Wintour 2022

[Will S]

There doesn't seem to be a topic for this, so I thought I'd start one for those of us fortunate enough to see the chaps live on the Wintout to share our thoughts.

I got to see them last night at Exeter Corn Exchange - a nice venue apart from the uncomfortable folding chairs!  I was lucky enough to snag a front row seat when booking, right in front of Chris, so got an excellent view.

This was the second date on the tour (apparently the Dublin concert didn't count?), and there was a little understandable rustiness initially, culminating in Cider Rain (the second song - third if you count them playing along with Luke Jackson's final song) grinding to a halt partway through when they got themselves into a muddle - cue much hilarity and discussion about where to start again from.  But apart from that, they were obviously loving being back on stage in front of people again - much as we were loving seeing them up there - and we got a good dose of Fairport material from across the years (if you have the Off the Desk 2020 CD, it was a similar - but not identical - setlist).  One thing that particularly struck me was that Ric's playing was further along the cosmic scale than I have seen for quite some years. But his stories haven't improved at all!

Support was by Luke Jackson. I've heard of him, and a few tracks by him, over the years but this was the first time I'd seen him, and he was obvioulsy enjoying himself up there, and I'm sure he won himself more fans last night.

[StephenB]

The Dublin gig was brilliant.  I went for a folding type but sturdy chair midway up because although the setting was magical i knew my old back wouldn't  cope with antique cathedral pews.
Totally concur with both points about Ric 😉
Re the setlist, it was, understandably, heavily drawn from Full House, and no complaints there. All in all, a joyous occasion and I feel privileged to have seen them on their first gig of the "new era" May there be many many more.

[PaulT]

There doesn't seem to be a topic for this, so I thought I'd start one for those of us fortunate enough to see the chaps live on the Wintout to share our thoughts.

I got to see them last night at Exeter Corn Exchange - a nice venue apart from the uncomfortable folding chairs!  I was lucky enough to snag a front row seat when booking, right in front of Chris, so got an excellent view.

This was the second date on the tour (apparently the Dublin concert didn't count?), and there was a little understandable rustiness initially, culminating in Cider Rain (the second song - third if you count them playing along with Luke Jackson's final song) grinding to a halt partway through when they got themselves into a muddle - cue much hilarity and discussion about where to start again from.  But apart from that, they were obviously loving being back on stage in front of people again - much as we were loving seeing them up there - and we got a good dose of Fairport material from across the years (if you have the Off the Desk 2020 CD, it was a similar - but not identical - setlist).  One thing that particularly struck me was that Ric's playing was further along the cosmic scale than I have seen for quite some years. But his stories haven't improved at all!

Support was by Luke Jackson. I've heard of him, and a few tracks by him, over the years but this was the first time I'd seen him, and he was obvioulsy enjoying himself up there, and I'm sure he won himself more fans last night.

Interesting - I was playing Ric's solo album Whenever yesterday, and some of his playing on that was PDC ;-)  I'm also a big fan of the album he made with John Etheridge ("2nd Vision") - which reminds me - I must get round to finding the Soft Machine albums he played on....

[Will S]

There doesn't seem to be a topic for this, so I thought I'd start one for those of us fortunate enough to see the chaps live on the Wintout to share our thoughts.

I got to see them last night at Exeter Corn Exchange - a nice venue apart from the uncomfortable folding chairs!  I was lucky enough to snag a front row seat when booking, right in front of Chris, so got an excellent view.

This was the second date on the tour (apparently the Dublin concert didn't count?), and there was a little understandable rustiness initially, culminating in Cider Rain (the second song - third if you count them playing along with Luke Jackson's final song) grinding to a halt partway through when they got themselves into a muddle - cue much hilarity and discussion about where to start again from.  But apart from that, they were obviously loving being back on stage in front of people again - much as we were loving seeing them up there - and we got a good dose of Fairport material from across the years (if you have the Off the Desk 2020 CD, it was a similar - but not identical - setlist).  One thing that particularly struck me was that Ric's playing was further along the cosmic scale than I have seen for quite some years. But his stories haven't improved at all!

Support was by Luke Jackson. I've heard of him, and a few tracks by him, over the years but this was the first time I'd seen him, and he was obvioulsy enjoying himself up there, and I'm sure he won himself more fans last night.

Interesting - I was playing Ric's solo album Whenever yesterday, and some of his playing on that was PDC ;-)  I'm also a big fan of the album he made with John Etheridge ("2nd Vision") - which reminds me - I must get round to finding the Soft Machine albums he played on....

He was wearing a t-shirt that read Pretty Damn Cosmic last night - bit of a giveaway as to how he was going to play!

[Nick Reg]

There doesn't seem to be a topic for this, so I thought I'd start one for those of us fortunate enough to see the chaps live on the Wintout to share our thoughts.

I got to see them last night at Exeter Corn Exchange - a nice venue apart from the uncomfortable folding chairs!  I was lucky enough to snag a front row seat when booking, right in front of Chris, so got an excellent view.

This was the second date on the tour (apparently the Dublin concert didn't count?), and there was a little understandable rustiness initially, culminating in Cider Rain (the second song - third if you count them playing along with Luke Jackson's final song) grinding to a halt partway through when they got themselves into a muddle - cue much hilarity and discussion about where to start again from.  But apart from that, they were obviously loving being back on stage in front of people again - much as we were loving seeing them up there - and we got a good dose of Fairport material from across the years (if you have the Off the Desk 2020 CD, it was a similar - but not identical - setlist).  One thing that particularly struck me was that Ric's playing was further along the cosmic scale than I have seen for quite some years. But his stories haven't improved at all!

Support was by Luke Jackson. I've heard of him, and a few tracks by him, over the years but this was the first time I'd seen him, and he was obvioulsy enjoying himself up there, and I'm sure he won himself more fans last night.

Interesting - I was playing Ric's solo album Whenever yesterday, and some of his playing on that was PDC ;-)  I'm also a big fan of the album he made with John Etheridge ("2nd Vision") - which reminds me - I must get round to finding the Soft Machine albums he played on....

He was wearing a t-shirt that read Pretty Damn Cosmic last night - bit of a giveaway as to how he was going to play!

I was wearing that shirt yesterday!

[PhilipK]

Winchester this evening

[Phil Perry]

There's a strange story behind this as far as I am concerned. When I saw FC at the 50th anniversary Cropredy, I thought that that was so good, they weren't going to top it, I'd seen them 33 times (yes, I know, that's just getting started compared to some of you...), I would quit whilst I was ahead and instead concentrate on seeing the new generation of folk-rock bands (all of whom without exception I have since much enjoyed). However, some friends did not know of my resolve and, extremely kindly, bought tickets for all four of us to see them at St Albans. Thanks to your various comments, above, I am now really looking forward to this ...

[Swamp Donkey (Keith)]

Phil, the Alban Arena is currently closed for asbestos removal. This event has been moved to The Eric Morecambe Centre, Harpenden. Have a good time.

[Phil Perry]

Wow ... the power of "Talk Awhile" ... thanks very much for that info, Keith .... it will be interesting to see if the Arena have troubled to inform our friends and other ticket-holders .....

[Andy]

Apparently Peggy has contracted COVID-19 so Fairport were a 4-piece tonight in Solihull. Fingers crossed for a quick recovery.

Fingers also crossed that none of the others come down with it - the tour would potentially grind to a halt.

[Adam]

Apparently Peggy has contracted COVID-19 so Fairport were a 4-piece tonight in Solihull. Fingers crossed for a quick recovery.

Fingers also crossed that none of the others come down with it - the tour would potentially grind to a halt.

My friend was at that gig and said the (remaining) chaps did a fantastic job. They had to alter the set list, but she said they were excellent.

[David W]

Apparently Peggy has contracted COVID-19 so Fairport were a 4-piece tonight in Solihull. Fingers crossed for a quick recovery.

Fingers also crossed that none of the others come down with it - the tour would potentially grind to a halt.

When was it the became the Fairport Three on a US tour?

DW

[Dan O.]

I saw the "Pegg-less" FC Acoustic lineup 3 times around 2005, so four of the guys can certainly pull off a gig and pull it off fairly well, but his presence is missed - not just the mighty bass, but the middle vocal harmony...

[StephenB]

And let's all hope he has a speedy, uneventful and permanent  recovery.

[Amethyst (Jenny)]

The rest of the band have tested negative... so far.

Hope so...  due to be in Lincoln tonight...  will check first.

[Andy]

.
The rest of the band have tested negative... so far.

Hope so...  due to be in Lincoln tonight...  will check first.

More from the chaps:

We're sure many of you are now aware that Peggy wasn't with us last night for our Sold Out show at The Core Theatre in Solihull. This wasn't a case of alien abduction (so no need for 'The Year of '22' Chris!) it was because sadly Peggy tested positive for Covid yesterday morning. We had a great night pulling a new set together and thank you for all your kind words. Sadly this morning we have had more positive tests and therefore can’t continue with the tour. You’ll all know how upsetting this is for us and we thank you for your understanding and support. All going well we’ll be back together for Canterbury. We’ll keep you posted. We have let all venues know and they will be contacting you shortly. Some good news is that we have rescheduled tonight’s show at New Theatre Royal Lincoln for Sunday 6th March. This will be the last night of the tour. Take care. FCx

[davidmjs]

.
The rest of the band have tested negative... so far.

Hope so...  due to be in Lincoln tonight...  will check first.

Sadly, the tour has been called off due to more positive tests today

Not quite true.  Part of it has been called off...

"We're sure many of you are now aware that Peggy wasn't with us last night for our Sold Out show at The Core Theatre in Solihull. This wasn't a case of alien abduction (so no need for 'The Year of '22' Chris!) it was because sadly Peggy tested positive for Covid yesterday morning. We had a great night pulling a new set together and thank you for all your kind words. Sadly this morning we have had more positive tests and therefore can’t continue with the tour. You’ll all know how upsetting this is for us and we thank you for your understanding and support. All going well we’ll be back together for Canterbury. We’ll keep you posted. We have let all venues know and they will be contacting you shortly. Some good news is that we have rescheduled tonight’s show at New Theatre Royal Lincoln for Sunday 6th March. This will be the last night of the tour. Take care. FCx"

[Andy]

Yes, I corrected my post.

[Amethyst (Jenny)]

POSTPONED – Fairport Convention

Dear Ticket Holder,

We are emailing you today to notify you of the postponement of the Fairport Convention show this evening, 9th February. This show will now be performed on Sunday 6th March 2022.

Please see below, a statement from the show’s manager:

“It is with real sadness and frustration that due to a number of positive covid tests within the band we are unable to perform at the New Theatre Royal Lincoln tonight. We are so sorry and thank you for your support and understanding. Take care. FC x”

We are as disappointed as everyone else to hear of this show’s delay, especially at short notice, but we do understand that these things are beyond anybody’s control. The box office team are now working hard to contact everybody via telephone to ensure that notification has been received. Please do not contact the box office until you here from us as this may delay us in alerting all ticket holders. Thank you.

All tickets will be automatically transferred over to the 6th March date, with seat numbers remaining exactly the same.

Thank you for your support of New Theatre Royal.

Kind Regards,

NTR Box Office.

The venue has just phoned us too.

[David W]

POSTPONED – Fairport Convention

Dear Ticket Holder,

We are emailing you today to notify you of the postponement of the Fairport Convention show this evening, 9th February. This show will now be performed on Sunday 6th March 2022.

Please see below, a statement from the show’s manager:

“It is with real sadness and frustration that due to a number of positive covid tests within the band we are unable to perform at the New Theatre Royal Lincoln tonight. We are so sorry and thank you for your support and understanding. Take care. FC x”

We are as disappointed as everyone else to hear of this show’s delay, especially at short notice, but we do understand that these things are beyond anybody’s control. The box office team are now working hard to contact everybody via telephone to ensure that notification has been received. Please do not contact the box office until you here from us as this may delay us in alerting all ticket holders. Thank you.

All tickets will be automatically transferred over to the 6th March date, with seat numbers remaining exactly the same.

Thank you for your support of New Theatre Royal.

Kind Regards,

NTR Box Office.

The venue has just phoned us too.

Lets hope anyone who has booked accommodation / transport / baby sitters etc will be equally refunded but I doubt it.

DW