Fairport Convention, Imorgen er det jul, mor, Hjorring, State, Denmark (14 October 2005)
It's Friday night and my wife and I are sitting in an attic in Sysseltinget in Hjorring, a town about 30 kilometres west of Fredrikshavn. We are in the long, pub-like room two stairs up at Sysseltinget sipping Danish lager. A sign on the small, hardly elevated stage says "Imorgen er det jul, mor" (Tomorrow it will be Christmas mother), which is not entirely true. In fact it is the name of a club in Hjorring, the site of tonight’s festivities. A couple of weeks ago they had the Swinging Blue Jeans, and needless to say we stayed at home in Sweden, but tonight’s guests are Fairport Convention.
The room holds exactly 200 people, and, according to the organisers, it will be a sell-out. But it is hardly a room suitable for concerts, more the feeling of a pub where you can have musicians at one end blasting out background music to accompany your drinks and chats. The musicians also have to pass through the whole audience to get from the "dressing room" (a large downstairs room for social functions) to the stage.
Fairport enter one by one. About ten minutes before the gig is about to start, Ric Sanders is on the stage, warming up by playing along to the long coda of Eric Clapton's "Layla" that is heard from the speakers. Chris Leslie is tuning his instruments.
Then Simon Nicol, Gerry Conway and Dave Pegg-sub Vo Fletcher arrives. Viola! Fairport is about to begin. Simon introduces them as "the real thing, no tribute organisation" and apologizes for having been away "the day they taught Danish at my school". And they are off, starting with "Travelling by Steam".
It is a strange feeling. I have seen Fairport on numerous occasions over the last 30+ years. Through that time members have passed and gone, and I have seen them with or without just about everyone. But I have never seen them in concert without Dave Pegg before. At first I am anxious about what it will be like, but Vo Fletcher proves a good substitute. Playing bass without a plectrum, he has a different approach to the instrument than Pegg has, but he does his job well, even taking over some of Pegg's vocals, and playing the mandolin on "Canny Capers".
When we chat in the interval, Simon assures me that no one has taken Dave Pegg's place in the band. Vo is a good musician and a nice guy, but he is a temporary substitute.
"Travelling by Steam" is followed by "Woodworn Swing". Introducing the song, Ric wins points with the audience by naming the old Danish violinist Svend Asmussen as one of the inspirations behind the tune.
With the exception of "Genesis Hall", "from a time when your parents saw the band", as Simon puts it, and "Adieu Adieu", the one with the endless key changes, the rest of the first set is dedicated to the new album, Over the Next Hill. "I'm Already There" has grown since recording and is now one of the highlights of the show. Chris's new bouzouki is showcased for the first time this evening and has a fuller sound than the last one I saw him use. The instrumental bits are really rocking. "Waiting for the Tide to Come In" sticks in your head forever!. A nice 50+ minutes ends with "Canny Capers", dedicated to the sound man, Rob Braviner.
Apart from a ceaseless murmur from the back of the room it has been a nice first half.
After the break, or "merchandising opportunity" as the band likes to call it, they move into "Walk a While". Then it happens. A few couples start to dance in the small open area in front of the stage. And I am not talking jigging and reeling or anything like that. I am talking what could be described as ballroom dancing, without the fancy dress bit. And this continues all the way through the second set. People dance to "Close to You", "Over the Falls" and even "The Hiring Fair". It is an absurd feeling, sitting close to the stage, but not always being able to see. And Simon apologizes for the band only being able to play what they know, not what is suitable for dancing. The members are clearly puzzled about what is going on in front of them.
But apart from that they do their job well. And when they reach the reworked "Matty Groves", no MASH-intro this time, and the likewise slowed down and reggaefied "Dirty Linen" they get a standing ovation as they leave the stage.
But one more shock is yet to come. They get back on stage for the encore. Simon says they always end up with a song, but since people are keen to dance they will play some music to "skip along to" first. He and Ric starts off some dance tunes, suddenly the whole band joins in and we are in the middle of "Sir B McKenzie", a blistering set of jigs and reels from the Full House-period. They do it well, and the stage is rocking, and this time no one dances! They finish it and leave to thunderous applause, with everyone knowing anything about the band expecting them to come back once more for "Meet on the Ledge". Instead the house lights are on and we get Clapton through the speakers again.
Well, anyway it was a fine night. Fairport are always Fairport, and even when they are not in top form they are better than most bands I know. This night was not one of their best, but very far from bad. There was a spark in them during the first half, but it was dampened, I think, in large part by the audience's inability to be quiet while emotional music was being played, and by being treated as a dance band, rather than a band playing for a listening audience.
Simon stayed with his acoustic all night through. Chris mostly played the mandolin and, due to the small stage, Ric was often hidden by the PA system. Gerry was a rock as always, and Vo fitted in well, though I missed some of Dave's understated introductions and his antics, such as his plectrum-on-the-forehead trick.
But it must have been a magic night somehow. At midnight, 15 minutes after the band stopped, the Danish translation of the new Harry Potter book was officially published, with the local shop opening at midnight to sell it, and about two hours later a future king of Denmark was born.
See you again lads, but under more favourable circumstances.
