TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

I think Edwina Hayes has been great on this year's tour - possibly my favourite support act I've seen on a Wintour, although I've only been to the last 5. Which support acts have you enjoyed over the years, or which have you not liked at all?

I'll be shouted down for this

I really enjoyed Mundy Turner, I bought 2 of their albums and still play them. I must stress it was the singing I liked, not the talking  :)

I never saw Mr Hughes but I'm sure he'd have been my favourite if I had!  {:-)

Both those (and still in touch with Mundy Turner via Twitter) were superb.

As will Kev Dempsey & Rosie Carson who have next years slot.

Going back a while (it's a long time since I've been to a Wintour gig - we usually go to one of the Spring Acoustic gigs), Huw & Tony Williams were excellent

Lots of good ones - Jay Turner, Julian Dawson spring to,mind, and off me a real duff act was John B Spencer

Mandolinists Simon Mayor and Hilary James. Their appalachian clog dancing was my favorite!

Anthony John Clarke went down well with our party - in recent years it is hard to think of anyone I didn't enjoy to some degree.  

He was at the Birmingham gig a day or so ago - on good form!

Bob Fox was the first support act for Fairport I ever saw - great voice and songs.  Ken Nicol was also one of my favourites  - superb guitar player.

I think that the only act I didn't like was Keith Donnelly & Flossie Malavialle - all of the others in the last 5 years I have enjoyed to one extent or another.

In addition to the aforementioned, Steve Tilston earned his corn a few years back in that slot

David Hughes was pretty good.

And he wrote a book about it.

Beryl Marriott.

Hasn't Katriona Gilmore come from Tiny Tin Lady? So what happened to the rest of that support band from back then...?

Often the support acts depend on personal musical preferences, the worse for me was 2005, Simon Mayor and Hilary James, having said that, they are musically outstanding... 

P. J. Wright, Katriona Gilmore & Jamie Roberts - really enjoyed those as well.

I loved  Keith and Flossie - especially Flossie (ahem) - I've been a fan of Keith's since I first saw him do the bacon at Glasto in '89 or '90 and have even shared a stage and my hair with him. The album they did has a lot of lyrical resonance with me, or as I was at the time I saw them on the support slot.

I really liked Tiny Tin Lady and went on to see them a few times in their own right. They expanded into a 5/6 piece (with drums and all sorts) and  I understand that they then took a break to allow for university studies. No more info than that, unfortunately.

Kieran Halpen was brilliant - tried to get hold of Crystal Ball Gazing a few months ago, but it is long deleted and costs a fortune!

Tiny Tin Teenagers................bag o'sh*te..................just my opinion mind............no discussion needed.

I completely agree with you, Abby. However, Katriona Gilmore is a cut above the rest of them, to say the least.

Yes, thoroughly agree on both points. And Katriona and Jamie were my favourite support act of recent years by a country mile.

Michael Chapman was support in the 80s but i cannot remember if this was part of the wintour. Terrific, energetic guitar.

Well, that's told me!

I did really like the version of Who Knows that made the round on YouTube the year Tiny Tin Lady were the support with Beth Gibbons taking a turn to a big round of applause. I liked some of their stuff but obviously I have never seen any of the support acts!

Another vote for Huw & Tony Williams.

I've been doing the Wintour since 2005, so the first I saw was Simon Mayor and Hillary James. Every single year I've enjoyed the opening act, so it's hard to pick a favourite. At a push I would probably say Katriona and Jamie, however Keiran Goss was also a favourite as were Ken Nicol and Phil Cool. Really looking forward to seeing Kev and Rosie next year as well.

Been doing wintours since 2009 (and Cropredies too) and all the support acts have their merits but I dont think they should not be bartered off against each other, they are ALL worthy of their position on that stage and bring a unique something to each and every performance.
I personally rate Kieron Goss and Edwina Hayes equal No 1 but thats just my opinion. If any one wants to Have a go up there I'm Sure the lads would love to hear your demo's, Me, I prefer to play very quietly in my bedroom. Looking forward to hearing Blair Dunlop as the support in the next couple of years (Hint, Hint, Hint).

Considering Blair is currently, or is about to go, on tour in Australia, I think he's got his sights set a little higher than being support for Fairport  ::)

This thread has reminded me of several I had forgotten about. A successful support is one I want to hear more of and on that basis the best for me have been Bob Fox, Steve Tilston and Kat & Jamie. The best support act is one where you are disappointed their set is so short but that doesn't happen too much! (Missed the current tour but heard Edwina Hayes supporting Jools some years back and was impressed.)

Can only think of one I didn't like over the last 15 years or so but will spare their blushes!

Did that act involve a kookaburra?

That part I didn't enjoy, but the rest of their act was great. I'm sure all acts have a song or part of their act that's, er, weaker than the rest....

As you quite rightly say Blair is currently own under at Port Fairy, Brunswick and Katoomba, and I wish I was with him, Blair is in his own right a fine artist and Fairport could do far worse than have him open for them, I seem to recall many of the supports having already chased out a successsful career prior to supporting the wintour,  I am sure the boys regularly meet new emerging artists and established acts and would dearly love them all to join them on the tour, I personally look forward to seeing any act they see fit to join them, I havent been too dissapointed so far, Roll on Wintour 2015. ps Blair is back on tour in May with his new album 'House of Jacks' out on 26th May.

Edwina's set certainly was one that was too short. But at least she was invited back to join in on wkwttg as well as motl

Helen's in a punk band I hear...not sure about the sisters Dani & ?....but Kat will chat if asked.

Don't forget if you liked Kat & Jamie I have them on at the Musician this Thursday.

When did the 'Wintour' as we know it actually start?

I ask because:

1) I'd give a thumbs up for Vikki Clayton as a good support act but can't remember if she ever really was a 'Wintour' support...

2) I've seen Fairport on every winter tour - not necessarily classified as the 'Wintour' - since the mid-80s reformation, but I'm afraid my recollection of all those support acts I must also have seen is completely shot! Who were they? And who knows where the brain cells go??

They were doing dates in Winter even when they didn't officially exist (1980-85), which is quite some doing, although I'm not sure when the abbreviated name came in...suspect late 80's but might be wrong...

Beats me. I saw them a lot in the 1980-85 era (Swarb, Bruce, Simon & Peggy mostly) but have no recollections of any support acts on those dates. And I saw them a lot when Maart and Ric first joined but, again, can recall not one single support. Either there weren't any; I was in the bar; my memory is even worse than I thought.

Vikki Clayton was the Wintour support in 2002. One of the best I've seen, I remember catching the gig in Worthing. Simon had a lousy cold/flu bug and couldn't sing. He played guitar, Chris and Peggy did all the vocals and invited Vikki on towards the end of the gig to sing WKWTTG and a great version of Matty Groves, played Liege & Lief style. One of only 2 (I think) Fairport gigs I've been to where they didn't finish with MOTL.

Lucky you, Gary  :)  They seemed to have that Digance bloke permanently attached everytime I saw them then...mostly at Wimbledon Theatre.

I was at that gig. It was a great one. Was it really as long ago as 2002? From what I recall Simon's lost voice forced them into an alternative approach and took advantage of Vikki being on the tour by playing a number of Sandy era songs in place of the ones Simon would normally have sung. More than the ones you mentioned, I thought. Possibly including Fotheringay? But I might be misremembering.

Vikki is still my favourite Sandy stand in, along with Chris While.

I seem to remember the guys doing the gig with as little disruption to the XXXV tour set as possible, but working around a lack of Simon's vocals, i.e. leaving out the numbers he sang lead on, and on songs like "The Happy Man" and "The Light Of Day" Chris singing the verses he would've sung. In addition to the numbers I mentioned, they played the Toss The Feathers medley from L&L at a cracking pace, slightly too fast, even for Ric's heart rate , as he told me afterwards.  :) Don't think they played Fotheringay, etc...although I'm happy to admit my memory's possibly playing tricks on me too.

Yep - remember that tour - Vikki was great - sang a lovely song titled something liked "Let me be the last one that you love"

Then there was the tour where Simon broke his leg/ankle, and (at the gig I was at) at the interval, they chucked a sheet over him where he sat on stage, as it was too much of a struggle for him to get off and back.  

Mr. Hutchings did something similar on his Cecil Sharp tour, when he pretended (at the end of the first half) he had to have a nap - and sat perfectly still on stage for the entire interval.

I am pretty sure I remember seeing the Albion Band as Fairport's support act sometime back in the 80s/90s. It was at the Fairfield Halls I think. Gawd knows if was the WinTour, but that always used to be a regular venue on the Wintour in later years up until recently.

I saw that tour too, at the Gravesend gig I believe. Another good one. I have a theory that Fairport always play better in the face of some adversity. When one of the members is under the weather, everybody else seems to compensate by playing with greater energy and intensity. I didn't see tham on the current tour but it must have been a struggle with three members crocked one way or another.

The best Fairport gig I ever saw was just after Ric's plate glass interface. It was in a tent in Gosport and Chris was temporarily standing in for Ric. The band must have registered the confusion of the fans who were unaware of Ric's accident (including me) but the Simon, Peggy, Maart, DM, Chris line up were absolutely on fire that night.

.....and I would register my enjoyment of the lovely Fraser Nimmo. 1998, I think.
But a Cropredy stalwart and set up a lovely gig for the chaps in Birmam, Perthsire in May of 2012.