Fairport Convention’s multi-instrumentalist, Chris Leslie, was the target of a joke onstage at Twickenham’s Exchange last Sunday. Despite playing with the band for three decades, founding member, Simon Nicol, named him the “newcomer” to the chuckling audience. Despite Nicol’s humorous poke, it must be remembered that the British folk-rock pioneering band had been around for another three decades before Leslie joined. The quip was a reminder of the sheer endurance of their music, but their performance was the evidence that their sound will live on far beyond the present. The band, now comprised of Simon Nicol (guitar and vocals), Chris Leslie, Dave Pegg (bass) and Ric Sanders (violin) took to the stage to perform an intimate acoustic set as part of their Autumn Tour.
The 19-song set was opened by “Walk Awhile”, a merry number that set the tone for a large part of the performance. It was marked by crisp harmonies that sounded as sweet as you’d imagine they would when Chris Leslie was actually a newcomer. There was a vibrant warmth to the opener that sounded like a welcome – a notion that was only intensified by the stripped-back, acoustic setting that came to embody a campfire atmosphere. This was supported by the band’s frequent commentary that was interspersed between numerous songs, as they talked us through the stories that inspired their own tunes, and the origins of the covers they performed, such as James Taylor’s “The Frozen Man”, which they joked to be the best but only cover of the song.
This narration served another purpose, however. The passing-down of stories and traditions is a convention intrinsic to the fabric of the folk genre. Like Alan Lomax’s field recording collection or Shirley Collins’s adaptations of rural folk songs, Fairport Convention played their own part in telling the stories of the old and new folk canon. “Matty Groves”, which closed out the second leg of the set was a shining example of this, as they adapted the traditional English ballad – which tells the story of a young man who has an affair with a married noblewoman – into an electrifying, electric rock anthem on record. However, in Twickenham, they returned the song back to its traditional acoustic roots. It felt like an important and personal moment where the enduring, but less visible folk spirit shone through again for a few beautiful moments. It seems that when an artist plays an electric guitar, they play to a crowd, but when an artist plays an acoustic instrument, they play to the individual.
The most touching moment of the night was the performance of “Who Knows Where the Time Goes”, deep into the second half of the set after the interval. It was preceded by a moving monologue about Sandy Denny, delivered by Nicol, who went on to take on sole singing duties for the song. It felt particularly appropriate that it was done this way, by the founding member himself. It was truly poignant to see the man who helped build Fairport Convention pay tribute to its most cherished voice.
The band will conclude their Autumn Tour on November 1st in Tenbury Wells and will reunite with Richard Thompson for their 60th anniversary celebration in London in May next year. You don’t want to miss it!
You can find live tickets here
Words by Thomas Hill
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