Fairport@Forty DVD

[fstix (Michael)]

I like the cover.  

[Nick the Stick]

I'd like to agree about if it's about F C at 40 then film a wintour gig. Croppers is about much more than the current line up. If it wasn't I'd have stopped going years ago, and I've been to every one since 1981.

[Mortimer]

Perhaps I am a money/fame orientated person but after your first sell out Cropredy, if you were in the current band the thing you would want most is a DVD that reflects how good Cropredy is (so it is a sell out again)and, and this is the money grabbing bit, appeals to the most attendees (nostalgia grabbers though we are) people.  

I was born in the year Simon left FC, first got into them around the 20th anniversary and have seen the live band about 20 times since.  I personally prefer the older albums (stopped buying after 5 seasons) but love the current band live.  I can, you see, live in a parallel universe and like both without the older weakening the current, as I assume most of use on the board, and therefore the target audience to buy the DVD do.

I will not be purchasing.  Good job I have the BBC broadcast of L&L on the IPOD to remind me how good a Cropredy 2007 was.  

[PLW (Peter)]

You know what? I am astonished.

I simply can't believe how many people are laying into a DVD about ten seconds after its been announced and before anyone - anyone at all! - has had a chance to watch it or listen to it.

It reminds me of Mary Whitehouse - remember her? - who used to condemn everything on TV without ever actually seeing it.

Nobody posting here yet has the remotest idea why the director has chosen to put the tracks in the order they are in, what the interviews contain and how they relate to the musical material, what the quality of the performances are like, how the mix sounds and so on and so on. . .

( Oh and another thing, I'm just recovering from the idea that anyone in the folk music world can be a "money-grabber"!!! As Cocker Freeman might say, "Bastards, all of em!")

Give me strength. I'm off to grab some money off a passing folk musiician.

[Goaty]

Agreed.  I ordered it yesterday and will comment on it once I've watched it.  Twice.

I'm off to grab some money off a passing folk musiician.

Good luck, though you'll probably get more by stealing their instruments and selling them on ebay

[grahamsomers]

and all for only TWENTY quid !
I expect I will buy it, BUT...seems a hell of a lot for a single dvd to me
especially when the really memorable bits of the weekend seem to have been omitted
NO SWARB ! apparently!, NO Full house set...
In retrospect, if its more or less another live set from the current band (I have enough of those already) with a few guests , annoyingly broken up by talking heads, it seems rather a lot for ......lego matty.
Im really dissapointed, Ive been looking forward to this for months, and it sounds very average(relative to what it might have been i.e. a celebration of forty years rather than a current snapshot after forty years).  
Did we ever getter to the bottom of why L&L was never filmed by the way, given smooth ops say it wasnt their decision - I'd pay 20 quid for that
I think I'll wait and see what the feedback is from those that are going to buy it now, and wait for it to appear in HMVs bargain bin...
 
a VERY fed up Graham

[delfini (Diane)]

I'll buy it on the WinTour and watch it, probably with a glass or two of something.

Then I'll post what I think, for what it's worth.

[PL (Peter)]

You know what? I am astonished.

I simply can't believe how many people are laying into a DVD about ten seconds after its been announced and before anyone - anyone at all! - has had a chance to watch it or listen to it.

It reminds me of Mary Whitehouse - remember her? - who used to condemn everything on TV without ever actually seeing it.

Nobody posting here yet has the remotest idea why the director has chosen to put the tracks in the order they are in, what the interviews contain and how they relate to the musical material, what the quality of the performances are like, how the mix sounds and so on and so on. . .

Some of the truest words being said. Fully agree.

Ordered mine - will see, what it is like, maybe will try to understand why it is this way and then compare it with my own memories.
After that, who knows, I might venture into public again with some comments.  

Peter

[Tim Fletcher]

and all for only TWENTY quid !
I expect I will buy it, BUT...seems a hell of a lot for a single dvd to me

A quick skim through DVDs on Amazon shows that quite a lot are around £20 RRP. If the likes of Take That can charge that much for a DVD with their potential sales it makes it a bit easier to see why FC have to charge something similar.

I'm looking on this as a memento rather than a faithful record of Cropredy and I'll buy it on the tour thus ensuring that the cash gets back to the band (I hope).

[Mortimer]

I am not sure anyone is laying into the DVD without having seen it.  I am sure it is a well put together piece of work.  I am also not sure your Mary Whitehouse reference is exactly correct.  I was at Cropredy, so have seen/heard the material being included (at least the music part).  I agree I have not scene the interviews but I would never buy a music DVD for the interviews.

The point I, and I assume others are making is that we are disappointed that fantastic performances we did witness are not being included.  This is a natural reaction after such a great event and not some knee jerk reaction to a DVD we have not seen.

My point about the target audience is, however, I think valid.  A DVD about FC is only ever likely to appeal to a small group i.e. the people who already like them (i.e. us).  Therefore, if you want to shift units, you mass appeal.

[simon frisby]

As ive often said the current line up is my fave so i dont begrudge them having the majority of the show, but on the other hand surely it would of been good to show the concert in a linear manner so that they could show this is what we were and this is what we are NOW. They could show they dont have to live in the shadows of the greats like Swarb, Ian, Ashley and RT and are still a viable working band not some caricature of them selves.

Progress in music is a wonderful thing and fairport with this DVD could of proved they have progressed and not stagnated at 1975 like the Rolling Stone Et Al have.

As i said the current line up is my fave so i will still buy it and watch it to death, it just seems like a missed opportunity on a few levels.

[grahamsomers]

and all for only TWENTY quid !
I expect I will buy it, BUT...seems a hell of a lot for a single dvd to me

A quick skim through DVDs on Amazon shows that quite a lot are around £20 RRP. If the likes of Take That can charge that much for a DVD with their potential sales it makes it a bit easier to see why FC have to charge something similar.

I'm looking on this as a memento rather than a faithful record of Cropredy and I'll buy it on the tour thus ensuring that the cash gets back to the band (I hope).

hmm a quick skim round hmv shows you can pick up your fave take that dvds for under a tenner, my last purchase in store, stackridge, wasn't much over a tenner....bluhorses online £12. I'd expect to get the best prices by buying at source, and reducing overheads ? unless it was something out of the ordinary (musically I mean obviously ;-) )  maybe Im just a tight yorkshireman!

[PLW (Peter)]

I am not sure anyone is laying into the DVD without having seen it.  

Yes they are. In droves.

[Big Dave]

I am coming round to the way of thinking in some previous replies, this Fairport at 40 and not a 40 years of Fairport documentary.  If the band wanted to the latter then that could probably be easily achieved, also it would be quite straight forward to do a this is our festival type doc to show off Cropredy.  I will purchase the DVD for the initial reason.

[Jim]

I am not sure anyone is laying into the DVD without having seen it.  

Yes they are. In droves.

well i didnt think i was laying into it, its just another opportunity missed

i ve got a fair idea what the dvd will look like as i was there and the 3 1/2 hour set has been butchered cutting out many of the highlights so its not as if i'm griping from a point of total ignorance

i'll still buy it, and thats what they'll be banking on

[David W]

I am not sure anyone is laying into the DVD without having seen it.  

Yes they are. In droves.

Hang on a tick - most of the people, myself included, who have made comments about the track selection of the DVD were at Cropredy, experienced the night and know what they had hoped to see on the DVD in terms of music, guests etc.

If the DVD does not reflect those hopes, with regards to the music choices, people are entitled to express their disappointment. This is not laying into the DVD willy nilly without having seen it - it is saying that it does not seem to fully represent the wonderful night of music many of us were lucky enough to enjoy.

We all know that there will be many reasons as to the choices made - licensing agreements, recording quality, atrist agreement and so forth. However, these things don't mean we can't be disappointed at what seems to be a lost opportunity to provide Fairport fans with a lasting reminder of that Cropredy night in all its splendour.

It'll be fine, we know that, but without some of the pieces mentioned here, the Full House line up for instance, it won't be great.

David W

[Jules Gray]

I am not sure anyone is laying into the DVD without having seen it.  

Yes they are. In droves.

For sure I'm slamming the contents - or rather the lack of them.  

Jules

[MarkC]

Personally, I am a huge fan of the current band. Nothing would be less interesting to me than yet another recycling of 40 year old material. I mean, OK, that stuff is great...but it's been done to death, IMHO.

Just my 2 cents.

[Dr Monk]

Permissions? maybe. Rights? maybe.
The idea of focusing on fairport as a working band today rather than past glories has a certain logic, though most of us would probably liek to see a mixture of both.
But perhaps at the end of the day Fairport are a working band needing to pay the bills and current members need to earn their crust as far as royalties go - not suggesting this as greedy, just necessary.
Perhaps a micture of all of the above. But I can see why people are a bit disappointed. I missed croppers last year and would have liked to have seen some of the older stuff in a format other than phonepics on youtube  

[Neil67]

To pick up on Jude's point earlier,I was under the impression that the DVD would be an overview of Fairport's 40th year and would include footage and interviews and documentary bits from the Wintour onwards-including,of course,Cropredy.Although it is not totally clear from FC's website,the comments above suggest that the DVD is based on selected portions of the Saturday night Cropredy set only,together with interviews given that weekend.If that's the case,whilst I'm sure it will be marvellous its perhaps a bit of a wasted opportunity.Maybe the full year retrospective is still to come-but I doubt that.I'm looking forward to seeing it whatever it is as I have not known the band to stick their name to tripe and I'm sure they're not going to start now! Looking forward to getting my copy signed at The Winding Wheel.