swing
Banbury Fayre
Close To The Wind
A couple of tunes - Upton On Severn Jig?
I'm Already There
Sophisticated Lady/Here,There and Everywhere
Now Be Thankful
Canny Capers

The Wood and The Wire
Over The Lancashire Hills
The Rosehip
Close To You
The Fossil Hunter
Slip Jigs And Reels
The Hiring Fair/Summertime
The Dancer
Meet On The Ledge

And a very nice evening it was too, missed Peggy but the chaps made an excellent sound, really loved Gerry's percussion.

I know... no Matty when I saw 'em either!
Tous?! hang on.. If All Must Leave? ....interesting.

Apologies in advance - someone ought to put a word count warning on these posts I think!

GRAYS (FAT SURFER) 15th Nov.

Well, what a fantastic night!  After finding the club by asking in the petrol station…  I found that I’d arrived at just after 7pm (2 hours from Uxbridge across the middle of London in the rush hour – pretty good I reckon).  Doors opened at 7.30 so I formed a queue for a while.  Looking through the front door I could just see Chris sound-checking, and I thought to myself that I’d be happy to be this close to the band any other time.  I knew I was in for a treat.

When I got in to the club the very nice and helpful organisers allowed me to use a store room for changing out of the bike gear and leaving the kit in there wasn’t a problem.  Nice one guys, it made for a stress-free evening not being wrapped up in thermal bike gear and not having to cart it around with me all night or worry that it might not be where I left it, or getting trampled on etc.

Got a beer and found that JJ had very kindly saved me a seat in the front row.  I really can’t thank you enough JJ, it was the making of an unbelievable gig for me.  Oggies are on me at Cropredy!  Virtually within touching distance of the stage – it was a real privilege.

A bit about the club.  It is indeed an intimate venue.  200 people?  Maybe a few more.  It’s a very normal working men’s club, so the beer was indeed cheap.  Although I had to restrict myself to one half of cider and coke for the rest of the night as I was on the bike.  Even the coke was reasonably priced for a bar, at 70p a half.

I think the set-list was much the same as posted earlier in this thread, but no Lancashire Hills.  Matty is still on vacation, but we got Meet as the encore.

As JJ said in the other thread, it was great to be able to see Gerry properly.  The man is indeed a master of his craft.  He had all sorts of strange hanging bells and shells and things that went “thock”; tambourines, bongos.  Very much worth seeing.  All of the chaps seemed to be enjoying the gig.  Simon especially enjoyed the chance to say “Hello all you Fat Surfers” at the beginning, having waited, apparently, 38 years for just that opportunity…

My personal favourite moments included Woodworm Swing, the morris tunes, Ric’s jazzy interludes and The Rosehip.  But every song/track was most enjoyable.  I hadn’t heard Close to the Wind before, so now I’ll have to go and get the appropriate album as obviously I don’t have it yet.  All the chaps were in fine form, and I especially enjoyed the opportunity to study some of the more background things that they each do.  I just cannot get over Simon’s vocal range.  He was doing some of the most amazing bass rumbling in some songs (sorry, I can’t remember which ones now) and it seemed like he’d go off the bottom of the scale into the subsonic at times.  It just doesn’t come across on recorded media.  As ever the Hiring Fair sent my knees to jelly.  There was a lovely “jazz moment” after Hiring Fair where Ric had gone off into a soaring solo and Simon was waiting for the right moment for Summertime to start.  Ric suddenly thought of a new way to segue into the song and put a couple of extra bars in.  The communication between the two of them was fantastic to watch.

One moment that really made me smile (among many, many such moments).  The horse that the gypsy woman sees in her crystal ball at Banbury Fair has grown somewhat – it’s now 17 hands high.  It can probably gallop a bit wilder and freer now.  (Pedant moment – a “hand” is 4 inches, so a horse that is 7hh – hands high – translates to 28 inches; 2’4” at the shoulder.  There’s only one breed of horse – pony – this small so far as I know; they’re kept as pets rather than ridden.  17hh is more like 5’8” at the shoulder and is a proper horse size.  No, I’m not converting that to metric.  Horses are built in imperial measurements, that’s all there is to it.)

And I got to have a lovely conversation with Chris after the gig about his native American flutes.  They are gorgeous.  When I’ve finished this I’m straight off to find the Oregon (or was it Oklahoma?) flute school on the web…  They’re all different, the flutes from the different tribes (ahem, peoples?) with different fingering systems and sounds and the way they’re made and everything.  It’s fascinating, the variation that can be achieved with a hollow tube with some holes in.

So once again, thanks to Soundmanjim for pulling this off.  I sincerely hope you can get them back another time.  It really was a magical evening for me and I’ll move mountains to repeat the experience.  I wanted to thank you after the gig but you’d disappeared upstairs, seemingly never to return.  I will catch up with you one day and buy you several beers.  Thanks to the chaps for just existing really, and bringing such evenings into our lives.  If only I could get to every gig, everywhere in the world.  I will admit to vaguely hoping somebody would steal my bike during the gig…  I know it’s bad to tempt fate and so on, but hey, if you’re bike’s gonna get nicked, there’s worse times for it to happen you know?  Like when you’re wanting to use it to get to a Fairport gig…

Anyway, I’ve blathered on quite enough now.  It’s London tonight (100 club?), so I hope all those that are going tonight have just as marvellous and magical an evening as I did last night!

Arrrrgh!  Pedants - spot the error I wasn't quick enough to modify!

Oh we most certainly did!

It was a really up beat night, both on stage and in the audience (apart from the loud bloke and his boozled mate by the central pillar - numpties!)

The set was much as described by others, on earlier nights  and was magnificent It was great to hear some old friends and the highlight, IMHO, was "Close to the Wind" - I love that song! Ric's jazz interludes were really special and seemed to fit into the set perfectly.

All round great night and now looking forward to to the Wintour when, hopefully, the two absentees, Matty and Peggy, will make triumphant returns.

Must echo Lost John's comments. Especially about the pratts beside the pillar who despite being asked then told to shut up continued talking through most of the evening. Including most of the quiet bits  >:(

Thought the segue from Hiring Fair to Summer time was brill but then most of the evening was excellent. The chaps looked relaxed and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Although Ric had his usual problem of trying to stay seated throughout.  ;D

Nice to meet Mark and Chris Bates. As well as (briefly) Lars.

Other than the smokey atmosphere a great night. And yes that is a dig at you two Mark & Chris  ;) ;D

cheers

MikeC

Yes, a great night again at the 100 club, really enjoyed the intimate atmosphere of the set.  I had a peek at the setlist and was pleased to see Over the Lancashire Hills on it but was disappointed when it wasn't played.  I also  enjoyed Close To You and Ric's Jazzy violin on Summertime and I'm Already There is a classic IMO.

     I can't understand people who pay to come to a gig and talk throughout.Why!!??

I said hello to Chris but didn't manage to speak to anyone else, maybe see some of you at Lewes or Finchley.

Anyone going to the Forest of Dean Theatre next Wednesday? (other than the band).

'In Real Time', Anna. Coincided with my first Cropredy.

Just a thought. The words and music are in the first song book. Ric's part would sound great on a flute.

M of F

Oddly enough, I had a conversation along similar lines with Ric on Tuesday night...  Although mostly about his instrumentals.

And originally on the Swarbrick & Nicol album "Close to the Wind", rereleased on CD in a 2 on one combination called "Close to the White Bear"

The two clowns at the back did eventually shut up.

After I threatened them with physical violence. I only wish I had done it earlier >:(

And may I say you did it with grace and style-much appreciated by us wimps who were standing near them.

I did start by trying to be polite to them, but it was in the middle of a track and they weren't getting the message. I object to having to resort to such threats, but it seemed the quickest way to resolve the situation.

Well I was so pleased to have been able to get to the ball last night after the doubt...  and it came up to all expectations! The Mill in Mansfield is a pubrocktype venue.. only my 2nd time there..  it's basic with a hard floor for sitting on.. which we did.. not so easy to get up from though ( :-[) The audience was small.. at first worryingly so.. but grew..  maybe 60ish, not sure, but all very appreciative. One young lad went round getting his stripey teeshirt signed by the band and at the end shouted out 'I'm in love' (with the band I presumed!)

It was good to see Rachel and her daughters and friends who all enjoyed the evening equally.  The set list was as above.. no Lancashire Hills though. The different arrangements were very refreshing and superbly played as ever.  The Hiring Fair was magnificent and followed by Summertime even more Hardyesque.  I was pleased to see that the horse in Banbury Fair has now reached its full stature.. seventeen hands high!

A chat with Simon in the interval..  I must apologise to him.. for my comments re his jumper  ;D  It was the first frosty evening of the year here and we had to scrape the car before the 10 minute drive home..  An excellent night..  appetite now thoroughly whetted for the wintour now.. oh and the Dylans and the Aggies of course!

AmyJen ;D ;D ;D

It does seem to be some sort of secret tour, for something innovative and interresting.  :-\

I think it was more that Mansfield is in a bit of a black hole really :o

Thu 17/11 at Radcliffe Civic Suite - new venue for us, but easy to find and to park.  Bit of a dash to get there, but no matter - FC had arrived late due to traffic snarl up on the M6 so we still had to wait to get into the hall, but then got great seats on row 3.  The evening started off with a support set of 40-45 mins from "Fish on a stick" - not bad, but not what we had gone to see (although the bass player's BVs were fantastic).  Then after a 20 mins interval best part of 2 hours of FC.  Nothing to add to the highlights that others have mentioned earlier - absolutely great  ;D  But a special mention for Simon's guitar playing, how does he do it!  8)

Looking forward to the Albion Christmas show next....

Jon

Where is that John?

Hi Amethyst

Just down the road from Bury (or up depending on which direction you approach from!)...

Jon

Thank you Jon.. I wasn't sure.. no that's not true.. I hadn't a clue!!!

AmyJen ;D

Not surprised you hadn't heard of it - neither had we until the tour dates were announced.

Jon

Anyone noticed Chris's new bouzouki? Looks like a scaled up scroll mando. Good rich sound too.

I can't find it on Ozark's site for that is what it is labelled. So could it be a special or pre-production?? Didn't get chance to bore ask Chris.

Puggzz

Hi Puggzz

 8) 8) 8) yep - great sound and VERY cool I'd say.

Jon

Does anyone remember the name of the two tunes? - the ones Ric "discovered" from Ashley Hutchings...I liked 'em!

I assume - not having been at any of the gigs - they were 'Sheriff's Ride/Upton Stick Dance', two old Sanders & Nicol standards from their duo days in the mid-80s. 'Sheriff's Ride' was also the close to 'Seventeen Come Sunday'...and part of the morris medley on 'Battle Of The Field'...

These were certainly part of the Chippy and Bromsgrove sets - will check out the Red Lion on Saturday!

I get the impression from the various threads that this is probably one of the most memorable acoustic tours, not only because of the music but also (If Lickey Parish Hall and Blakeney are anything to go by) the venues.

Steve

It would be great if they added these tunes to the next album, Upton Stick is ne of my favourite Morris tunes, a right begger to dance though!!

Jackdaw

This tour seems to have resurrected a few favourites from the (pretty diverse and probably unavailable) back-catalogue. As well as these two morris tunes, the Rosehip and, particularly, Hiring Fair/Summertime seem to have received almost universal acclaim. I would certainly be interested in a permanent record!

Steve

I spoke to Ric after the gig at Lewes and he did express an interest in recording Summertime.  Hope so, as many people have said, it works so well with the segue from Hiring Fair.

Venues... with the possible exception of the Mansfield venue.. not one of my favourite venues  ;D

Can't help too much on the bouzouki, but apparently it just arrived in the post one day.  Chris nearly sent it back, thinking it was a mistake... It's lovely though.  Very pretty and it makes a delicious not-quite-mando-not-quite-guitar-strumbly-zingy sound (marvellous technical terminology there).  Somebody at Grays was talking to Chris about it - was that you Kris??

Forget Folk-Rock, here we have the birth of Folk-Jazz!!!  Hurrah - just in time, else I'd've had to invent it soon! :)

English folk-jazz at least.

There's a couple of Scots hybrids around... Ken Hyder/Talisker, and a pianist whose name escapes me...

Thanks chaps, I think that completes the set list, not that I recorded it or anything...

I agree, really enjoyed this year's acoustic tour but more for the music.The Chippenham leisure centre, although interesting on a fitness kind of level, wasn't necessarily an interesting venue. Saw FC at St Donats Castle Arts Centre near Cardiff a few years back, that was nice (good atmosphere, great setting) except the local Naval base kept coming through the PA!.
Gerry's percussion has made a big difference, as has no bass guitar but, the lack of bass meant I really appreciated Simon's guitar playing. In fact, the whole band were excellent. I hope Peggy makes it back for the winter tour though!
Now, if I can just get a ticket for Bradford On Avon...

Just got in from FC gig at Newbury.  It was a fantastic evening.  Sound at the Corn Exchange was really good.  Enjoyed the jazzy bits from Ric.  As has been previously mentioned being without a bass I seemed to be able to really home in on Simons guitar playing and it was just brilliant.  Mr Leslie was of course brilliant, as was the Gerry.  Missed Peggy of course but I must say it was a superb evenings entertainment.  Hiring Fair sent me off somewhere else, John Gaudie made me want to leap from my seat (but I didn't). Rosehip?  just beautiful I could go on and on but I need to got to bed!

Nice to see Chris B and finally met Suzanne and BB (Suzanne got The Dancer played for her especially ;D)

I shall have sweet dreams!   zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

It was really enjoyable last night - nice venue with great sound.  Simon was wearing a particularly funky shirt and Ric was wearing his strange red shoes.
And it saw the end of an era (supposedly) as Ric announced that he was retiring his English Country Dancing gag with the emergency exit signs with immediate effect. :o  We shall see...

The songs were as strong as ever - this acoustic line-up has been a real treat for fans.  I had a Fairport virgin sitting next to me who explained to me that he'd "only come because Dave Pegg used to be in Jethro Tull". :-[  This left me having to break the news to him that Peggy was not actually going to be in the show.  Thankfully, in spite of this, he seemed to enjoy himself.

It was so nice to meet Sian for the first time; hopefully it won't be the last time!  Bentley Ben was pleased to see everybody too but he's very tired now so he's having a nice long sleep at home whilst I had to get to my desk for 8.30am.

And, yeah, Chris dedicated "The Dancer" to me which was a really nice surprise. ;D

The reports from this tour look really interesting and by all accounts the band are having a good time flicking back through various back pages as it were. I am unlikely to make ay of the gigs so can I ask a couple of questions:

1. Have the band been seated for all gigs, and if so what effect has this had?

2. In terms of on-stage action has Ric been more important than on recent full band tours where he has seemed a little on the periphery?

3. Have Peggy's backing vocals been missed i#for some of the songs where harmonies have ben important in the past?

4. How has Gerry's kit been set up - does he have a table of some sort, is the floor scattered with bells and bongos?

5. If and when the chaps decide that touring with the full band has had its day, as must surely happen at some stage (boo-hoo), do people feel that there is mileage in FC continuing in this more sedate, streamlined form?

Cheers,

Jackdaw

In answer to your questions:

1) They have remained seated throughout (except when Ric gets excited and loses contact with his chair).  It's not been a problem at all for me; in fact, it's made it even more informal and relaxed.  The only thing I will comment on is that, in an attempt to leave a "space" for Peggy, Chris has been sitting away from the rest of the band - there seems to be too much of a gap between him and Gerry.

2) Ric's been Ric the whole time - doing his solos and telling dreadful jokes.  However, he's been plucking the violin strings a lot more to have a sort-of "bass" effect. But he's also managed to steal the show with some of his instrumentals.

3) I must admit that I've not really noticed any problem with the lack of Peggy's vocals.  Simon and Chris have got their harmonies spot-on and both voices are powerful enough to cope.

4) Gerry has not had a table as far as I can tell.  He has some bongo-drums in front of him with some cymbals.  He also has all his shaky and bashy things (sorry, percussion is not my strong point) spread out around his chair on the floor and just picks them up as he needs them.  I should be able to submit a photograph to show you tonight.

5) I think there is mileage in an acoustic setting.  The songs have been re-worked on this occasion and we've heard songs that have been out of the repertoire for a long time and songs like "Walkawhile" and "Matty Groves" have been left out this time.  I would say that a five-piece acoustic with Peggy on acoustic bass would be highly enjoyable too.  Rather than being an all-out concert, this has been a tour where it's a bit like having them jamming in your living room (not that my living room looks anything like a stage) with just acoustic instruments and Gerry shaking whatever he can find. 

Some pictures from last night now on my Talkawhile gallery. 

Superb piccies Suzanne.. thanks for letting us see them ;D

AmyJen

Nice one Suzanne, thanks for sharing  ;D

I think Sian & Suzanne summed up Newbery - there's not a lot to add - excpt for a few photos once I get them off the camera....


Not so much as leaving 'room' for Peggy I think, as distancing himself from Gerry's kit. Most of Gerry's percussiony bits are to Gerry's left, Chris's right, and seem to upset his concentration / hearing.

Thanks Chris - I hadn't thought of that.  Makes sense to me. 

Just popped in to say 'Yippeee!'....
Had a lovely bubble bath, squeaky clean with ticket in hand and now off to the Red Lion  :D

Whatever you're doing tonight, have a good one!

Our first time at the Red Lion on Saturday. As a venue its, well,...............interesting. Large first floor room with a bar to one side,faded elegance decor. The stage was basically the bay window which meant the guys had to adopt a sort of diamond formation with Simon slightly front centre and Gerry to the rear.  Couldn't have been easy to interact but the set was absolutely superb - setlist much as before and there was an audible gasp from a full house at the end of  Hiring Fair/Summertime.

I know we're not alone in thinking that this has been a terrific tour and (crossing threads here) it does seem likely that it will be captured on disc.

Steve

The Red Lion is a strange venue, but it is the longest running folkie club in Brum.
Kings Heath is next to Moseley about 4 miles out of Brum. Worth checking out if
any of you are around this way.  :)