Fairport Convention: St George's Bristol

Friday 5th February 2010

This is a Crackerjack review of Fairport Convention. Do you agree? Rate and review this event.

Crackerjack rating: 8 / 10.

When a band stands the test of time, with a career spanning five decades,
they must be doing something right.

And judging by the packed out hall at St George's last night, Fairport
Convention most definitely still have it.

The support act was the perfect opener with the wonderful Flossie
Malavialle singing beautiful folk songs - with very little hint of a
French accent. Her vocals were spine tinglingly moving, think Eva Cassidy
and Joan Baez, and her presence wonderfully calming.

Along with songwriter Keith Donnelly, the duo dedicated a song to Steve
Tilston, an honour replicated by Fairport Convention later that evening.

Leading seamlessly into the main set, the Fairport boys joined Flossie on
stage for a lively song in her native tongue.

But as soon as singer Simon Nicol started speaking in his Radio 2 style
accent you were reminded that this was a very traditional English folk
concert.That is traditional except for the electric guitars.

Fairport Convention are hailed as the first folk rock/electro folk band
but in some ways it is hard to categorise them.

The songs vary significantly, each one capturing the crowd's attention.
In places, such as during 'Dream', there are hints of the Beatles, Simon
and Garfunkel and Billy Joel. In other places, such as during 'Jewel in
the Crown', you've got The Mavericks, The Band and even George Formby -
though that was during the terrifically executed 'Ukelele Central'which
even featured a washboard, skillfully played by Gerry Conway.

What shone through even more than their musical ability, was the band's
personality.

It's so refreshing to see a group clearly enjoying themselves on stage - especially bassist Dave Pegg who threw regular rock shapes, shuffled across the stage in sync with violinist Chris Leslie and even stuck a plectrum to his bare forehead during the epic 'Dirty Linen'.

The highlight of the night came in the form of 'Fame and Glory', a
beautiful song/film score which contained the most melodic humming and
cystal clear guitars.

The whole concert was accentuated by the unrivalled acoustics of St George's - something which didn't go unoticed by violinist Ric Sanders. Here's to another decade of Fairport Convention.

Laura Williams

This is a Crackerjack review of Fairport Convention. Do you agree? Rate and review this event.