TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

What a day!

Was blown away by Toyah & Fripp. Brilliant choice of songs, superb showmanship, huge energy. I’ve never been a fan of Toyah’s voice but she was ace & I’m smitten  :P My favourite act so far 8)

I missed FC - sorry guys, I was snoozing after getting up at 2am!

I only heard Merry Hell as we were faffing about with the camper awning, but they clearly went down a storm. As good as everyone says they are  :)

Wilson & Wakeman we’re ok, 5th time I’ve seen them recently & tbh they need some new jokes  ::) but I’m a huge fan & Damien can certainly eke every last bit of emotion from a song. I’m glad he did Bring Him Home. It’s a special song & they do it justice.

And then Nile Rodgers & Chic - consummate professionals. Funky, tight, knew exactly how to work an audience, and looked like they thoroughly enjoyed it, as did we. Bloody brilliant way to end a Cropredy Thursday. I’m aching all over from dancin’ but it was sooo worth it   :D

I agree it was a slick, professional show. Did you know he'd won some awards and collaborated with lots of people?
Oh, that's right, he told us...
Merry Hell for me, a great main stage debut for them after years on the fringe.
Fairport are in blistering form, can't wait for tomorrow night.

Ha! He may have mentioned it once or twice… definitely designed for the US where every mention would have had the audience on their feet whooping & hollering Jerry Springer-style  ;D

Re merry hell
Their set was ok but didn’t  seem to suit the main field imo.
I preferred them at the fringe where they sounded better to me.
It just goes to show that some acts transfer and some struggle.
To me after all the fuss it just showed me how good FC are…

This isn’t to say they won’t be rocking big venues in the future, they probably will but not quite yet for me.
Give it a few more years and I’m sure they will be the real deal.

Just to clarify
I’m not knocking their musical ability because they’re good but just a little rough round the edges when you see the likes of FC or FF from Friday night.

Lol...they've been going for 13 years as Merry Hell...and for over 30 if you include the Tansads ;D

I didn’t realise that but it makes you wonder why it’s taken that long for them to breakthrough on the main stage….
Personally I wish they’d just concentrate on their music rather than political musings ( that goes for ANY band)
I don’t need telling if the countries on its arse and what a musician thinks of it, I want to hear your music, that’s the reason I’m here.
Leave claptrap like that for the pub

Cut out the politics and you’ll have time to play us a couple more songs.


I guarantee they’d hardly sell any tickets for a merry hell politics talk….

People turn up to hear them play.

"Cut out the politics and you’ll have time to play us a couple more songs."

Presumably they were contemplating the potential hellish nightmare of a Starmer government!!!

I just knew that (their politics) what was what was being meant about Merry Hall-absolutely nothing to do with their musical ability at all ;D

I must admit it was why I thought they'd never get a slot on the main stage. My strong suspicion is that, despite many of the artists being at least moderately left leaning, the vast majority of the Cropredy audience is now getting increasingly conservative (I'm talking small c, but then again...).  I'd love to know the order numbers for the various newspapers at the Bridge Stores!

More power to Merry Hell's elbow say I.

A more general point would be that, isn't it strange that it's only 'right of centre' people who go on about 'keeping politics out of' music/sport/x/y/z...  Funny that...  ;) :)  Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed waving their hankies in the air at lunchtime  ;)

to put it in a nutshell Merry Hell smashed it and Nile Rogers represented everything I have hated about music for the last 60 odd years, just nonsense. Moving on Morganway were sensational, what a vocal performance.

Although I did love Merry Hell, the one thing that does grate on me is the jingo politics. Then a thought struck me today after hearing Digance - while he and Merry Hell are apparently at different ends of the political spectrum and ne'er the twain, etc., they're both at their most cringy IMO when they do songs about i) the country's in a mess and politicians are ****, ii) listen to the young people we're killing the planet, and iii) isn't England bloody great? Just sayin'...
A plus for Digance, the white hanky moment was brilliant from the top of the field and great to see the look of surprise on the virgins' faces

 

I agree with you there. They could take a lesson from The Levellers in how to put your point across without sounding banal and irritating people. Roving Crows are similar in their politics (both bands have recorded songs titled Bury Me Naked) but they are a lot less cringy though I must admit I haven't seen them live.

I'll be seeing Herry Mell at Towersey in a couple of weeks so will report back from there.

I’ll start a new thread for Friday & Saturday

I used to like The Old Days when we had a new thread for each Cropredy, but a new topic will do!

the last time the Levellers played Cropredy they didn't get their point across they sent us all to sleep.

I love that everyone was prepared and just started the hanky waving when prompted! A great start to the Saturday proceedings.

It does seem fantastically naïve to suggest that if Merry Hell cut out the politics there would be time for more songs. If they cut out the politics there would not be any songs and more power to them say I.

I don't think they should cut it out - just that it should be more nuanced so that it couldn't be accused of taking an easy middle ground and ending up with a simplistic message indistinguishable from Digance's.

FC acoustic - cracking mini-set to kick off proceedings, especially enjoyed the "Come Haste To The Wedding" medley, as my sister sang CHTTW at Elly's and my wedding reception.

Merry Hell - apart from a problem with Andrew's mic, a fine set. Did anyone else think that Simon Swarbrick's playing is very reminiscent of his uncle?

Toyah and Fripp - excellent feelgood party session, loads of smiling faces off and on stage.

Chic - slick. Too slick for my taste. Nile comes across in interviews as a really nice guy... but the onstage persona? Who knew he'd worked with so many people, and won so many awards? As my field 7 neighbour said "he's a bit up himself, isn't he"?

Enjoyed Fairport Acoustic - good energy to get things started.

Merry Hell surprised me. I've seen them before and I thought the vocals might be a bit exposed on the Cropredy stage. But I was wrong, they were very good in all departments.  As for the politics, well, politics in its broadest sense has been part of music since the first performer picked up an instrument, so it seems a bit unfair to single them out!

Wilson & Wakeman were okay, a bit of a luvvie overdose.  Wilson's wander round the field was fun.

Toyah and Fripp are basically a posh covers band, but they were damn good at it! Very entertaining, amazing band.

Also enjoyed Nile Rogers - so many hits and delivered with real verve. The brown haired singer was brilliant.

This weekend must also have smashed the record for the most Bowie songs at Cropredy - five on Thursday and at least the same number on Friday from the Easy Stars.

I don’t remember anyone having a go at Alice Cooper about his politics being slightly to the right of Ghengis Khan…..
Folk music, whatever that is….has always been about politics ……..

People have made cryptic comments about this before, apparently alluding to some unspecified bad blood between FC and MH, but when asked were never willing to expand.



So you're one of those "I don't listen to the lyrics" types? You'd probably hate some of the most popular folk-rock bands like Oysterband, whose songs are very much from a left-wing perspective. After all, folk music traditionally sides with the ordinary person against wealth and power.

In that case I’d rather they attend political rally’s and sing a few songs rather than attend festivals and bore me with politics  ;)

Out of interest, what were the political songs in the set that you object to? From memory, the only vaguely political number was the one about Greta Thunberg, and that was more about the global climate emergency.

Unless you think songs promoting community and solidarity, or condemning hatred are political? Surely we can all agree with those sentiments, whatever our political persuasion?

I wish I'd said that. Excellent.

Agree about the Bowie songs. Wore a cryptic Bowie T shirt on Friday for ESA what was the 5th Bowie song? Heroes, Fashion, Let’s Dance, Modern Love?

Wilson & Wakeman did Life on Mars.

well, some of us turn up to hear them play AND hear their message.

Just sayin'

Well, if you d'dnt like MH you'll have hated Beans on Toast!!  

LOL!
PS I screwed up the quoting blocks so apologies for not attributing the quote etc .

This.

I really liked the MH songs, but the vocals seemed way too forced and shouty for me. It might just be where I was sitting (left of the sound tower) as they seemed much better later on near the back when I popped to the loo.

MH just weren’t really for me as a band even though they were decent musicians.
Gave me the chance to check out some stalls which was nice.
That’s the one thing about cropredy , there is something for everyone.
If you’re not keen on one band then chances are you’ll like the next.

Fairport Acoustic - good start to the festival. No surprises, but a solid set.
Merry Hell - first time I've seen them. I thought they were great.
Wilson and Wakeman. Very talented musicians, nice voice, but the set was a tad boring.
Toyah and Fripp - Good fun, basically what I was expecting.
Chic - The musicianship was excellent, but I'm not a fan of that kind of music. Nile Rodgers dropped so many names it's a wonder the band didn't trip over them

Not a review but just to say I was looking to see if there were any photos or videos out there and found  some super photos from the Thursday, on the Banbury Guardian website. Lovely pics of Toyah, Chic etc...and most if not all the acts. Also a couple of crowd pics so you may see yourself if you were at the front.

Overall I really enjoyed the lineup over the weekend - the sum of its parts etc. :-) I dunno whether I've "changed" of late however, as i found the line up - personally - either fantastic or "whatever" - very little middle ground...  but I do hasten to add it is a case opf each to their own as we cant all like everything etc...

So keeping to the thread :-)

* FC Acoustic:  good as ever. I really enjoy the laid back mini set.
*Merry Hell - my "i came knowing what to expect and i wasnt let down" band of the weekend. Cracking - but Im a solid fan anyway. Victoria needs a new joke to introduce "Violet".  I saw them just a couple of weeks ago at Trowbridge Festival, and (new to me) they also appeared on the card in a stripped down version of the band as "Virginia kettle's rolling Folk" so if you nlike MH, there's anopther chance to hear similar stuff, maybe less politically inclined for those that are oiffended by such notions.
*Wilson & Wakeman - slightly better than "whatever" being fair to them but I was also sitting down now at the back of the field after jigging about as best i can with two replcement hips to MH down thre front beforehand. I never thought id hear a Les Mis/MT number at Cropredy! I'd definitely and happily hear them again another time/elsewhere etc.
*Toyah and Robert Fripp - even at the back of the field they were hugely engaging (understatement). I did end up down the front in time for Kashmir, which was amazing. I saw elsewhere - meant positively! - that they were a "posh covers band" ...  it made me laugh though its true (well.,..  "posh" ? :-) ) but they really were engaing and fun. I will deffo be looking out for their Sunday Lunch sessions now.
* NIle Rogers & Chic - I had initially thought this would be my time to exit the field - I didnt "do" chic in the 70s and I still dont do them, but a chum had convinced me to give them a go based on a recent set list .  As it was I had a bit of a medical/physical episode (I was sober!) as they started and I had to painfully return to the van, so missed it anyway but they (understandably of course) opened with their 1970s hits that i didnt like then and dont like now, so it may not have made a lot of difference :-)



Top first day. Thank goodness for codeine in the end...

FC Acoustic gave a good start to the weekend for me.
Merry Hell were fine - I enjoyed seeing them on the main stage and they worked well up there for me.
I'm a big fan of Wilson & Wakeman, though the walk around the crowd could have been a little curtailed probably!  It was fun to see Damian being carried away by the 'catchers' after his stage dive.
I wasn't too sure what I'd think about Toyah and Fripp, but I really enjoyed them.
Chic on the other hand... As some have said, he was a bit too full of himself and his awards, and the music was not my favourite style.  And really, having him on just after Toyah and Fripp meant we ended up with two groups doing much the same thing (playing other people's songs - even if they were largely ones they had had some involvement with).

It was good to meet up with lots of folks at the Cricket Club beforehand as well.  Is someone going to post the group photo somewhere?

Apologies if you've already picked this up, but Mr & Mrs Fripp have uploaded a brief "flavour of Cropredy" video to their YouTube channel.

Thanks for pointing that out - well worth the watch! Interesting to see the backstage area - that is some impressive shade thrown on poor Toyah by whoever labels up the portacabins!

I think they enjoyed it - it's a little hard to tell what is meant to be sincere and what is tongue in cheek...

have you a link ?  ive looked ghere but cant see anythinmg "obvious" ?

https://www.youtube.com/@Toyah/videos

https://youtu.be/UuS_LcS_yds

cheers!

Ditto. MH have never shied away from the message behind their songs and more power to them for that. As has been said by others folk music always has had, and always should have, a message.

***  LIKE ****

RP watching Toyah sing Kashmir before being ambushed by a poorly disguised Damien Wilson  ::) Just another Thursday at Cropredy  ;) :D :D :D

Great photo  :D