Warning: I'm a Jaded, moaning cock sometimes. This is one of those times.
Thursday 13 August
The compere for the day was
John Tams who to be honest didn't even register with me. I know the sign of a good referee is one who you don't notice but the same cannot be said for a compere. He didn't unnecessarily take up time on the stage, which was nice but he also wasn't extremely exciting.
Harlequinn - While I appreciate that the first slot of any festival is no doubt both an exciting and daunting prospect, it's also an important choice. Harlequinn were apparently not chosen to appear due to one of the members being the daughter of one of Fairport Convention but it would appear that they certainly weren't chosen because of their talent. One of my pet hates is when people cover songs and change nothing about it - add nothing of their own to the version. While their cover of Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' was not a direct cover of his version, it was of the version churned out by Fall Out Boy in 2008. While I'm sure these young artists will get better with time I feel like they were thrust out way too early. They were disengaging and their drummer appeared to be afraid of her own kit.
4 Square - A pleasantly surprising bunch of youngsters. The addition of the female singer using her clogs as an instrument - though I'm sure not entirely original - was something I had not seen before. While none of the group were particularily strong singers, their musical ability more than made up for it. The style was extremely pleasant during the sunny afternoon and the lyrics had the right amount of metaphors without sounding condescending from people so young. While I wouldn't seek them out to see again, I would be more than happy to see them a second time.
Ken Nicol &
Phil Cool - Phil Cool's impressions combined with musical ability made for an extremely entertaining session, I just wish the same could be said for Ken Nichol. I'm afraid I spent most of the time he was on stage solo waiting for Phil to come back. I must admit I also took this point of the day to purchase some food and look around. I guess that's the good thing about a festival.
Buzzcocks - While the accoustics from the front at the barrier left a lot to be desired, the energy that exuded from the performance of the Buzzcocks was plain to see. Scarcely leaving a three second gap inbetween the songs, they performed chunk after chunk of punk defiance and bouncy fun. I have been reassured that the sound from further up the field was much better and the videos that I have seen on youtube corroborate this. While a small amount of people baulked at the idea of a 'punk' band playing at Cropredy they certainly rose to the occasion and provided some much needed energy.
Steve Winwood - The legend that is Stevie Winwood was finally able to appear at Cropredy. With his soulful voice and guitar playing that anyone would enjoy Steve was a fantastic way to end the Thursday. His entire band had movement and feeling, the songs came thick and fast. From the beginning of "I'm a Man" to the end bars of "Dear Mr. Fantasy" everyone was hanging on to his every note.
Friday 14 August
Compere
Danny Thompson /
Geoffrey Hughes. When I asked about the Comperes to my mother, the first thing she told me was that the idiot that had done last year wasn't booked for it. It was a crying shame that Danny Thompson was unceremoniously dumped halfway through the day without so much as a reason why and replaced by Geoffrey Hughes the unfunny bumbling idiot. I haven't got the faintest idea why they did this.
ColvinQuarmby With the energy and warmth of ten men, Gerry Colvin was the friendliest act of the weekend. Although his ability to pronounce Ritalin is in doubt, it was probably just used to make the song rhyme. Although funny, the fact that he had to slow down and do a dramatic eyebrow wiggle for every joke he made in a song wore through quite fast, the fiddle player Marion Fleetwood was fantastic and the songs enjoyable. The sing-along sections involved the whole audience and together with the sunny weekend meant that I would love to see CQ again!
BBC Young Folk Award Winners - Megan and Joe Henwood - I went shopping and did not watch this pair. Sorry!
Ade Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds Probably the act of the weekend I anticipated the most. With a Uillean pipe section that will set all the hairs on the back of your neck on edge, The Bad Shepherds were straight talent from beginning to end. They had just the right amount of humour without it affecting the music. Although before I saw them I felt it should all have been, there was only one incident of being the naughty child. The songs were all performed without the obvious 'look at me, look at me' that many anticipated - These guys were playing punk songs with a folk twist with serious faces. Absolutely amazing set!
Scott Matthews - I would rather stab myself repeatedly in the face with a fork than listen to him again. The only act of the weekend to not get loudly shouted at for an encore.
John Jorgensen Band - This guy really knows how to handle a guitar! Though I'd never heard of him before it was obvious that some had. There were obviously a lot of fans of his previous band present who made rather a large noise in appreciation but they were far from alone! Although I didn't know any of his songs, I was extremely content to sit and watch him and his band perform. Extremely easy to listen to!
The Dodge Brothers - Letdown of the weekend. While watching these guys I had the same feeling that Mark Kermode did
while he was watching Transformers 2:ROTF. "I love Skiffle!" I thought, "I should love this!" Wrong. The songs seemed sloppy, the singing was lacklustre and I was left with a bad taste in my mouth.
Richard Thompson - A friend who I was with who had seen the look on my face as I watched The Dodge Brothers reassured me that the next act would be great. I was not disappointed! Richard Thompson commands a guitar as Caesar commanded his armies. A melodic performance which was only marred by the appearance of his daughter Kamilla on the stage. She performed some of her songs with him which seemed a little unfair, if she wants a slot at Cropredy she should have been good enough to earn one.
Seth Lakeman Surprise of the weekend. I'd looked at his face, assumed he was too young and wrote him off. I have never heard someone get such emotion out of a fiddle before. How he managed to sing, dance and play like that without keeling over is beyond me! Kitty Jay was probably the best performance of the whole weekend with his and Cormac Byrne's performance of Lady of the Sea (Hear Her Calling) also in the top 5. An amazing way to wrap up the Friday night!
Saturday 15 August
Compere
Sid Kipper - My parents said that he does better in a more intimate setting. Having listened to him as a child and found him hillarious on tape, I'm sure this is true. He wasn't that great on stage.
Richard Digance - He seemed to have to spend most of his set telling the people that moaned about him to get lost. I think as he's on at 12 midday EVERY Saturday they should know by now to either sleep in and shut up, or put up. Hillariously funny, easy to sing along with and a Christmas song in August? I don't think anyone else would be able to fill this spot quite how he does.
Churchfitters - What a delight! These guys were a never-boring whirlwind of energy, with decent music to boot! I was highly amused at the random french that was spoken on the few occasions they didn't realise they were in the UK. Their home-made instruments along with their enthusiasm ensured that everyone paid attention. I'm sure they'll be back in years to come!
Feast of Fiddles - Although the majority of the people around me appeared to really enjoy these guys, I guess this is where a difference of opinion comes into play. I didn't understand why they needed 12 people to perform music that 5/6 people could have done. All the fiddle players seemed to be playing the same thing. While their music was listenable, I found myself restless.
Dreadzone - When I saw Dreadzone on the bill I wasn't sure how they would work on this bill. As it turned out, my worries were unfounded. As the first song played everyone seemed to wake up. I didn't see as many shots of the crowd dancing as I did during Dreadzone. The poor singer was stuck on a chair due to a knee injury and he still managed to get us up and dancing. I was expecting people to really dislike them and as of yet I haven't heard one negative review.
Nik Kershaw - Nik provided us with the right amount of recognisable cheese and serious music. There was a very nice surprise with Kershaw doing a song he wrote for Chesney Hawkes in 1991, 'I am the one and only' which I'm sure most people in the field never thought they'd hear perform live, much less sing along. While not many people knew his newer songs, and his singing voice is a little high-pitched and American sounding, most people seemed pleasantly surprised by his set.
Ralph McTell - Ralph played his songs just as the sun was setting and everyone was either getting some food or going to the toilet to prepare for the 3 hour set that was on its way and I'm afraid I was no exception. While I enjoyed his rendition of "[his] one hit", 'Streets of London' I wasn't left wanting for more.
Fairport Convention &
special guests. The fact that Yusuf Islam was appearing (Cat Stevens) was no surprise as he'd 'accidentaly' let the cat out of the bag a couple of months ago on the radio. It was quite nice to see him, but more of a surprise that after he used quite a lot of Fairport's set time to do his songs, that Richard Thompson came on with his daughter
again and did some
more of his songs. We were left with very few by Fairport but the few they did were wonderful. The use of the large screen during "The Festival Bell" was great, showing us by video the story they were singing. I was disappointed at the shortness of their set, but the quality more than made up for it. I'm sure there wasn't a dry eye in the field as they closed with the now traditional 'Meet on the Ledge' and the fireworks were lit over yet another successful Fairport's Cropredy Convention.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
bouncy
bored
depressed
bitchy
amused
lethargic
excited
geeky
shocked
in love
silly
content
hot
pissed off