Fairport Convention’s acoustic show rolled in to Bury last Friday. Ideally suited for the Met’s intimate and friendly ambiance – this was a yet another Fairport performance of musical excellence, style, and wit.

Seeing Fairport's acoustic set live is in many ways like going to a concert in your slippers – in all the right ways; not because band and audience are exclusively ‘of a certain age’ (they weren’t), or that the band played safely within their comfort zone (they didn’t), but simply because these guys weave such a marvellously relaxed atmosphere of warmth and openness whilst generating a truly genuine rapport between audience and artist. It’s like ambling down the local club to watch your mates play in the backroom lock-in. (If only!)

In a recent exclusive interview with FFA, Simon Nicol commented “Fairport have never been a band to live on its mystique – we always been both sides of the footlights – we try and destroy that barrier. We’ve always been a band that is approachable.” So it proved at The Met with the audience virtually on stage with the guys, and Dave Pegg in particular spending the opening minutes of the show using every spare moment to wave and smile at recognised faces in the crowd. Fairport have their own style and stage presence. There is constant banter between the songs – with some old chestnuts generating appreciative mock groans from the knowing crowd. They have a ready wit; a self-effacing charm; never afraid to self-parody.  Rather like the music itself, this relaxed charm results from man-years of treading the boards. As in life – the easier it looks, the more difficult it is to achieve. They weave a web – they tell a story to position the song and put in into context before a note is played. Listen to Nicol describing Sandy Denny and the marvellous ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes’ as a ‘fer instance…. It all adds to the experience – it’s accumulative. It reinforces the lyrics. They heighten the moment. They certainly did in Bury.

Indeed the rendering of this song and the ubiquitous ‘Meet On The Ledge’ at The Met speaks volumes about Fairport. It would be so easy to knock these classics out – becoming your own tribute band – but every performance offers a slightly different angle, a nuance, a different take to keep this marvellous material as fresh as when they were first performed.

The set list trawled the back catalogue; Nicol had mentioned to FFA in his interview that feedback from fans on their favourite Fairport songs had provided a bit of an eye-opener for the band – there were some songs requested that they never thought would be on the radar at all…. “A year or so ago we brought out ‘By Popular Request’ and the songs on that were chosen by, well, popular request – we did an email and that was a salutatory and interesting lesson, and it’s led on to some good returns to the repertoire from some songs we may not have otherwise approached.”

johnspring33 Recorded in March 2012 at Union Chapel during the band's 45th Anniversary Tour.

…. One such being Fotheringay – which was given a simply beautiful airing at The Met. The highlight of a packed night for this reviewer being a stunningly good rendition of ‘ The Wood And The Wire’. In a set lasting over two hours, and with no support – this tour is, as always, top drawer on the value front. The pacing and variety of material from their extensive back catalogue provided the usual richly diverse musical affair. Although this was an all seated acoustic set for the band, Ric Sanders in particular was squirming in his chair like a naughty schoolboy, appearing desperate at times to stand up and let the fiddle rip. Wonderful stuff.

If anything summed up the relationship between band and audience – audience and band …. It occurred after the show. The band members must have ran, before many audience members had reached the exits, to get to The Met foyer to meet and greet the crowd as they streamed out of the auditorium. This wasn’t some cynical last attempt to flog merchandise (a running gag throughout the show), rather a band truly appreciative of their audience. Fairport are a huge band, name-checked as one of the most influential folk-rock bands of any generation. Their influence still permeates the material and ethos of pan-genre artists to this day. If anyone is justified a little ‘rock and roll swagger’, a hint of arrogance, it’s this band. It speaks volumes for the band members, the music, and their audience that nothing could be further from the truth!  

A marvellous night. Do try to catch these guys on tour, and/or capture the Fairport love-in that is their annual Cropredy Festival. They really are that special.

Fairport's Cropredy Convention 2013 returns to Cropredy in Oxfordshire Thu 8th to Sat 10th August 2013 – details HERE.

Details of Fairport’s May - June UK Tour HERE.

Read more about the band HERE.

Article by Barrie Dimond