Phoenix Foundation and Fairport Convention

Live gigs this week. We wandered down for the Phoenix Foundation's album release party at Borderline. I've followed TPF for years, thanks mainly to Andrew L telling me I had to, and I've rabbited on to all and sundry how good they are live, so hopefully some of that has sunk through...
What's been interesting is since the success of Pegasus is the professionalism of the band. Previously there was a genuine level of excitement concerning: a) would the band all start on the same track and b) how many would make it to the end. Now, however, everyone seems pretty focussed on the music. There's probably a secondary reason for this, but I would never suggest TPF had had a bit before gigs....

What has always set them apart for me, is the banter onstage, largely between Sam and Luke. Thankfully with increasing sales/popularity they've kept a pretty downhome approach to live performances. Having more than one songwriter in the band (Sam, Luke, Conrad and Will have all released solo albums) keeps them fresh, and the pull between Sam's krautrock/prog leanings and Luke's Americana provides an interesting middle ground.

I've raved about the new album Buffalo before. Suffice to say the songs work well live, and the audience was very much into the gig. Usual complaints about f<>ng London audiences, but I'm really pleased I saw them, and also pleased Neil finally got to see them. His leaving do in Wellington coincided with a gig, which I went to. I may have rubbed that in a bit.


So that was Saturday, Sunday was spent easing through the day. Once again time spent with Alex S required a quieter day.

Tuesday night I caught up with another of TPF gig go-ers, and we headed to Fairport Convention since they were playing in Loughborough. I managed to struggle down to town, ending up at the Swan for a pint and dinner.
Gig started bang on 8pm with a nice fiddle/guitar duo. Lyrics seemed a bit trite, but the guitarist was very good - nice use of percussive effects.
Fairport Convention are one of those bands I've been aware of, intended to listen to, and have never really managed it. So when Paul mentioned they were playing here, it seemed to solve all those problems in one. I'd heard some of the stuff when Richard Thompson was in them, thanks to Amanda, but little else.

I really enjoyed it. they've been going since the late 60s, and from the appearance of the audience, so had most of them. Paul and I didn't think our (relatively) young ages brought down average much.
The band opened with their 1971 album 'John Babbacombe Lee', a folk-rock (folk-prog?) album that I really enjoyed. Interesting harmonies throughout, which were quite reminiscent of CSN, as were some of the song structures. Really enjoyed this, it's not an easy album but I'll be keeping an eye for it.
Including a number of tracks from the new album, the second half showcased more variety, and the superb musicianship in that band.
I'd definitely go see them again, and I'll probably grab an album or two.

 Here's some youtube of John Lee, although the sound is more tinny than what we heard.


B