While someone banging out some half-decent AC/DC or Stones covers will invariably bring a smile to my face, when it comes to Pink Floyd you’ve either got to get the sound bang on or else it’s simply not worth bothering. And while I was never lucky enough to see the original Pink Floyd, I’ve seen a few Pink Floyd tributes over the years, from the internationally-renowned (Australian Pink Floyd) to the downright dodgy (remaining nameless to spare blushes).
Formed in 2014 and hailed as one of the UK’s leading Pink Floyd tribute acts, proudly proclaiming their commitment to authenticity, I had high hopes for On Thin Ice and was not disappointed.
Performing three sets that delved into songs from across the band’s career, the first set began with a convincing selection of classics from the Syd Barrett-era Floyd, followed by a couple of tracks from Meddle before moving on to a mammoth rendition of songs from Dark Side of the Moon. It was all done in QUAD sound, too, with four channels of sound filling the room, echoing the original Pink Floyd tours of the late ‘60s and ’70s and ensuring maximum sonic impact in terms of those memorable special effects on albums like Dark Side.
Mish B, one of two female backing vocalists, did an absolutely incredible job taking on the lead vocal for ‘Great Gig in the Sky’ and received rapturous applause for her own take on that stunning, other-worldly performance which session singer, Clare Tory, will always be best remembered for (Tory’s second most memorable performance being the theme song for BBC’s Butterflies, for all you trivia fans out there.)
After a short break, we are into the second set, which is a celebration of the Wish You Were Here album that is every bit as good as their exploration of the Dark Side of the Moon, before ending in an epic performance of ‘Sheep’ from Animals. It’s great to see Hastings’ Blackbox back on the circuit. As a gig venue it pretty much does what it says on the tin, a long oblong box painted completely black with the stage at the front and the bar at the back. The sound is great, the guitars, keyboards, sax and vocals are mind-blowingly authentic and in a venue like this you can half close your eyes and mentally transport yourself to some huge stadium somewhere seeing the real thing.
After another short break the third and final set, focuses on the band’s later studio albums with a couple of tracks from The Wall, and a track apiece from the post-Roger Waters albums, A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell, before drawing proceedings to a close with a stunning rendition of ‘Comfortably Numb’.
The guys (and gals) do put every ounce of effort into making themselves sound as close to Pink Floyd as humanly possible so if you are looking for a night of Pink Floyd classics in a live setting, On Thin Ice are absolutely worth checking out.
For many years Atomic Rooster were one of those bands whose name was well known to me through my voracious reading of rock history, but whose material I was barely familiar with. That changed back in 2018, at one of the Butlins Rock & Blues weekends where the band’s outstanding performance was a complete revelation to me. Before long I acquired a CD box set of all of all of their classic albums from the 1970s and became a firm fan of the band’s music.
Although all the original line-up led by Vincent Crane are sadly no longer with us, the band was reformed in 2016 by Pete French, who performed on the band’s third album and by Steve Boltz Bolton, who played on their fourth. However, since I last caught the band in 2022, there has been a change in line-up with French exiting. In other outfits this could have been a near-fatal blow, with the connections to the original band becoming even more tentative. But Adrian Gautrey, who has done a sterling job embodying the spirit of the late, great Vincent Crane on keyboards for much of the past decade, has now also taken on the role of lead vocalist. What’s more he’s an absolutely incredible singer and the band just goes from strength to strength.
The setlist is a mix of ‘70s-era Rooster classics and material from their excellent new studio album, Circle The Sun, which came out in 2025. With half the tracks on the latter penned by Bolton and half by Gautrey, the album really captures the essence of Atomic Rooster and most of the songs from the album are performed tonight. There’s still room for plenty of vintage Rooster, including blinding versions of ‘Can’t Take No More’, ‘Tomorrow Night’ and ‘Breakthrough’, as well as ‘Devil’s Answer’ the band’s surprise 1971 top five hit.
A formidable, driving rhythm, pounding Hammond and searing guitar, it’s one of those epic, small venue gigs that you’re not going to forget in a hurry. When it comes to a modern-day reboot of a legendary ’70s hard rock outfit, Atomic Rooster have undoubtedly become one of my firm favourites. There are few bands with as much energy as these guys on stage and I’m delighted to see that there’s also a recently-recorded live album to purchase from the merch stand, alongside copies of the excellent Circle The Sun. Highly recommended.
My final gig of the year. And rather than my more typical diet of folk, glam rock and heavy metal, it’s the Amy Winehouse Band.
The project brings together musicians who played with Amy Winehouse over the course of her spectacularly promising career, which tragically came to a premature end back in 2011. The band members include Dale Davis, her musical director and bass player; Hawi Gondwe, Winehouse’s guitarist from 2007-11; drummer, Nathan Allen; backing vocalist, Adeleye Omatayo, and the brass section, Henry Collins and Dave Temple. The aim of the band, of course, is to perform and celebrate Winehouse’s music and to be much more than just another tribute act through retaining that very direct link to the late artist, herself.
The first part of the set was very much focused on the soulful jazz influences of the Frank album and vocalist, Beth Morris, (one of a couple of alternating female lead singers for the band) did a devastatingly good job at performing Winehouse’s material and really embodying the spirit of those songs. The musicians are on top form, too, and with the spotlights and dry ice the De La Warr stage takes on the vibe of a smoky, intimate jazz club.
The tempo and the mood change as the band move on to material from Winehouse’s second album, the soul-pop masterpiece that is Back to Black.
We are soon being invited by Morris to get to our feet and boogie and within seconds the entire De la Warr audience are bopping along to the likes of ‘Back to Black’, ‘Me and Mr Jones’ and, of course, ‘Rehab’. Not only did male backing vocalist, Adeleye Omatayo, take the lead vocal on a handful of songs himself, he also wowed the crowd with some impressive dance moves of his own, too.
The Amy Winehouse Band do a tremendous job in celebrating Winehouse’s legacy and keeping her music alive in a live performance setting. It’s a really impressive show and well worth seeing if you have the opportunity.
Know You Now October Song Mr Magic (Through the Smoke) In My Bed Stronger Than Me Moody’s Mood for Love You Sent Me Flying Addicted Cupid He Can Only Hold Her I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know Love Is a Losing Game Tears Dry on Their Own Back to Black You Know I’m No Good Me & Mr Jones Rehab You’re Wondering Now Monkey Man Valerie
After spending much of last year and the first part of this year living and breathing all things Steeleye Span while I worked on my book about the band (which came out this summer) it felt kind of fitting for this to be my penultimate gig of the year.
Steeleye Span are always a joy to watch live and they always seem to go that extra mile in putting together a set-list that’s unique for each tour. It’s never a case of merely churning out the same old favourites year after year. They delve deep into their back catalogue, dust down songs that have not been played in years, retire others that have been in the set for a little while and generally mix things up to create a live show that’s fresh-sounding and unique. And, because this is a band that is still eagerly releasing new music, there’s often some brand new material (or never-been-tried-before trad. arr material) to look forward to as well. This tour is no exception and we get some fantastic renditions of material from the band’s excellent new album, Conflict, released earlier this year.
The line-up is a classic Span ‘Now We Are Six’ type formation, with guitarist, Spud Sinclair, and bass-player, Roger Carey, providing some real rock and roll oomph alongside long-time drummer, Liam Gernockey; multi-instrumentalist, Julian Littman, on guitars, mandolin and keyboards; the incredibly talented Violeta Vicci on violin; and, of course, the one and only Maddy Prior on vocals.
It means there’s bags of energy behind the band’s meaty renditions of songs like ‘Royal Forester’, and ‘King Henry’ which showcase Steeleye Span at their riffiest, folk-rockiest best. But, it being a church and all that, what became the most spellbinding moments in this beautiful setting were the choral, acapella versions of ‘Gaudette’, the band’s vintage Christmas hit, and ‘Dogs and Ferrets’ from the Commoners Crown album. Prior reminded us that the latter hadn’t been performed live since not long after the album was released over fifty years ago.
Vocally, the band are sounding superb. Carey, Littman and Sinclair all contribute and Prior’s voice has matured into something rich, warm and velvety while still being unmistakeably the voice of Maddy Prior. Meanwhile, the beautiful crystal-clear vocals of Vicci add a second female voice into the mix – and someone to “hit all the high notes” as Prior jokes. With an exceptional back catalogue, stellar musicians and incredible vocals, Steeleye Span continue to surprise and delight.
Setlist:
First set: Over The Hills And Far Away New York Girls Lady Diamond Roadways Blackleg Miner I Was An Oak Tree Trees are Whispering Royal Forester Alison Gross The Dark Morris Song
Second set: Gaudete Cruel Brother Skip to Shore Ghost Ship King Henry Dogs and Ferrets We Shall Wear Midnight Hard Times of Old England Wintersmith All Around My Hat Dodgy Bastards
Presenting Maddy with a complimentary copy of the book after the gig
My book ‘’Steeleye Span 1970-1989 On Track: Every Album, Every Song‘ is available from Amazonor Burning Shed
2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of two iconic British bands: Motörhead, who need absolutely no introduction; and Painted Lady, who few will have heard of but who went on to have a huge impact on the UK’s rock and metal scene after they morphed into the much better-known Girlschool. The line-ups of both bands varied over the years but in at the start were the two founding bass-players-cum-lead vocalists, Lemmy Kilmister for Motörhead and Enid Williams for Girlschool.
Lemmy passed away in 2015, of course, but Enid Williams is still going strong and is one of a growing number of acclaimed rock musicians who’ve made Hastings their home. She’s been out of Girlschool for several years now but more recently bounced back fronting Planet Enid Collective, alongside Audrey M (bass) and Yair Katz (drums).
Italy’s Motörqueens, meanwhile, are Europe’s leading all-female Motörhead tribute act and what better way to celebrate the enduring legacy of both Girlschool and Motörhead than a double bill featuring both bands here at the Carlisle in Hastings.
Williams has enjoyed a rich and varied career between her two stints in Girlschool, running a vegetarian cuisine company, touring with the English National Opera, performing in West End musicals and working as a TV Astrologist. But tonight she’s in full-throttle rock and roll mode, alternating between lead and bass guitar and wowing the crowd with some vintage Girlschool songs.
As well as early Girlschool classics, like ‘Emergency’ and a revisit to the band’s much-celebrated covers of ‘Race with Devil’ and ‘Tush’, I’m particularly pleased to hear some of Williams’ material from her final album with Girlschool, 2015’s Guilty as Sin. These included the rousingly defiant ‘Come the Revolution’ and the starkly eco-themed ‘Treasure’, both of which combine hard, heavy riffing with powerful, thought-provoking lyrics. There’s guest spots aplenty, too, including some blinding lead guitar contributions from another local boy, Tino Troy of Praying Mantis, and Baz Roze of the Kent-based metal band, Black Roze. It’s all a bit of a NWOBHM dream!
Headliners, Motörqueens, deliver a high-octane, sassy and unbelievably powerful celebration of Motörhead’s music, even if the authentically Lemmy-esque rumble blasting from the amps sends the Carlisle’s famous, life-size cut-out of Lemmy flying off the side of the stage at one point. It’s a hugely entertaining tribute delivered with passion, conviction and true rock and roll grit.
An extra treat comes towards the end of the set when Williams is invited back on stage to play ‘Bomber’. As the curfew approaches, there’s time for one final song. Motorqueens and Enid blast out a gloriously raucous ‘Please Don’t Touch’ with the rest of musicians from the evening having a glorious time belting out the choruses. Suddenly it’s 1981, everyone’s singing along and we’re all 15 again. A superb finish to a fantastic evening.
A rare occurrence for me but I missed Sweet on their tour last December. As it turned out, however, so did band-leader, lead guitarist and the last surviving member of the classic ‘70s foursome, Andy Scott. A fracture in his pelvis (on top of a debilitating long-term cancer diagnosis) left him completely unable to move so his place was ably taken by Jim Kirkpatrick. Never one to be kept down for long, however, Scott resumed touring in the Spring and as well as a hectic live schedule this year, there’s an impressive roster of European dates lined up for 2026, too.
On previous Christmas tours over the past few years I’ve tended to catch Sweet either in London or down here on the south coast at the De La Warr Pavilion. However, with nothing scheduled for the South East on this tour, I cunningly worked out I could spend a night in Birmingham en route to a pre-Christmas family get-together up in Preston. In fact, this is not the first time I’ve made the long trek to see Sweet in Birmingham. I was here back in 2017 to see Andy & Co. supporting Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow at the Genting Arena.
At the time, I expressed a slight degree of disappointment that the then line-up stuck to a tried-and-tested greatest hits setlist, rather than exploring some of the more hard rock-oriented deep cuts that were likely to have particularly appealed to an audience made up of hard-core Ritchie Blackmore devotees. It was only much later that Scott revealed to fans that he’d had to begin a gruelling course of chemotherapy that very week, obviously leaving no time to rehearse a revised setlist. I felt bad about making my disappointment known once we’d all learned the truth but there is absolutely no such complaint about the setlist tonight.
Ever since the current line-up was unveiled (fronted by ex-Cats in Space lead singer, Paul Manzi), there’s been a much greater emphasis on the album-oriented hard rock side of the band’s DNA, besides the more well-known glam-era big hits. Plus, there’s been an album of brand-new, hard-rocking material, too. Accordingly, we get an explosive set on this tour, featuring incendiary versions of tracks like ‘Lost Angels’, ‘Windy City’ and ‘Set Me Free’ and a couple of songs from the excellent new album, Full Circle, as well as all the well-known big hits.
After praising Scott’s incredible feats of endurance, Manzi summed up his current state of health as “85% back to full fitness” meaning he had to take a scheduled breather part-way through the set. Accordingly, the rest of the band remained on stage to deliver a sing-along medley of ‘ Co-Co’, ‘Funny Funny’ and ‘Poppa Joe’ while Scott caught his breath. Observant Sweet fans will already know that Scott never played on the studio versions of these early bubblegum hits anyway so it was the obvious place in the set for a well-earned break. Elsewhere, however, wherever Scott’s familiar signature guitar sound is heard on the original records, he’s up there on stage delivering those pounding Sweet riffs and searing Scott solos.
For anyone seeing them on this tour, it’s an incredible line-up of the Sweet performing these days. In my mind, even though 2002’s Sweetlife remains my absolute favourite post-Brian Connolly Sweet album, what we have on stage now is one the strongest live line-ups of Sweet since the demise of the classic foursome. Whatever life has thrown at him in recent years, Andy Scott shows no sign of giving up quite yet. Here’s wishing him a good few more tours!
My book ‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ is available from Amazon here
Setlist:
Action Hell Raiser Burn on the Flame Circus The Sixteens Don’t Bring Me Water Lost Angels Windy City Set Me Free Co-Co / Funny Funny / Poppa Joe Teenage Rampage Wig-Wam Bam / Little Willy Love Is Like Oxygen Fox on the Run Blockbuster The Ballroom Blitz
John Illsley, legendary bassist and Dire Straits co-founder, wound up a 21-date music and chat tour at the White Rock Theatre in Hastings. I never got to see Dire Straits back in the day, sadly. However, the fact that this was a chance to see John Illsley perform some Straits classics with a full band, as well as a chance to get a first-hand insight into his long career, made it too good an opportunity to pass over, even though (following Dave Hill and Slade the night before) it meant a second trip to the White Rock in the space of twenty-four hours.
A full two-hour show, the format was a Q&A session, with Illsley in conversation with long-time friend and former Dire Straits co-manager, Paul Cummins. This was followed by live music from the band then a short interval, followed by a further Q&A session and then more live music.
The first half of the show focused on the early part of his career, with the second part focusing on the Brothers In Arms days and beyond. Those early days and hearing about Illsley sharing a flat in Deptford with Mark Knofler’s brother, David, while studying at Goldsmiths held a particular fascination for me, as a former student of Goldsmiths myself who ended up spending twenty-odd years living in the Deptford area, not too far from the small council flat were Dire Straits was originally formed. An articulate, urbane and thoughtful man (even if he lived in what sounded like a filthy hovel at the time!) it was a fascinating insight into the early days of the band and the fairly swift pathway to their first hit single. The inspiration for that first hit came after an evening at a local pub, where Mark Knopfler heard a jazz band playing who called themselves ‘Sultans of Swing’. The rest is history…
The musical segment saw a clutch of songs from the first Dire Straits album, including the aforementioned ‘Sultans of Swing’ as well as a song apiece from Making Movies and Love Over Gold. The band are excellent and Illsley’s vocals are not a million miles away from Mark Knopfler.
After the interval it’s back to more chat, with a real focus on the story behind the astronomical success of Brothers in Arms. Illsley describes it as a perfect storm: Knopfler’s song-writing reaching another level, digital studio technology being newly available, Sony keen to push an album that could help propel sales of their new-fangled CD players, and MTV launching in Europe just a few months before the album’s release date. Both they and their US counterpart keen to give airtime to a single that name-checked them. Neither Illsley nor Mark Knopfler seemed particularly keen on the superstardom that followed, however, and in spite of monster world tours, Live Aid and Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday gig at Wembley, there was to be only one more studio album.
Before long we’re back to more music. Unsurprisingly, songs from Brothers In Arms feature heavily. As well as the title track, there’s ‘So Far Away’, Walk of Life’ amd ‘Money for Nothing’ there’s also a song from Illsley’s most recent solo album. ‘It’s a Long Way Back’ is all about those early days in Deptford. Proceedings wrap up with ‘Where Do You Think You’re Going’ from the Communique album. Illsley and the band leave the stage to a well-deserved standing ovation.
I was lucky enough to see the original line-up of Slade on one of their annual Christmas tours a couple of times back in the early 1980s. Then, after Dave Hill reformed the band with Don Powell in the early 1990s, seeing Slade every Christmas pretty much became an annual tradition. Health issues meant that Hill, now the only original remaining member, had to miss a couple of years in recent times. But now he’s back on the road for a ten-date UK tour. As he approaches his 80th birthday next April this has been advertised as the final ever Slade Christmas tour. They are not giving up playing live altogether, Hill reassures us all later on. There will still be the odd show, just not these big tours.
Yes, there’s no Noddy and Jim, the ones who actually wrote all of those Holder/Lea hits being blasted out tonight. Don departed some years ago amidst a certain amount of acrimony and so Dave with his ever-flamboyant stage-attire is the last man standing. But it’s a chance to see a bonafide ‘70s legend less than a mile from my front door and, most importantly, a chance to celebrate all those hits with as much communal stomping, swaying, singing and clapping as all of us can muster. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Looking forward to getting crazee with Slade!
It’s not exactly an unfamiliar set-list, either for long-time Slade fans or, indeed, almost anyone who had more than a passing acquaintance with the chart music of the 1970s and early ‘80s. Only three of the songs being played tonight came in below the Top Five in the UK singles charts! And the only things that may even slightly resemble anything like a ‘deep cut’ are ‘Lock Up Your Daughters’, a minor hit for the band the year after their post-Reading comeback; and ‘My Baby Left Me’, another minor hit recorded as a tribute to Elvis following the King’s death in 1977. Familiarity is what’s it’s all about tonight and kicking off with ‘Take Me Bak ‘Ome’ the big hits come thick and fast.
The classic Slade live format of lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass and drums has been tampered with in recent years and rather than someone taking on Noddy Holder’s old role on second guitar, you now have Russell Keefe on keyboards. This works surprisingly well, especially given the prominence of the keyboards in so many of Slade’s mellower numbers, like ‘Everyday’, ‘My Friend Stan’ and ‘My Oh My’. What works less well is when Keefe takes lead vocal on several songs. Holder’s voice was gravelly but it was never gruff. In Slade’s glory days, Holder could yell louder than any of them but Tom Waites he was not.
Without trying to mimic Holder, Hill’s long-time bass-player, John Berry, does a much more sympathetic job on the songs where he sings lead. The other new-boy, Alex Bines, pounds away on drums as the audience clap and stomp along, and the soon-to-be-octogenarian Hill nails all those familiar, classic, guitar solos.
An impassioned Dave Hill imploring the crowd to look to the future
It’s the first night of the tour and towards the end Hill seems genuinely moved by the rabble-rousing response from the audience tonight. After a suitably crazy ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’ the band exit the stage but soon they are back for an encore with an epic singalong rendition of ‘My Oh My’, followed by a wonderfully raucous ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’.
But wait, it’s nearly December, it’s the start of the Slade Christmas tour and there’s obviously one song left to do. The roadies are on hand to distribute Santa hats, Dave Hill gives an impassioned plea about looking to the future, even though times might be right now, and soon we’re all yelling along to Merry Xmas Everybody’ at the top of our voices and leaving with a real spring in our step ready to face 2026.
Setlist:
Take Me Bak ‘Ome Lock Up Your Daughters Look Wot You Dun Everyday Coz I Luv You Run Runaway My Friend Stan Far Far Away The Bangin’ Man My Baby Left Me Gudbuy T’Jane Mama Weer All Crazee Now My Oh My Cum On Feel the Noize Merry Xmas Everybody
I’ve been to several memorable gigs at the excellent dedicated live venue adjoining the Brunswick pub in Hove but until I turned up on Sunday afternoon I’d never even realised they also had a downstairs cellar bar venue. It was here in this small, sweaty cellar that the recently-formed X Generation X played their debut gig. As the tour’s official warm-up gig we were treated to a short but explosive set, followed by an equally lively band Q&A and some impassioned reflections from some of the old punks in the audience recalling those heady days of the birth of punk.
Read my interview with X Generation X’s Mark Laff here
A few hours later we’re back in that same tightly-packed, low-ceilinged venue for a full-length gig and an even more explosive performance. Assembled to mark the coming 50th anniversary of punk and to celebrate the music of Generation X, the band features Generation X’s own Mark Laff on drums, Spandau Ballet’s Steve Norman on guitar, Westworld’s Elizabeth Westwood on vocals, Vice Squad’s Michael Giaquinto on bass and, as a late addition, James Stevenson from the final Gen X line-up also on guitar.
Mark Laff shares memories with fans during the Q&A
Kicking off with punk anthem ‘Ready Steady Go’ and with Norman and Stevenson cranking out those fast and furious riffs, it’s the perfect opener and Westwood immediately proves herself to be an inspired choice to front this project. She’s not trying to be Billy Idol, of course, as Laff himself noted when I interviewed him ahead of the tour. But she truly inhabits the spirit of these songs with energy and verve.
Elizabeth Westwood
The earlier part of the set is heavily dominated by songs from the first Generation X album and a thunderously tight Laff and his bandmates more than do justice to old favourites like ‘Promises Promises’, ‘One Hundred Punks’ and ‘Kiss Me Deadly’. There’s a couple of songs from the second album, Valley of the Dolls, thrown in as well though: the title track and ‘King Rocker’, introduced by Laff as his “biggest hit” – the only Generation X single to almost make the Top Ten. Throw in the essential early singles, ‘Wild Youth’ and ‘Your Generation’, a couple of deep cuts in the form of a cover of John Lennon’s ‘Gimme Some Truth’ (originally recorded as a B-side) and Gary Glitter’s ‘Rock On’ (originally recorded for a Peel session) and you’ve got the perfectly-curated Generation X set-list.
As things begin to draw to a close there’s one song left that we’re all expecting and we’re not disappointed. The band launch into a wonderfully raw and frenetic version of ‘Dancing With Myself’, from the third album and the album that Stevenson recorded with the band before the song went on to develop a more familiar life of its own outside of the confines of Gen X.
Steve Norman and James Stevenson
We’re then treated to an encore of Westood’s own “biggest hit”, Westworld’s ‘Sonic Boom Boy’, along with a cover of Norman’s debut hit with Spandau Ballet ‘To Cut a Long Story Short’ and a cover of the Skids ‘Into The Valley’. It’s an unforgettable gig and an energy-packed night to kick off the X Generation X tour in style.
Making light of the seeming incongruity of launching a UK tour on a Sunday, Westwood asked the happy but clearly refreshed crowd at one point if they all had to be up in the morning. “No!!” the crowd yelled back in unison. “They’re all retired!” quipped Steve Norman. That’s as maybe but for 75 glorious minutes it was 1976 all over again and here in this sweaty cellar bar the spirit of punk was recaptured in all of its incendiary glory.
When tickets for Cropredy 2025 went on sale, it was announced that there would be some changes to the festival this year, with far fewer tickets available. Interviewing Fairport’s Dave Pegg back in January, he explained the thinking behind the new approach as follows:
“Gareth Williams our CEO came up with several formulas for trying to make it pay. It’s always been such a gamble, the last couple of years especially. Because when you don’t know how many tickets you are going to sell, you can’t budget. You’re guessing about the number of people who are going to turn up. Gareth’s idea – we’re only going to sell 6,500 tickets and we’re only selling three-day tickets. Because we know we’ve got that lump of income and we can budget accordingly without the risk of going bankrupt.“
As well as fewer tickets, the festival line-up was to look somewhat different, too. The era of big-name headline acts like Chic and Madness and Alice Cooper, who had previously graced the Cropredy stage in a bid to widen the festival’s appeal and get more bums on (folding) seats, was over. Instead, there would be far more focus on acts that the festival organisers knew and had worked alongside.
The big question, therefore, is did this new formula work? Clearly, there was no problem shifting tickets, with the vast majority being snapped up by February and with the festival selling out well in advance. Arriving at the campsite on the Thursday afternoon, it didn’t feel much different, although a couple of fields previously used for camping had apparently been taken out of use.
The Cropredy crowd (Photo: Simon Putman)
I was also wondering whether the slimmed-down attendance would leave us all rattling around in the main arena field but it didn’t feel like that at all. Walkways had been rejigged, the big screens at either side of the stage had been replaced by a single screen at the back of the stage but overall it very much felt like the same old Cropredy I’d been going to for the past fifteen years.
Richard Digance up on the big screen (Photo: Simon Putman)
So, enough of the festival arrangements, what of the music? I must admit that one of the real attractions for me when I first started going to Cropredy in 2010 was the mix of folk, acoustic and classic rock acts. I loved having Status Quo and Rick Wakeman and Little Feat alongside Thea Gilmore and Breabach and Bellowhead. Unlike some of the diehard Cropredy goers, I was perhaps more worried about the potential for the new ‘Friends of Fairport’ formula to squeeze out some of the rockier elements. That didn’t happen at all though. I got my fix of both folk and classic rock, in some respects more than I could possibly have hoped for.
Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Folk Ensemble join Fairport Acoustic on stage (Photo: Simon Putman)
On the folky side, obvious highlights for me included Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Folk Ensemble, whose massed ranks begun their set by joining Fairport Acoustic on stage, for an epic rendition of ‘The Lark In The Morning’ instrumental medley from the Liege & Lief album. Scottish folk band Skipinnish were another highlight for me, with a thrillingly energetic set, my second time seeing them this summer as they also performed at the New Forest Folk Festival. A special mention, too, should go to the kids of Cropredy Primary School Folk Class who kicked things off at the festival. We only made it in time to hear their last couple of songs but what a wonderful idea to link the village and the festival this way and how lovely it was seeing the huge cheer for them as they made their way from the backstage area afterwards to a waiting gaggle of proud parents.
The traditional hanky waving during Richard Digance’s set (Photo: Simon Putman)
On the rock side, the festival organisers demonstrated that you didn’t need to be in the megabucks league to attract some decent classic rock acts. My many years of going to music weekends at Butlins showed me that it’s perfectly possible to line up some talented rock names without bankrupting yourself.
Trevor Horn (Photo: Simon Putman)
The Trevor Horn Band, making their third appearance at Cropredy, were hugely entertaining as ever, blasting out a deluge of hits that Horn had had a hand in, from Frankie Goes To Hollywood, to Buggles to Yes – with the added bonus of Lol Creme of 10CC on guitar and some Godley & Crème/10CC hits thrown in, too! They were originally booked under the old formula for the previous year, however, and had to reschedule because of illness so the situation was slightly different.
Martin Barre (Photo: Simon Pitman)
The same cannot be said for Martin Barre (ex-Jethro Tull) and Deborah Bonham (sister of Led Zep drummer, John) whose sets were clear highlights of the weekend, none more so than the latter whose special guest almost certainly provided the highlight of the weekend for many, with none other than Robert Plant stepping on to the stage to perform sizzling versions of ‘Ramble On’ and ‘Thank You’ from Led Zeppelin’s second album. It doesn’t get much better than that at Cropredy.
Robert Plant joins the Deborah Bonham Band on stage (Photo: Darren Johnson)
I didn’t get to see everyone who performed and there were acts (like Bob Fox & Billy Mitchell) I would have liked to have seen but didn’t. However, I’ve never spent the entire day in the field from mid-day to midnight. For me, time spent at the campsite, catching up with friends early in the evening and relaxing ahead of a late night finish, is as much part of the Cropredy experience for me as the music. Plus, in the last few years, our camping group has also chosen to spend a little bit of time at the Cream of the Crop festival in the adjoining field and this time we got there just in time for an explosive set by the excellent Burnt Out Wreck, the band fronted by former Heavy Pettin’ drummer, Gary Moat. No-one can say I didn’t get my fill of hard rock at Cropredy this year!
Burnt Out Wreck at Cream of the Crop next door (Photo: Simon Putman)
Fairport Convention, of course, rounded things off on the Saturday night with their usual mammoth set featuring a mix of familiar old favourites, revisited deep cuts, covers with guest artists (this time Ralph McTell and Danny Bradley) and more recent material penned by the band’s own Chris Leslie. While a couple of our camping group head back to the campsite before the end, missing ‘Matty Groves’ and ‘Meet On The Ledge’ is not something I could ever contemplate so we make our way to the front in time for a rousing ‘Matty’ (with accompanying animated video hilariously interpreting the storyline through the medium of Lego) and an always emotional ‘Meet on the Ledge’.
Ralph McTell is a guest during Fairport’s set (Photo: Simon Putman)
While it was the end of Cropredy for another year, it wasn’t quite the end of our camping trip as we had booked for several days at a lovely campsite ten miles away, just outside Barford St. Michael. The spirit of Cropredy was never far away though. The village of Barford St Michael, itself, was once home to Dave Pegg and the studio he established, Woodworm Studios, where Fairport recorded numerous albums. The studio is still in operation, although no longer owned by Peggy these days.
The Hook Norton Brewery (Photo: Simon Putman)
While camping, we also took a trip to the village of Hook Norton for a tour of the Hook Norton Brewery, who in recent years became the official suppliers for the Cropredy festival bar, taking over from Wadworth. It’s an absolutely fascinating tour of this historic nineteenth century site and our engaging tour-guide was himself a Cropredy regular who had spent many years working at the festival. If you are extending your stay in the Oxfordshire countryside and want to find out how the beer at the Cropredy bar is brewed and learn more about the history of the brewery, it’s well worth a visit!
Darren's music blog 