Fairport's Cropredy Convention
I'd been chasing Peggy (bass player with Fairport) on and off since we played Cropredy in 1998 but it wasn't until I sent him video clips of the Sia line up that he took the bait. Once the roll over line ups from the pandemic had played out, true to his word, he gave us a prime late afternoon slot on the 'big day' just a few acts before Fairport closed the festival.
The added beauty of playing great festivals is that you can go for the whole thing... and what a great few days it was. A wonderful atmosphere and so many highlights including a main stage presentation from one of my heroes, Roger Dean. It was a fascinating insight into his extraordinary body of work and I was so chuffed to catch him backstage and get my poster signed. Solstice on the band list drawn by Roger Dean... damn!!ere to edit.
The added beauty of playing great festivals is that you can go for the whole thing... and what a great few days it was. A wonderful atmosphere and so many highlights including a main stage presentation from one of my heroes, Roger Dean. It was a fascinating insight into his extraordinary body of work and I was so chuffed to catch him backstage and get my poster signed. Solstice on the band list drawn by Roger Dean... damn!!ere to edit.
Knowing this would be a unique show we'd arranged to record and film our set and, unlike last time, all went well.. phew! 😁 25 years ago the audio failed and we ended up back in the studio a couple of days later to try and reproduce it.
So the plan is to release the full show on video and audio formats at some point this year. In the meantime I've edited a little clip as a promo for festival promoters but it should give you an insight into the show.
I was also delighted that one of our Guardians and fab photographer, Howard Rankin, was able to get a photo pass and grab some memories for us. There's a few below. Thanks Howard!!
It's hard to imagine we'll play to audience this size again and the feedback has been wonderful bringing, as we'd hoped, many new people to the music.
The thing about playing to an audience this size is that inevitably there'll be some who don't like it... and even some that hate it. How's this for some constructive feedback 😂
The thing about playing to an audience this size is that inevitably there'll be some who don't like it... and even some that hate it. How's this for some constructive feedback 😂
Thankfully most the crowd begged to differ 🤣
The last time we played Cropredy our drummer was the legendary Clive Bunker famed for his work with Jethro Tull, Steve Hillage and many more. I knew Clive would be at Cropredy so asked him if he'd get up and play a song with us. Being the lovely man he is he jumped up for Morning Light... no rehearsal and a song he hadn't played for 25 years. Amazing 😍
