Cropredy 2022

[Nick Reg]

Ive been eating cabbage for 70 years but i dont like it

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Back to "normal" now and it's raining in Barry! I'm not sure I could have coped with another hot day so even though it's muggy it's OK

Highs and Lows for me:

Highs
Turin Brakes - on top form and my favourite of the festival.
Hackett - good but I have seen him better
Clannad, Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Martyn Joseph, Doonicans, Seth Lakeman and Trevor Horn (especially Fripp!!!) were excellent and I enjoyed all the others too. I wouldn't have removed a single act, all excellent artists.
Glamping - yes it was expensive and we won't do it again but I'm so glad we did! Comfortable bed, excellent showers and toilets and the little extras (eg free tea/coffee) made it special.
Great to catch up with TAWs and friends! The last 3 years shrank as we chatted  
Beer/cider from the bar - very tasty. Hic!  

Lows
Was a bit underwhelmed with the food offerings. Not everyone wants a bacon sandwich/full English for breakfast every day. I was desperate for a simple bowl of muesli with fruit!
Weather - nothing anyone could do about it and so much better than the gales and driving rain of 2019, but it was just so debilitating and some of the umbrellas people were using in the field as shelters were enormous.
Moaning on social media - no open fires allowed and everything about the Brasenose seemed to be the main issues. People can't see outside their own little worlds. Things change. Get over it.

I see the 2023 dates are confirmed so already planning for that!  

[iandiddams]

Was it different to the version he's been singing for decades, then?

the timing was all over the shop...  long drawn out notes leading into speeded up next lines ...  just sounded odd.  You couldnt work out when the enxt line was due to start often.

OMMV!

didds

[Will S]

I thought the first day was one of the best days (musically) I've known at Cropredy.  FC acoustic were great, and after missing the last two years it just felt so good to be back there, with them.  And I always did like Travelling By Steam.  Didn't know the Thumping Tommys, but they weer a good festival band. Edward II were great, Clannad were sublime, and Trevor Horn Band just rounded off things really well with a feel-good singalong.
I missed the first three bands on the Field on Friday, as I was at The Brasenose for Haze (last seen at Uni in the mid-eighties) and Kaprekar's Constant, who were wonderful, especially as they were missing their guitarist and songwriter.  Just caught the strains of Babylon  as I got back to the field - sorry to have missed Home Service.  Martyn Joseph was good, the Slambovians were better than I expected, but didn't really float my boat, Sharon Shannon and her band were really good, Turin Brakes I didn't know before, but enjoyed them, and Steve Hackett was great (though not to my view as good as I have seen him before - I think playing a few more of the more accesible tracks from Seconds Out - Afterglow, Carpet Crawlers, I Know What I Like - migght have helped?).
Seth Lakeman was brilliant starting things off on Saturday, Holy Moly were very good too - high energy and fun - the Doonicans were what you expect (not my cup of tea, I'm afraid. I tried listening to see if I'd missed something last time, but no...), Rosalie Cunningham was good if you like Blues/Rock, Ian Matthews and BJ Baartmans were good, RT excellent and Fairport very good too. It looked like Peggy was going to throw his toys out of the pram at one point, but it was smoothed over. I did feel Simon's voice was a little strained by the time WKWTTG came and was worried by the way Gerry was struggling to get onto the drum riser. Hope he's OK.  But Full House was really good, and I'm glad they did do Flowers of the Forest - one I think I have never heard in all my 35+ years of FC gig-going.
It was good to meet up with a number of reprobates at the Cricket Club on Thursday morning, and at the toast. Otherwise I kept meself to meself, and just soaked it all in.

[davidmjs]

I thought the first day was one of the best days (musically) I've known at Cropredy.  FC acoustic were great, and after missing the last two years it just felt so good to be back there, with them.  And I always did like Travelling By Steam.  Didn't know the Thumping Tommys, but they weer a good festival band. Edward II were great, Clannad were sublime, and Trevor Horn Band just rounded off things really well with a feel-good singalong.
I missed the first three bands on the Field on Friday, as I was at The Brasenose for Haze (last seen at Uni in the mid-eighties) and Kaprekar's Constant, who were wonderful, especially as they were missing their guitarist and songwriter.  Just caught the strains of Babylon  as I got back to the field - sorry to have missed Home Service.  Martyn Joseph was good, the Slambovians were better than I expected, but didn't really float my boat, Sharon Shannon and her band were really good, Turin Brakes I didn't know before, but enjoyed them, and Steve Hackett was great (though not to my view as good as I have seen him before - I think playing a few more of the more accesible tracks from Seconds Out - Afterglow, Carpet Crawlers, I Know What I Like - migght have helped?).
Seth Lakeman was brilliant starting things off on Saturday, Holy Moly were very good too - high energy and fun - the Doonicans were what you expect (not my cup of tea, I'm afraid. I tried listening to see if I'd missed something last time, but no...), Rosalie Cunningham was good if you like Blues/Rock, Ian Matthews and BJ Baartmans were good, RT excellent and Fairport very good too. It looked like Peggy was going to throw his toys out of the pram at one point, but it was smoothed over. I did feel Simon's voice was a little strained by the time WKWTTG came and was worried by the way Gerry was struggling to get onto the drum riser. Hope he's OK.  But Full House was really good, and I'm glad they did do Flowers of the Forest - one I think I have never heard in all my 35+ years of FC gig-going.
It was good to meet up with a number of reprobates at the Cricket Club on Thursday morning, and at the toast. Otherwise I kept meself to meself, and just soaked it all in.

Definitely played it at my first Croppers ('84) and I'm fairly certain since but I might be misremembering.

[davidmjs]

I wonder what the split is amongst festival goers in relation to the centrality of Fairport to the festival?  I suspect the audience is split right down the middle now in terms of people who see Fairport as utterly crucial to Cropredy and those that are fairly uninterested in them and their heritage. 30 years ago I suspect only a tiny percentage of people went to the festival who weren't big Fairport fans (there was the odd exception: All About Eve/Tull brought a few newbies to the ball although even those had their clear FC connection if you were bothered to investigate).  Maybe I'm wrong but for quite a few now Fairport appear to be fairly well down the list (or not even on it at all)....

[Nick Reg]

I wonder what the split is amongst festival goers in relation to the centrality of Fairport to the festival?  I suspect the audience is split right down the middle now in terms of people who see Fairport as utterly crucial to Cropredy and those that are fairly uninterested in them and their heritage. 30 years ago I suspect only a tiny percentage of people went to the festival who weren't big Fairport fans (there was the odd exception: All About Eve/Tull brought a few newbies to the ball although even those had their clear FC connection if you were bothered to investigate).  Maybe I'm wrong but for quite a few now Fairport appear to be fairly well down the list (or not even on it at all)....

For me they are absolutely essential even though i dont agree with a lot of their choice of acts!! If they ceased to be involved I would stick to the slightly smaller events like Beardy, NFFF etc. Particularly as the more expensive headliners are often less enjoyable.

[Wandering Steve]

I wonder what the split is amongst festival goers in relation to the centrality of Fairport to the festival?  I suspect the audience is split right down the middle now in terms of people who see Fairport as utterly crucial to Cropredy and those that are fairly uninterested in them and their heritage. 30 years ago I suspect only a tiny percentage of people went to the festival who weren't big Fairport fans (there was the odd exception: All About Eve/Tull brought a few newbies to the ball although even those had their clear FC connection if you were bothered to investigate).  Maybe I'm wrong but for quite a few now Fairport appear to be fairly well down the list (or not even on it at all)....

For me they are absolutely essential even though i dont agree with a lot of their choice of acts!! If they ceased to be involved I would stick to the slightly smaller events like Beardy, NFFF etc. Particularly as the more expensive headliners are often less enjoyable.

I think fairport are the festival and I’d hope that as inevitably the members slide off the plate so to speak they are replaced by equally talented musicians to keep the band going.
The band and the music and the festival should always be bigger than the sum of its parts imo.
I guess many would have thought fairport without swarb would have been unimaginable but the show rolled on.
If in say ten years time (knowing the current lot nearer twenty) there was no one in the current line up playing I’d still like to think I’d be listening to the next evolution of the band playing old fairport and new (yet to be written)and belting out MOTL at midnight.

That to me is what has always happened despite departures and what should always happen.
That’s the thread running through the festival imo.

[Will S]

TBH I find it harder now to see the band carrying on as a kind of 'Trigger's broom'.  20 years ago, yes, I'd have said that could happen, as Steeleye have kept on. But now that this line-up has been together so long, who would feel able to step in and take over from one of them?  Seeing Gerry struggling on Sat evening brought that to mind.  Simon and Peggy (with Gareth) are, I believe the directors of FC Ltd, and I think when one or both of them get to the point of not wanting to/being able to carry on, the band may just have to fold.  Maybe the festival could continue on for a few years as an 'annual reunion' again, and that would be the point at which it became apparent if it had a future without FC as the driving force?

It's a sad thought, but one that gets closer every year...

[StephenB]

Just going by the numbers of folk i meet and chat to, I'd agree that the numbers are decreasing but I'd guess that at least 60-70% have the Fairport connection (whether they took to them earlier or later years/incarnations). They're the kind of band who'll want to keep going for as long as physically possible and might have a good few years in them yet.
Edit...my post crossed with Wiil's above.

[David W]

So what was Peggy's problem - something to do with them running late?

DW

[Field 7 is Heaven (Trev)]

I sit on the grass just below the chair line . When the headliners come on the number of people who come down from further up the field becomes almost a press. I think it must be easy to assume that people getting up and moving off from up there are leaving. Some are , like my Daughter who has a tired 3 year old to get back to her tent. It might seem as if its dislike of the act but I'm sure its not. And year on year Fairport's come near the top of the poll of best acts.

[Nick Reg]

TBH I find it harder now to see the band carrying on as a kind of 'Trigger's broom'.  20 years ago, yes, I'd have said that could happen, as Steeleye have kept on. But now that this line-up has been together so long, who would feel able to step in and take over from one of them?  Seeing Gerry struggling on Sat evening brought that to mind.  Simon and Peggy (with Gareth) are, I believe the directors of FC Ltd, and I think when one or both of them get to the point of not wanting to/being able to carry on, the band may just have to fold.  Maybe the festival could continue on for a few years as an 'annual reunion' again, and that would be the point at which it became apparent if it had a future without FC as the driving force?

It's a sad thought, but one that gets closer every year...

Who would be the new parts of the broom? Interesting question. I think young Chris Leslie could replace Ric and the other 4 could be replaced from within Trad Arrr.

[Will S]

TBH I find it harder now to see the band carrying on as a kind of 'Trigger's broom'.  20 years ago, yes, I'd have said that could happen, as Steeleye have kept on. But now that this line-up has been together so long, who would feel able to step in and take over from one of them?  Seeing Gerry struggling on Sat evening brought that to mind.  Simon and Peggy (with Gareth) are, I believe the directors of FC Ltd, and I think when one or both of them get to the point of not wanting to/being able to carry on, the band may just have to fold.  Maybe the festival could continue on for a few years as an 'annual reunion' again, and that would be the point at which it became apparent if it had a future without FC as the driving force?

It's a sad thought, but one that gets closer every year...

Who would be the new parts of the broom? Interesting question. I think young Chris Leslie could replace Ric and the other 4 could be replaced from within Trad Arrr.

Ashley kind of tried that with the Albion Band, handing it on to his son and some mates. But it didn't last long.  I'm not longing for the end of the band - I'll be as gutted as anyone if/when it happens. I'm just having trouble envisioning a 'young Fairport' at this point, and will be happy to be proved wrong if it works out.

[Tasha]

At the risk of being burnt as a heretic, I thought that Fairport's set was poor - as if they were just going through the motions - and lacked some of the passion of previous times that I have seen them. And I hated SN's version of WKWTTG.

Have to say that from towards the back of the field..I felt very much the same about the set... Timing seemed to out for many songs and singing dare i say out of tune? I stuck it out to the end but people in my group, disappointed, wandered off back to camp...leaving me alone till Pastie came and found me!  

[Nick Reg]

TBH I find it harder now to see the band carrying on as a kind of 'Trigger's broom'.  20 years ago, yes, I'd have said that could happen, as Steeleye have kept on. But now that this line-up has been together so long, who would feel able to step in and take over from one of them?  Seeing Gerry struggling on Sat evening brought that to mind.  Simon and Peggy (with Gareth) are, I believe the directors of FC Ltd, and I think when one or both of them get to the point of not wanting to/being able to carry on, the band may just have to fold.  Maybe the festival could continue on for a few years as an 'annual reunion' again, and that would be the point at which it became apparent if it had a future without FC as the driving force?

It's a sad thought, but one that gets closer every year...

Who would be the new parts of the broom? Interesting question. I think young Chris Leslie could replace Ric and the other 4 could be replaced from within Trad Arrr.

Ashley kind of tried that with the Albion Band, handing it on to his son and some mates. But it didn't last long.  I'm not longing for the end of the band - I'll be as gutted as anyone if/when it happens. I'm just having trouble envisioning a 'young Fairport' at this point, and will be happy to be proved wrong if it works out.

My idea of young was Chris Leslie , PJ and Guy, not quite the same as Kat and Blair!! All in fun.

[davidmjs]

TBH I find it harder now to see the band carrying on as a kind of 'Trigger's broom'.  20 years ago, yes, I'd have said that could happen, as Steeleye have kept on. But now that this line-up has been together so long, who would feel able to step in and take over from one of them?  Seeing Gerry struggling on Sat evening brought that to mind.  Simon and Peggy (with Gareth) are, I believe the directors of FC Ltd, and I think when one or both of them get to the point of not wanting to/being able to carry on, the band may just have to fold.  Maybe the festival could continue on for a few years as an 'annual reunion' again, and that would be the point at which it became apparent if it had a future without FC as the driving force?

It's a sad thought, but one that gets closer every year...

Who would be the new parts of the broom? Interesting question. I think young Chris Leslie could replace Ric and the other 4 could be replaced from within Trad Arrr.

Ashley kind of tried that with the Albion Band, handing it on to his son and some mates. But it didn't last long.  I'm not longing for the end of the band - I'll be as gutted as anyone if/when it happens. I'm just having trouble envisioning a 'young Fairport' at this point, and will be happy to be proved wrong if it works out.

I'm genuinely not sure what happened there as the small number of releases that band put out were some of the most exciting folk-rock (and certainly better than anything the mothership had put out for decades) I'd heard in a long while.

[iandiddams]

 I ... and was worried by the way Gerry was struggling to get onto the drum riser. Hope he's OK

I saw them at the Burton gig a few months back, and Gerry didnt look well then, sadly.

I wondered if David Mattacks was over "just in case" ...

didds

[davidmjs]

 I ... and was worried by the way Gerry was struggling to get onto the drum riser. Hope he's OK

I saw them at the Burton gig a few months back, and Gerry didnt look well then, sadly.

I wondered if David Mattacks was over "just in case" ...

didds

Wonder no more: he was over to play the Full House set - which had been advertised everywhere since early 2020.

[GubGub (Al)]

TBH I find it harder now to see the band carrying on as a kind of 'Trigger's broom'.  20 years ago, yes, I'd have said that could happen, as Steeleye have kept on. But now that this line-up has been together so long, who would feel able to step in and take over from one of them?  Seeing Gerry struggling on Sat evening brought that to mind.  Simon and Peggy (with Gareth) are, I believe the directors of FC Ltd, and I think when one or both of them get to the point of not wanting to/being able to carry on, the band may just have to fold.  Maybe the festival could continue on for a few years as an 'annual reunion' again, and that would be the point at which it became apparent if it had a future without FC as the driving force?

It's a sad thought, but one that gets closer every year...

Who would be the new parts of the broom? Interesting question. I think young Chris Leslie could replace Ric and the other 4 could be replaced from within Trad Arrr.

Ashley kind of tried that with the Albion Band, handing it on to his son and some mates. But it didn't last long.  I'm not longing for the end of the band - I'll be as gutted as anyone if/when it happens. I'm just having trouble envisioning a 'young Fairport' at this point, and will be happy to be proved wrong if it works out.

I'm genuinely not sure what happened there as the small number of releases that band put out were some of the most exciting folk-rock (and certainly better than anything the mothership had put out for decades) I'd heard in a long while.

I think what happened was a combination of it not being financially viable with Blair wanting to step out from Ashley's shadow and do his own thing and Kat Gilmore's career with Jamie Roberts also starting to take off so she wanted to focus on that.

During one of Kat & Jamie's lockdown shows I asked if they would ever consider rehabilitating Kat's Albion Band material into their own repertoire and they kindly played Coalville for me, which is one of my favourite songs and was a real treat.