Cropredy 2023 Friday Review

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Please add reviews here! Mine to follow later… I’m watching Gilbert  

[Wandering Steve]

I really enjoyed peat and diesel
I thought easy star all stars were amazing… I knew they’d be good but WOW
I didn’t know what to expect from FF but again I really really enjoyed them.
I hope the above three bands are on the bill again in the future.

Imo 10cc were a shadow of the band I heard here last time albeit a decade ago.
They were ok but lacked energy and seem to be going through the motions.
I can’t see them playing here again.

Imo east star all stars or FF would have been better headliners with 10cc further down the bill.

Still one of my best Fridays at the festival though.

[StephenB]

I really liked Joshua Burnell. Lively, proggy and quirky. I chatted to him at the gate this morning,  he said Cropredy was their best gig ever.
Kiki Dee + pal were as laid back as you could get without falling off the stage but that suited the sunny Friday afternoon slot nicely.
Peat and Diesel were the perfect antidote, lively and raunchy and fun.
Easy Star etc - saw the first 10 mins and thought they were interpreting stuff with a reggae beat. Ok, so? It didn't win me over.
Strawbs/Dave Cousins I loved, mainly because his unique and distinctive voice is still unmistakable, and it drifted me off to a place in my youth.
Fisherman's Friends,  yay wow brilliant, made for Cropredy.
10cc, technically slick renditions of a technically slick songlist but devoid of any soul.
All IMHO...

[Wandering Steve]

Just to add I enjoyed the straws set and having not really listened to them (before my time) you could tell they’d been a top band.
Very slick and great musicians.

[PaulT]

JB Band were pretty good.
Missed Kiki Dee
P&D great fun, songs a bit samey after a while, good live, but I doubt I'd buy a CD, DL, LP
Easy Stars - thoroughly enjoyed their set
Strawbs - a decent finale for Mr Cousins, pity more former band members declined to take part
Fishermans Friends - I had to drink (even) more beer after bellowing along. Marvellous stuff.
10cc - the stage lighting didn't seem to quite gel; great classic, intelligent pop, played well, but with little gusto.

[Sue & Chris]

Was in the field in time to see Roger Dean's PowerPoint presentation, which if nothing else helped to pass the time whilst I was in the T-shirt queue. His early architectural design work looked amazing!

Not a huge fan of Joshua Burnell's change of direction, I preferred the more folky stuff, but they performed well and I was enjoying it by the end.

I thought Kiki Dee & Carmelo Luggeri were great, spot on for a sunny afternoon.

Peat & Diesel - no thank you. I prefer a tune to go with my shouty sub-Pogues vocals.

Easy Star All Stars were pretty good, shows how good these Bowie/Floyd/Beatles songs are - pretty much bomb proof.

Quite enjoyed Richie Owens, especially the more country-style numbers. The aw shucks niceness of the band was refreshing too.

Strawbs - glad Dave Cousins got his farewell, and that the sound man found the volume control on his mic. Good band, especially given their semi-scratch nature.

Fisherman's Friends were very entertaining, although some of the vocals were a bit wobbly, which was surprising.

10cc felt like diminishing returns. Pretty much the same set as before, only not quite as good. Disappointing, although the songs are still great.

Overall, it felt like a solid if unspectacular day.

[Amethyst (Jenny)]

I have seen Fishy Friends several times before… but this was the very very best I have ever seen them!

A friend saw them at breakfast in the hotel and they said what a great festival and a fabulous audience.

Really hope they will be there for  us again in a couple of years.

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

I enjoyed Joshua Burnell and will be looking into his back catalogue. Had a chat with with him Saturday and will lobby my local venue to book him.
Kiki & Carmelo were OK, I enjoyed his playing more than her singing…
Peat & Diesel would be brilliant at a ceilidh after a few sherbets, but every track sounded a bit samey to my sober ears!
Easy Star All Stars were ok, they started really well but I wanted more ska. Great fun tho.
I thought the Richie Owens band were weak, although the girl on the left had a nice voice. My least favourite band of the festival.
I’m afraid I missed the Strawbs but they sounded ok from my camper.
Fisherman’s Friends were fantastic and I can’t wait to see them again. My kind of music - bawdy, singalong and a few tear-jerkers thrown in. Fabulous. Loved them.
Also thoroughly enjoyed 10CC. They were the 2nd band I ever saw back in 1974 and I’ve always loved their music. Impressed myself by remembering all the words and sang along with gusto. Whether those around me were impressed I can’t say….  
A solid days music. Went back to the camper very happy  

[Adam]

Loved Joshua B; great to discover a new artist and will be seeing him in Salisbury. Kiki Dee was very laid back which suited the weather. Strawbs was highly emotional, but a great send-off for Dave Cousins, and I hope that he continues to make music for many years to come as the new album is great. Went down the front for FF and loved every minute of them. We retired to the tent, but 10cc sounded good from our glamping field. A fantastic day of music!

[iandiddams]

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 :-)

I didn't get onto the field until about 2pm (I cant remember why not - probably deliberately resting my very painful thigh and learning Shakespeare lines for my upcoming performance!), so i cant comment on Mr. Burnell.

Kiki Dee - i caught the end of the act, but hadnt realised it was her! So in effect she hadnt grabbed me, though I may have been pain killered out ...
Peat & Diesel - absolutely excellent. My "looking forward to seeing them and they fully delivered" band of the weekend.
Easy Star All-Stars - a "whatever" band.  Didn't grab me, and I'd already seen a top notch covers band (Toyah & Fripp) - albeit their covers were all tracks/songs I like/love. Just didnt do it for me. I had a plate of noodles.
Richie Owen & Strwbs - missed them as ...
Sally Barker - went down to the Coal Yard for Sally Barker. My "wasnt sure if i'd get to see this but im SO glad I did" act of the weekend.  Wonderful set. She made a plea for gigs so if you have any contacts/book acts yourself -  book her!
Fishermen's Friends - lots of fun down the front singing along. Really engaging and joyful set, though I was mildly disapointed I couldnt really hear much, if any, close harmonies. Maybe it doesnt translate to a huge field etc. I heard their two songs on the radio oxford Live Lounge (broadast in the 8pm saturday Cropredy show on RO) and those harmonies were there then, and my wife caught that recording live and said it was all there then...  Definitely enjoyed it all nonetheless :-)
10CC - another (surprisingly) "whatever" performance.  Very very slick, very very adept performers, all the songs from my early yoof. But passionless - didnt grab me much. They seemed to forget they had 10-20,000 people out there at times I felt, I didnt feel the engagement. I got cold so was happy to slink off to the van a bit early, though could hear the rest of the set well enough from a distace, which was fine enough - bit like listening to Greatest Hits radio...

[Will S]

My find of the festival was Joshua Burnell, and I'll definitely be following up on him and his band.  
Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggieri were nice laidback fodder, but I can't remember much about them even now.
Peat & Diesel were my disappointment of the weekend. I'd expected to enjoy them, and went down the front, but after about 5 or 6 songs wandered off again, as it was all just a bit too samey to me.  No light and shade.  I can see that in the right context, with the right crowd, they'd go down well.
Easy Star All-Stars were OK - an interesting idea, which largely worked, and a good mid-afternoon festival band, but not one I'd go out and buy on this showing.
Richie Owens - I enjoyed the music, but some of the in-between chat was rather cringey.
Strawbs are not a band I have ever explored. I enjoyed their set, though Dave Cousin's vocals take some getting used to.  My friend who is a big fan went down the front and really loved it.
Fisherman's Friends were brilliant - adding the couple of extra musicians in helped on such a large stage, I think.  I've seen them a number of times, and had wondered how they'd transfer to such a big field, but they were great.
10CC were also excellent in my opinion - didn't feel to me like they were going through the motions at all.  I like that they dug quite deep for some tracks, as well as playing the hits.

[Phil Perry]

What line-up did the Strawbs have ? I know there has been some controversy due to Lambert and Cronk no longer being present, but presumably this meant that some other Strawbs veterans were able to return.

[Will S]

It was a mixture of old members - John Ford, Brian Willoughby, Cathryn Craig & Blue Weaver, and some S. African musicians who played on the recent album - Mauritz Lotz, Kevin Gibson & Schalk Joubert, with Adam Wakeman guesting on the last few songs.