Cropredy 2001
Thursday 9th - Saturday 11th August 2001
Post Mortem
Jon Hall's Cropredy Report:I'm just back from my annual post Croppers detox - this involves sitting at a bar/by the pool/on the beach somewhere in the Med drinking vast quantities of San Miguel and eating olives - hey, it's not big and it's not clever, but it works for me ;-)
However, back to the subject of this posting: I thought that Fairport were just superb at both the warm - up gigs on the Monday and Tuesday at the Mill. They played with a real fire and passion and were well supported by The Dylan Project, Vikki Clayton, Maart, annA rydeR and the Marriots. Of the new songs, 'Madeline' was splendid, 'The Crowd' worked much better than it did at the festival proper (one could hear the brass), but best of all was 'The Light of Day', a real folkrocker, ending with Ric and Chris giving the theme from the Horslips track Dearg Doom a real seeing to - loved it!
I had to sleep in my car on Monday night as I had left my tent poles at home - thanks to Mrs Hall for sending them on and Royal Mail for a prompt delivery on Tuesday morning!
Thursday:
Tarras - for me the set of the festival. It may have been pouring with
hail and rain, but the band were superb. Go see 'em if you can - they are
special! 5/5
Steve Ashley - I make no apology for sticking up for Steve - I'm a long
time fan, and it was great to hear the old favourites Feeling Lazy and
Candlemas Carol' again, as well as the newer 'Down Among the Hop Poles'
and the new classic ' Over there in Paradise'. Smashing set 4/5
The Dylan Project - I wasn't too keen on this band when I first saw them a
couple of years ago, but they have improved a lot, and performed a rousing
set - 'Highway 61 revisited' being the highlight. 3/5
Lonnie Donegan - boredom set in early I'm afraid, this set left me cold.
1/5
Friday:
Sandwitch - after a nervous start this German based trio settled down well
and played a nice acoustic set. 3/5
Whirligig - 25 years ago I would have been very excited about this lot - a
cross between Stocktons Wing and The Bothy Band (with drums), but again
they left me rather cold - OK the playing and singing was spot on, but
I've heard it all before. 2/5
Chris While and Julie Matthews - a flawless set, but just a bit lacking in
some emotion. Enjoyable nevertheless. 3/5
Sugarland Slim - cracking rootsy, Delta blues from the young British band.
Worth checking out 4/5
The Eliza Carthy Band - A real disappointment - I love her albums, but on
stage the show fell flat. 2/5
Musafir - great singing and pyrotechnics, dancing and balancing. My lads
loved them, and I was impressed as well. 4/5
De Dannan - another bore I'm afraid, very old hat. 1/5
Saturday:
Chuckletruck - local pub band - OK if you like local pub bands. 2/5
Vikki Clayton and friends - again the brilliant Ms Clayton played a
storming set - highlight was 'Rising for the Moon' sung solo - stopped me
dead in my tracks:) 5/5
Five Furious Fish - another young band giving it their best shot, and
emerging triumphant. One to look out for again. 4/5
Francis Dunnery - Oh dear.......snore.......1/5
Amos Garrett - the blues man played the blues, and we sat back and enjoyed
it. Nothing especially startling, but just perfect for the timeslot. 3/5
Brass Monkey - a competent and enjoyable set, 4/5
Fairport Convention - played up a storm, most things worked well, but Ian Anderson's bit
was a bit low key, save for 'Locomotive Breath' which was quite wonderful.
All in all another fine festival, despite the weather, and Stage2 went
from strength to strength (and I'm not talking booze here!)..well, not
much;)
See you next year...
Jon.
Cropredy 2001 Photographs on Andy Farquarson's site