Fairport Convention, The Strawbs
Cropredy Festival, Oxfordshire
9th August, 2007

View: up front and tight

Want to prove a point? Old guys can rock? Let’s have no debate. The version of Fairport Convention that launched into the hallowed Liege & Lief have, over the years, reformed at various Cropredys, but never played the whole album in track order. Obviously needing a stand in for the late Sandy Denny, that role fell to soundalike Chris While. However the rest of the legendary line up was intact: Hutchings, Mattacks, Nicol, Swarbrick and Thompson. You could almost feel a collective shiver of anticipation and, from the rollicking opening Come All Ye, through the bloodlust of Matty Groves and Farewell, Farewell, with its winsome melody, each track was fresh and timeless. Frantic jigs saw Dave Swarbrick and Richard Thompson chased one another hell for leather, guitar spurring on fiddle and vice versa, while an almost metal Tam Lin contrasted the quiet hush of Crazy Man Micheal. But that’s Liege & Lief - really something rather special. The Strawbs, however, became a folk-prog act with sidelines in acoustic atmospheres and gothic overtones. But their classic line-up also took the stage, Dave Cousins fronting a full electric band a la Hero & Heroine. Newer compositions stood shoulder to shoulder with long recognised anthems, Lay Down opening and getting everyone on their feet right. Dave Lambert is a quiet guitar hero and Cousins, the pied piper, led the entire field a merry dance throughout.

Reviewed by Simon Jones
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