Cropredy 2023 - General thoughts

[Nick]

Generally….

Music was great, though Beans on Toast upset my lad due to profanity- he’s 11 and hates swearing- not the parents fault I’m a potty mouth. Just not in front of him. He probably learnt 3 new words.

Having seen BoT at Beautiful Days a couple of years ago, I came away thinking he was a Digance for Crusties.

He's just played at Beautiful Days. Caught a few moments as we crossed the field. Didn't stay as we had the Tiny Treat Tent to attend to. He seemed to be going down very well, but I concur; BDs Digance!

[StephenGiles]

General points off the top of my head in no particular order

I loved the whole vibe (always do. ,but it felt really good thisyear - wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.
Whinges:

The canal towpath was a disgrace and anyone trying to be their politest best by standing in off the path to let others pass either got whacked in the face by branchs or stung  by nettles for their good deed. It wouldnt have taken much for the Council to have run a hedge trimmer along it before the start...

And FLAGS, BLOODY FLAGS. i genuinely think the people who leave them up in the front half are the same people who leave their s**t behind them, commandeer acres of unused space with blankets, and park in disabled bays. Or maybe they are just truly thick and need a  Father Ted style lesson in far away and near
 Surely it wouldnt take much for the marsalls to approach them and ask/tell them to take them down. Or, even easier, a very prominent message frequently flashed up (like the carbon monoxide one) saying "if you're flying a flag in front of midfield, take it down now; and if you're sat next to someone with a flag up, ask them to take it down , and keep standing in front of them or accidentally poking them with your umbrella if they don't."

DOGS- yes, I'm a dog lover, and it's quite obvious a lot of them are in uncomfortable situations and maybe shouldn't be there...


Ok, I'm getting carried away now, but Ive got some things off my chest...Just to reiterate, I do love Cropredy...

I cannot imagine the sound level was any less than the typical fireworks we have to endure for a month on either side of 5 November, when our greyhound shakes with terror.

[Andy]

Heavily hearing-impaired as I am, I wear earplugs if I am down the front at gigs to avoid more damage.

I was astonished to see people standing directly in front of speaker stacks at Croppers with no protection and even more surprised to see young children at the front with one or both parents and no hearing protection whatsoever. (This was by no means the norm, but sufficient that I noticed them.)

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Heavily hearing-impaired as I am, I wear earplugs if I am down the front at gigs to avoid more damage.

I was astonished to see people standing directly in front of speaker stacks at Croppers with no protection and even more surprised to see young children at the front with one or both parents and no hearing protection whatsoever. (This was by no means the norm, but sufficient that I noticed them.)

I mentioned this in TDT on the Saturday. One family, clearly having a lovely time, had a baby, a toddler & 2 dogs directly in front of the speakers. I’d turned the prompt on my watch off as it kept telling me to move away from the source of the sound, and we were s good 50ft away from them. Surely they must have realised?

[Bernie]

Strange that Bridget....I noticed lots of toddlers zonked out in carts, coming from front of stage. No ear defenders...was pretty loud at the front! And...one very tiny dog on an extended lead, maybe 30 foot, no ,lights...almost got trodden  on?? What is wrong with these people? Is it me? Or is it them?

[davidmjs]

Strange that Bridget....I noticed lots of toddlers zonked out in carts, coming from front of stage. No ear defenders...was pretty loud at the front! And...one very tiny dog on an extended lead, maybe 30 foot, no ,lights...almost got trodden  on?? What is wrong with these people? Is it me? Or is it them?

It's definitely them.

[michael scrivens]

With regard to the weights and measures, I filled my reusable(?) plastic glass with a 500ml bottle of Tribute… slightly under a pint going in from the bar

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Strange that Bridget....I noticed lots of toddlers zonked out in carts, coming from front of stage. No ear defenders...was pretty loud at the front! And...one very tiny dog on an extended lead, maybe 30 foot, no ,lights...almost got trodden  on?? What is wrong with these people? Is it me? Or is it them?

It's definitely them.

I concur  

[Paul]

General points off the top of my head in no particular order

I loved the whole vibe (always do. ,but it felt really good thisyear - wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.
Whinges:

The canal towpath was a disgrace and anyone trying to be their politest best by standing in off the path to let others pass either got whacked in the face by branchs or stung  by nettles for their good deed. It wouldnt have taken much for the Council to have run a hedge trimmer along it before the start...

And FLAGS, BLOODY FLAGS. i genuinely think the people who leave them up in the front half are the same people who leave their s**t behind them, commandeer acres of unused space with blankets, and park in disabled bays. Or maybe they are just truly thick and need a  Father Ted style lesson in far away and near
 Surely it wouldnt take much for the marsalls to approach them and ask/tell them to take them down. Or, even easier, a very prominent message frequently flashed up (like the carbon monoxide one) saying "if you're flying a flag in front of midfield, take it down now; and if you're sat next to someone with a flag up, ask them to take it down , and keep standing in front of them or accidentally poking them with your umbrella if they don't."

DOGS- yes, I'm a dog lover, and it's quite obvious a lot of them are in uncomfortable situations and maybe shouldn't be there...


Ok, I'm getting carried away now, but Ive got some things off my chest...Just to reiterate, I do love Cropredy...

I very much doubt the council have any responsibility for the condition of the tow path.  Canals and River Trust probably....?

Canal and River Trust. And their grant has been absolutely decimated (in the new meaning, not the original latin meaning) this year. They really cannot afford to keep the system running. Despit increasing our licence by considerably more than inflation.

Paul

[Paul]

The tankards thing is general at most festivals and the reason is pretty obvious.
The plastics are a standard pint, tankards may not be.

But they also refused to fill my clearly marked Lee San Crick Boat Show plastic tankard.

I was told my the Brasenose staff on Sunday that it is a health problem. They must not allow the tankard to touch the tap. They either do it carefully, like the Brasenose staff, or can't be arsed, and pour it in from a throw away one.

Paul

[davidmjs]

The tankards thing is general at most festivals and the reason is pretty obvious.
The plastics are a standard pint, tankards may not be.

But they also refused to fill my clearly marked Lee San Crick Boat Show plastic tankard.

I was told my the Brasenose staff on Sunday that it is a health problem. They must not allow the tankard to touch the tap. They either do it carefully, like the Brasenose staff, or can't be arsed, and pour it in from a throw away one.

Paul

Just been at Krankenhaus for much of the weekend.  You buy a plastic mug for a quid.  They repeatedly fill it with whatever you want...no questions asked.

[Poor Will (Bill)]

The tankards thing is general at most festivals and the reason is pretty obvious.
The plastics are a standard pint, tankards may not be.

But they also refused to fill my clearly marked Lee San Crick Boat Show plastic tankard.

I was told my the Brasenose staff on Sunday that it is a health problem. They must not allow the tankard to touch the tap. They either do it carefully, like the Brasenose staff, or can't be arsed, and pour it in from a throw away one.

Paul

Just been at Krankenhaus for much of the weekend.  You buy a plastic mug for a quid.  They repeatedly fill it with whatever you want...no questions asked.

That’s exactly what they do at New Forest and Wickham.

[GarethW]

I've seen the tankard moments before. As long as I have been here, we've not been allowed to refill tankards. The grass is on farmland and the risk of cross contamination with one or more of the many e-coli etc is considered by Environmental Health, too great. Nothing would please me more than flogging refillable Fairport tankards - but there'd be no point.

Incidentally, the 'plastic' glasses at the bar have been non-plastic compostable for the last 8 years or so. The only plastic used at the bar as far as I am aware is the 4 pint milk jugs - because we can't find a non-plastic alternative.

[davidmjs]

I've seen the tankard moments before. As long as I have been here, we've not been allowed to refill tankards. The grass is on farmland and the risk of cross contamination with one or more of the many e-coli etc is considered by Environmental Health, too great. Nothing would please me more than flogging refillable Fairport tankards - but there'd be no point.

Incidentally, the 'plastic' glasses at the bar have been non-plastic compostable for the last 8 years or so. The only plastic used at the bar as far as I am aware is the 4 pint milk jugs - because we can't find a non-plastic alternative.

I'm intrigued by this.  The festival I was at last weekend (Krankenhaus) was literally in a working cattle farmyard (emptied for the week).  Are Envenironmental Health rules interpreted differently in every location then?

[GarethW]

It would appear so -
"The justification we would use for this stance is that the bars in Fairport would be considered a food business and as such should be looking to reasonably eliminate any potential risk (irrespective of how small)."
Perhaps other areas see this differently - or more than likely, it hasn't been noticed. As I say, nothing would give me greater pleasure than flogging refillable FC tankards.
And then there is this - the water stations we have where the scouts refill water bottles is not considered a food business and therefore represents the same risk as someone refilling their bottle at one of the many taps.
A water bottle dropped would surely represent the same contamination risk as a tankard - but I don't make the rules.

[Shane (Skirky)]

It would appear so - but I don't make the rules.

Thank you so much for your time, Gareth, that’s really helpful.

[davidmjs]

It would appear so -
"The justification we would use for this stance is that the bars in Fairport would be considered a food business and as such should be looking to reasonably eliminate any potential risk (irrespective of how small)."
Perhaps other areas see this differently - or more than likely, it hasn't been noticed. As I say, nothing would give me greater pleasure than flogging refillable FC tankards.
And then there is this - the water stations we have where the scouts refill water bottles is not considered a food business and therefore represents the same risk as someone refilling their bottle at one of the many taps.
A water bottle dropped would surely represent the same contamination risk as a tankard - but I don't make the rules.

Interesting stuff.  Cheers, Gareth - appreciated.

[Shane (Skirky)]

Most of the stage lighting was absolutely spot on, but whether due to lack of rehearsal or ...? 10CC's otherwise excellent but marred because the stage lighting was awful. The pit photographers told me they just about gave up because the featured singer or instrument were in shadow whilst random parts of the stage were empty spaces lit really well.

General thoughts are that 2023 was a good year. I really liked many of the bands. Beans On Toast's swearing was not to my taste, also his "take your s**t home" diatribe was wasted as most everyone does, at Cropredy. Field 5 was pristine when we left.

We had real concerns for Morganway's singer's voice. SJ Mortimer was obviously really belting out her tunes and the long term prospects for that kinds of singing are not good. I hope it doesn't sound condescending to suggest she gets some voice training to prolong her career.

Peat & Diesel were an unexpected delight. Fisherman's Friends were superb. The Young 'Uns were on top form. Merry Hell were in reasonable form, Wilson/Wakeman played their usual set.

Fripp & Wilcox were great, if only she'd just shut up and get on with singing, they could have gotten in another song or two. Incidentally if I was picking a Billy Idol song to cover it would be "White Wedding" rather than "Rebel Yell".

Nile Rodgers & Chic were superb, augmented by some backing tapes but who cares?

Josh Burnell's set was enjoyable. He's tiny as Toyah,for a random fact.

Kiki Dee's partnership with Carmelo Luggeri was, frankly, boring. Her last number. "I've got the music in me", accompanied by DM and a guitarist whose name I didn't catch, was great.

Easy Star All Stars were at their brilliant best.

Richie Owens, his cousins and their partners, were mostly hilariously...ok.

Strawbs were ok. It's obvious that Dave's voice is just about gone, but it always sounded shite anyhow. Incidentally the last time I saw DC and Blue Weaver on the same stage was about 1971 at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. DC's farewell was emotional and I'm sure everybody wishes him well.

Missed Mr Digance.

Solstice were over-amplified, self-indulgent and strangely unlikeable.

Missed Mr O'Sullivan.

Fairport & friends' set was enjoyable, but surely Banjo Matty has tottered on long enough?

An 8/10 year for music.

Just a quick word on food: the Tibetan stuff was rubbery and cold when we had it. The crêperie had great crêpes and even better hot chocolate. My Oggie was passable but somehow not as tasty as in previous years, it seemed. The burrito stand portions (of nachos and burritos that we had) were tasty, but also a bit smaller than before.

The bar was well staffed and they were very efficient. Lessons had definitely been learnt from last year.

I didn't begrudge £20 for the Festival t-shirt and was happy to get a 3XL Roger Dean t-shirt for £30.

It was noticeable that the Brasenose's fringe program very closely resembled the official festival programme and some were bought in error.

TRADarrr did a good set on Wednesday at the Brasenose with a half-hour of Rolling Stones numbers at the end. Excellent.

I only got shouted at once, this year, which is a record.

See you in 2024!

You'll be delighted to read that SJ is, indeed, doing some work with a vocal coach.

[David W]

Not been for a couple of years but looking at various vids it looks as if the "pit" is absolutely massive now compared with when I last went - massive space for TV cameras on tracks, then the main photography / safety area so the "barrier" seems a long way from the stage. Is this the case and does it impact on those who want to be right at the front?

DW

[Andy]

Not been for a couple of years but looking at various vids it looks as if the "pit" is absolutely massive now compared with when I last went - massive space for TV cameras on tracks, then the main photography / safety area so the "barrier" seems a long way from the stage. Is this the case and does it impact on those who want to be right at the front?

DW

The cameras take up about 5 foot in front of the stage, as does the pit. As the musicians don't teeter on the edge of the stage, the barrier is about 15 foot from the musicians at front of stage, therefore.