Fairport Convention - 27th October

It was a windy Saturday night as we all made our way into the sold out Eastbourne college theatre, ‘pint of ale in hand’. It was a strange setting in which to see this band, who are probably more suited to playing in the backroom of a quaint village pub in deepest Oxfordshire, but regardless of this, this is a group that can bring life and atmosphere to anywhere they play. The members are Simon Nicol, Chris Leslie, Ric Sanders and Gerry Conway.

They opened the gig with ‘Over The Next Hill’ a song about the constant touring and travelling of this band, spending most of there lives on the road playing music. Following this was a lively cowboy jazz piece called ‘Wood Worm Swing’, at this point I was wishing that the format of the venue was different so that people could get up and dance!

The whole set contained plenty of humour with Ric Sanders announcing that they had approached the BBC with an idea for a new show, ‘Strictly Come Morris Dancing’, but were still waiting to hear back. This comment was then followed by a medley of two traditional Morris jigs.

There was a good mix of the old and new as far as there set list went, playing favourites from the early albums and material right up to there 2006 release ‘Sense Of Occasion’. A particular high point of mine was ‘Fossil Hunter’ with very inventive use of percussion and the song opening with a haunting part played by Chris Leslie on the flute. The song is about the girl behind the rhyme ‘She Sells Sea Shells on the Sea Shore’ A story well worth looking into.

The gig came to an end with the instrumental piece ‘John Gaudy’ and then with the band coming back on for there encore and playing the 60’s classic ‘Meet On The Ledge’ a truly beautiful song to end the night with, sure to have everyone leaving with a warm feeling inside.

Overall I thought this was a great performance put on by four of the best musicians on the English folk scene, playing in the most important band in British folk history. If you have never listened to Fairport Convention before then believe me, they are well worth spending some time on.

9/10