Monday 16 February 2015

Fairport Convention review – the old crew sails into new waters

Jokes flying thick and fast … Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention.
 Jokes flying thick and fast … Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention. Photograph: Ben Statham/Redferns via Getty Images
Released in 1969, Fairport Convention’s fourth album, Liege & Lief, is generally held up as the start of English folk-rock, and the band’s sound still lingers in British music from Steeleye Span to Mumford & Sons. It can sometimes feel as if Fairport have become so influential they’re starting to sound like those who sound like them – tonight, they play the title track of their new, 27th album, Myths and Heroes, and it sounds oddly reminiscent of the Seahorses’ 1997 hit Love Is the Law.
Much water has flowed under the bridge since stellar talents such as Richard Thompson and the late singer Sandy Denny passed through their ranks. Simon Nicol – the only remaining survivor from their 1967 inception – compares the band to a ship: “Every so often, there’ll be a man overboard.” But the ship carries on, the current crew have been together longer than many 20th-century governments and seem to capture the Fairport spirit while steering into new waters. It’s certainly hard to think of many vintage acts that could stuff a two-hour set with mostly new material or songs as moving as John Condon, about a first-world-war soldier who died in the trenches aged 14.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Fairport Convention and Matthews Southern Comfort
DVD/CD - £9.99

Live In Maidstone 1970
CD - £7.99

Live At Maidstone Castle 1970
DVD - £9.99

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