TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Went to the Hailsham Pavilion gig last night, which was a 30 mile crawl along the A22 - with changing speed limits the whole way. I was flashed by a camera on the way back entering a badly marked 30mph zone - be warned :(

The band were in fine form and the sound was superb. Simon Nicol did his usual cake recipe aided by bottle of brandy (???), Simon Care performed an egg dance blindfold, Kelly While was magical, and Ashley - played a pale blue Danelectro bass which sounded very good indeed. It was the usual words and song format with a very short mummers play.

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Kellie & guitar Simon

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Hoped to go to see them tonight - but can't  :(

will have a listen to the cds instead

Ashley

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Simon Care

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Simon's cake!

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Great pics! ;D  Which guitar did Simon use?

He used a 12 string and a small 6 string, I have no idea what make they were.

I think the small one would have been the Rob Armstong but I don't know anything about the 12 string.  No sign of the Santa Cruz - alas, I fear the worst :'(

It all sounds very good anyway and I'm certainly looking forward to Canterbury on the 21st :)

Saw them ( for the first time live) last Thursday at Pontardawe.  Excellent set which seemed to whizz by.  Christmas has well and truly commenced! :)

Got tickets for next Monday in Crosby. Really looking forwad to this one.

Its Thursday for us. ;D

And Les Barker, Keith & Flossie the previous night.

Well, we did Richard Thompson, Kate Rusby and Albion Christmas Band in 6 days!!

Sounds like they're on top form - really looking forward to Crosby next Monday - I'm taking my Mum as part of her Christmas present.

Whose Christmas present is your Mum a part of, Paul?  (Sorry, having a very silly moment.  ;D)

Mickf - you should have said hello! (Or maybe you did to Andy and Wendy and I was out of the room at the time). A fine evening though.  :)

Shirl:  ::)

My sister got tickets for herself & Mum to see FC at Crosby last Wintour, but sis was unwell so they couldn't go.  Hopefully (as I have the tickets at home) I will be able to get up to Merseyside next week as long as the weather is OK - and the forecast isn't looking particularly good.

Thinks:  perhaps I should post the tickets to Mum, then if I can't get there, sis could take her...

I forgot to ask Ashley, has anyone noticed if any shows from the current tour are being broadcast on local radio?

We bought Blair Dunlop's EP and it is very good indeed.

Snowing here in 'castle but they've arrived cos Mrs Reg's seen Simon N wandering round town. ;D

Unless there's a Dutch bus parked somewhere around...  ;)

Wonderfully coloured clouds as I gaze NE from our office towards the western edge of the Cotswolds.

Is he lost?

He was trying to find his bus.  He'd parked it there somewhere, you know...

Lovely performance at Norden Farm in Maidenhead last night, all performers on top form! Snow not too bad so we were able to drive to the venue instead of walk (struggle or wade) like last year.

That's got a very high stage if I remember.

perhaps, but probably only a 'neck-craner' for the first two rows. Good sound, lighting, food (excellent fish & chips there), local Marlow Rebellion ale etc!

Thankfully, the band made it through the snow to Crosby last night to put on a wonderful show. We decided not to risk the car, so we walked there - it took about an hour, in exceptionally chilly weather (Crosby was the coldest place in the UK last night -17.8!!) but it was worth it. We came away feeling exceptionally Christmassy - the band produce a great atmosphere and the show is a lot of fun as well as being musically superb.

... and it was nice to meet PaulT there.

The band play at Canterbury tonight - not a trip I'd fancy in this weather. I do hope they have a safe journey.

According to the Gulbenkian website all shows going ahead, it's a long trek from Crosby to Canterbury, hope they make it, I'm only coming from the Medway towns and I'm wondering if I'll get there!

I hope they have a safe journey as well - the main roads seem to be OK in the Croydon area today.

You will be glad to know that the Albions made it safely to Canterbury to deliver an excellent show of seasonal songs, readings, dances and more.  It was a meritable blend of folk, folk rock, wit and silliness.  Also some breathtaking acoustic guitar!!! 8) 8) 8)

Yes, very glad to hear that they made it, which is a much better performance than we could manage!  Got stuck in Canterbury, on Saturday, for 4 hours (whole city sliding and wheel spinning to a standstill) plus another 1.5 hour extremely slow, slodgy  journey home.  So very reluctantly, we decided not to attempt it.  Such a shame....was really looking forward to it  :(   That's 3 gigs missed in the last couple of months!  "Enough now snow...please depart!"  

Peter (Shankly) - nice to meet you, Peter! - summed it up perfectly - a lovely evening in Crosby; the band were going to break the journey down to Canterbury in Birmingham (Simon N playfully suggested Bootle - about 2 miles from the Civic Hall!)

Hopefully, they'll have got up to Worcester for the last show of the tour.  

Thanks to Ashley, Kellie and the 2 Simons (and the crew) for an excellent evening - my Mum thoroughly enjoyed her Xmas present.

(Added bonus was geting home to discover that Everton had won 2-1 at Man City!!)

I have to agree with KM, an absolutely fantastic show and Simons guitar playing was indeed breathtaking, and we were entertained with new jokes!  Really sorry you missed it Mags, was looking forward to seeing you again.

Your absence was noted ........... by none other than Ashley himself ;)  Not really!  ;D  He commented on the fair few empty seats which had been sold but were unoccupied due to the weather conditions.  

We had no trouble driving from Chelmsford and decided to go into Canterbury for a bite to eat.  BIG MISTAKE!!!  SLIP SLIDING AWAY!!!  And I was driving, having opted for the outgoing journey.  We got to the Gulbenkian with minutes to spare!  Sorry you missed it - it was a great concert!  (I'm not helping, am I? ::))

No, not really helping  :)  but am very glad to hear that you all had a good time.  Canterbury has certainly been an ice-bound city, over the past few days, not a happy place for cars or their inmates.......my bladder is still traumatised from Saturday!

I was wondering if you would be there Angela, sorry to have missed you, sounds as though it was a brilliant evening.  I guess the next one may be in February....the infamous Tunbridge Wells perhaps?   :)

Indeed they did.... :)
Well worth the bit of snow and ice which we encountered on the way across from Stratford and, quite honestly, our trip was insignificant compared with the Band's round trip from Crosby via Canterbury.

And Worcester isn't actually the last show of the tour as they're off to Bradford tonight to fill in for a cancelled Waterson/Carthy gig.

The lovely warm greeting from Ashley as we walked in set the tone for the whole show. Some brilliant songs (quite a few new ones and some old favourites - The River and January Man were superb), great readings and Simon's Christmas pudding recipe....one has to admire his bladder control if nothing else. And in the perfect position in row 3 to catch the egg thrown by Simon C. after his blindfold Morris.

You know you've had a really enjoyable evening when you are still smilling the following day....thanks again to the chaps and Kellie.

S&J

A picture from Crosby

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Shankly/BILD0397.jpg)

A still from a camera movie

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My picture was at Hailsham of course.

I still don't have the edit button even directly after posting :'(

Bit late now, but we were at the Canterbury show and it was indeed very good, but a bit disappointed that Mr. N didn't stop by the merch table at all... it's always nice to have a full set of signatures on the CD cover ;)

You must have just missed him as he was definitely there.

Didn't see him before the show or during the interval. He must have come out right at the very last knockings afterwards; we hung around until the foyer was near-empty and then gave up.