The Boys are Back in Town
Forbes Mutch reviews veritable folk-rock (but mostly folk) band Fairport Convention’s concert at St Andrew’s in November 2023
‘Hello,’ says lead vocalist and guitarist Simon Nicol after the band have played their opening number, ‘It’s good to be back in Hertford.’ Unlike many tour-dazed lead singers who forget where they are (those who say, ‘Hello, Birmingham’, when they are playing in Manchester), there is a warmth and genuine recognition in Nicol’s greeting, even though it’s gig number 24 of a 25-date national tour.
And why shouldn’t there be a fondness for Hertford and the people of St Andrew’s?
Fairport played the altar stage at St Andrew’s in May last year, and Nicol and bassist Dave Pegg were so impressed by the acoustics in the church and the warm hospitality that they promised to come back. True to their word, when their agent was fixing spots for the group’s 2023 autumn tour, St Andrew’s received a call with a request to return. A slot was booked in what is now easily Hertford’s Number One folk music venue. Because of the acoustics, the band turns up this evening with recording equipment to capture this live event.
So, here they are, mingling with the audience as the sell-out congregation takes its place in the pews before the show; joking and joshing with familiar fans and strangers alike. That’s one of the joys that the band bring to any gig – the audience is made to feel part of an intimate party being played out in someone’s sitting room. The boys (let’s call them that: Nicol, Peggy, fiddle player Ric Sanders and multi-instrumentalist Chris Leslie, with drummer Gerry Conway having stepped down last year) give the impression that they enjoy playing together like a bunch of mates, here for the fun of the music and banter as much as for our entertainment.
You get the feeling that they would be happy to set up and play for half-a-dozen customers beside Darren and Steve’s fish stall in Hertford’s market square on a Saturday morning. Despite their folk celebrity credentials, this lot assume no self-importance; they just play with musical professionalism for the joy of anyone who’s listening.
As my friend Steve, who has travelled up from South London with his wife for the gig, says: there is a comfortable chemistry and generous trust in the way this band play together.
As they often remark between songs, they have been playing live for nigh-on 60 years. Nicol co-founded Fairport in 1967, Pegg joined two years later and Sanders and Leslie (pictured, right; even folk superstars have to queue for the facilities!) have notched up 29 and 26 years respectively. Sanders is honest enough to admit that he is ‘approaching 70 from the wrong direction’.
After a meal for the musicians and their partners in the vestry – with Sanders drooling over Shirley Taylor’s vegan chocolate brownies – the set begins with their customary opener Walk Awhile, from the album Full House, which Nicol says they released ‘only 53 years ago’.
This is followed by the well-known Doctor of Physick, which is made to sound better played acoustically than the electric original.
There are several references to the history of the band during the evening, with acknowledgements to previous colleagues, such as fiddler ‘David Cyril Eric Swarbrick’, Fairport co-founder ‘Lord Richard Thompson OBE’ and sadly deceased singer Sandy Denny, who Nicol says is ‘too good to leave behind’. The band play Denny’s Who Knows Where the Time Goes as a tribute to one of the finest English folk vocalist of the last century.
Despite the depth and variety of Fairport’s substantial back catalogue, as those who attended the band’s previous concert in St Andrew’s will know, the band – even this acoustic quartet – is not afraid to play new material. Some of the standout hits of this evening are numbers such as Moses Waits, a song set in Kenya, which allows Leslie to demonstrate his musical virtuosity by playing an East African kalimba or mbira, a traditional finger-plucking musical instrument in Malawi and Zimbabwe, and Steampunkery, both taken from Fairport’s last album, Shuffle and Go.
The run-in to the climax of the gig includes John Gaudie / Shetland Tunes, a traditional tune from the north, which allows Leslie and Sanders to pick up – you could say duel – with their fiddles and bows. The audience clap along. The final number is an extended version of Fairport favourite Matty Groves, before the anticipated encore, which has to be Meet on the Ledge, the traditional Fairport farewell song. No Fairport concert would be complete without it.
Simon, Peggy, Ric and Chris stand and take a bow before leaving the stage and mixing again with the people as the audience disperses. Thank you, boys. There’s a rumour that they will be back in 2025. Let’s hope so.
"Stuffing their set with a surprising amount of new material for a vintage act, Fairport are still clearly having fun and brought the house down." -The Guardian
"Fairport is an institution, a festival, purveyors of memories, and keepers of the folk flame. But most of all they are a brilliant live band." - Folk & Tumble
Find out more about Fairport Convention
www.fairportconvention.com