If you recognize the name Fairport Convention, you may know that it is one of the most acclaimed folk-rock bands of all time. If you don’t know of the veteran British group, going since the 1960s, it’s time to catch up.Some 20,000 admirers gathered in Cropredy, Oxfordshire, at the weekend for the band’s annual bash, now called Fairport’s Cropredy Convention, which has grown into one of the best events of its kind.Fairport has a vast back catalogue and it likes to showcase newer material to keep it interesting for the faithful. However, the best evidence that it is a band you have to know is supplied by its classic songs: “Crazy Man Michael,” “The Hiring Fair,” “Walk Awhile” and “Matty Groves.” There simply isn’t time to play them all: “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” is always worth hearing though was left on the shelf this time amid the 25 songs. “Fotheringay” and “Mercy Bay” were included though.“Liege & Lief” is often credited as the just folk-rock album and the band’s influence is huge. The acclaimed Mumford & Sons could be described as like Fairport, just not as good.Those of us who have been following Fairport for years will remember the early festivals with rosy-tinted warmth. Just a few thousand gathered at Broughton Castle in 1981; there was plenty of room to lie out in the field after sampling the draft beer served from makeshift trestle tables. Now the sloping Cropredy field is completely jam-packed with folks who mostly bring their own fold-up chairs. There are many local people - Fairport has strong connections to the area – and plenty of fans of a certain age: a lot of gray hair and beards. There is an air of Pensioners’ Convention in places.Constant stage announcements are testimony to the fan base: “Happy 33rd wedding anniversary to John and Joan: he proposed to her at the festival.” “A shout-out to Mike Murray, who has been traveling 1,000 miles each time for his 30th festival.” There is a healthy rivalry to show the oldest festival tee-shirt.It is not one of the coolest fests known to mankind, indeed it is one of the uncoolest: this year’s headliners included Madness and the Bootleg Beatles alongside folk-rock heroes Steeleye Span, Gryphon and Ralph McTell. But some of these guilty pleasures are what makes it pleasurable.The dozens of different incarnations of Fairport include some of the most acclaimed of musicians: singer-songwriter Richard Thompson and the late singer Sandy Denny among them.This year’s toll of rock stars who died, apart from David Bowie, Prince, Lemmy and Glenn Frey, includes Dave Swarbrick, Fairport Convention’s violin virtuoso during its most highly-regarded period in the 1960s and 1970s.The current reviewer, as a local newspaper reporter in the 1980s, was in the press area just feet from the Cropredy stage during some of “Swarb’s” finest moments, such as his soaring violin solos on the epic track “Sloth.” It became evident in later interviews that he was also a nice guy as well as a sensational musician.This time, with his funeral still fresh in the minds, the group played “Rosie,” one of the songs most associated with him, and followed it with a touching video of vintage photographs of Swarbrick to a violin lament. There were many people left wiping their eyes and hugging complete strangers just to comfort them.Fairport of course will carry on, as he would wish: Ric Sanders is a fine violin player and Chris Leslie an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, while veterans Simon Nichol and bassist Dave Pegg remain lynchpins with drummer Gerry Conway.In an abrupt switch of gear after the “Swarb” tribute, Fairport brought on 11-year-old Toby Lee, a star of the “Tonight at the London Palladium" TV show. Playing with guys old enough to be his granddads and with a guitar much bigger than him, Lee blasted through the bluesy “Mr. Lacey” and won an ovation.Like fine wine, Fairport’s music improves and matures with age. Plenty of people joining in the reunion song “Meet on the Ledge” will be back again in 2017. In the meantime, check out Fairport’s albums: “A History of,” “Unhalfbricking,” “Nine” and “Full House” are particularly outstanding and unreservedly recommended.
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