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After seeing Fairport Acoustic Convention play an absolutely brilliant gig at the 100 Club in London last year, I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity of seeing them in my adopted hometown.  Worried about an early sell-out, I rushed round to the Plinston Live ticket office…and bought tickets 1 and 2!  No need for Fairport to worry though as other faithful local fans soon followed suit.  What we all saw was an excellent gig by four supreme musicians though not quite as good for me as the 2005 100 Club experience.

So why was this then?  Partly because I am now more familiar with the band’s more recent material and accustomed to their exquisite playing skills so it wasn’t such a delightful revelation.  Another factor though was I’m afraid the venue.  With its school hall type stage, cabaret seating and basic lighting effects, the Plinston was never going to match the atmosphere of the famous, grimy London basement which is just the sort of venue the fledgling Fairport may well have played as an acid folk-rock band close to 40 years ago.

No need to grumble though as this was still an excellent gig with fine playing by the Fairport Acoustic line-up of founder-member Simon Nicol on guitar and vocals, Chris Leslie on bouzouki, mandolin, violin, flute and vocals, Ric Saunders on virtuoso violin and a much-more-involved-than-before Gerry Conway on drums and an amazing variety of percussive instruments.  Highlights of the vocal songs included Chris’ I’m Already There plus fine moving singing by Simon on the gallows ballad Close To The Wind and Ralph McTell’s touching Hiring Fair.  The latter song morphed via some incredible Hendrix-on-a violin effects by Ric Saunders into Gershwin’s Summertime.

Another instrumental version of a musical standard was also included as we were treated to a Nicol / Saunders’ duo performance of The Beatles beautiful Here, There & Everywhere.  This was preceded by some quips about Paul McCartney and harmony not often being used in the same sentence in recent weeks.  This current news item aside, many of the between-song links were similar to those at the 2005 gig though some of the best ad-libs were the more spontaneous ones such as the witticisms preceding Chris Leslie’s flute intro to Fossil Hunter, an evocative highlight about Mary Anning, the now well-known 19^th Century gatherer of fossils in Lyme Regis.

It was a privilege to see the intricate playing of these four very talented musicians from just a few metres away which, bolstered by an excellent sound mix, gave us the further instrumental highlights of the Django Rheinhardt influenced Woodworm Song, Canny Capers and the stately dual violins of Rose Hip.

After leaving the stage following the two-act set, Fairport returned for the expected single encore of the legendary Meet On The Ledge.  It’s amazing how the meaning of Richard Thompson’s celebratory anthem has changed for the band and fans during Fairport’s lengthy career.  Signalling the end of an excellent gig, we filed out into the autumnal night.  A fine evening and, though the Plinston experience didn’t quite  have the atmosphere of the 100 Club, provincial gigs do have their benefits as it took us barely five minutes to get home!

3.11.06