As you’ll be well aware, the At The Barrier team love Fairport’s Cropredy Convention. We’re there every year – indeed, we reckon that the festival is the biggest highlight of our annual calendar. And, every year – like just about everyone else who attends this Prince-amongst-festivals, we come away with some very special memories.
So – we thought that we’d share a few of the magical moments that our writers have taken away from Fairport’s Cropredy Convention. Magical Moments that we’ve experienced during Fairport’s annual headlining performances and Magical Moments from the rest of the festival from across the years.
We’re sure that you’ve got your own special Cropredy Magical Memories – and, if you have, why not share them with us?
METAL MATTY AND FAREWELL – 2018
Maart Allcock’s tenure in the band resulted in what became known as Metal Matty. A souped up rocking version of the famous folk song with which Fairport inevitably end their pre-encore set. Maart’s final appearance in 2018 before his tragic passing the following year, saw him once more subvert the intro to Matty Groves in his own inimitable way for the final time. A revelation to anyone new to this particular take.
SERENADE TO A CUCKOO – 1987
It wasn’t exactly a surprise appearance, as we’d been warned in advance. Back in 1987, Fairport bassist Dave Pegg was still very much engaged in his parallel career as a member of Jethro Tull. He’d joined Tull in 1980 after Fairport had (misleadingly) decided to call time upon itself, so – in hindsight – it was probably inevitable that some members of Tull would show up at Cropredy at some point. Nevertheless, it was BIG news when it was announced that, on the evening of Saturday 15th August 1987, Fairport would be joined by Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and Martin Barre during their set. The market certainly responded and tickets sold like the proverbial hot cakes, once the appearance of the Tull faction had been confirmed.
The decision to bring in Anderson and Barre wasn’t, as I recall, universally welcomed by Fairport’s loyal band of followers and mutterings around the field and campsites before and after the festival included opinions that Fairport’s festival had been highjacked.
Festival politics aside, though, the seven-song ‘set-within-a-set’ that Fairport performed with the Tull guys was a thrilling revelation. It kicked off with an abridged run through Thick As A Brick and included a string of Tull classics, concluding with the singalong Too Old To Rock and Roll, Too Young To Die. But, the abiding memory from this historic subset was, for my money, the jazz-tinged version of Serenade to a Cuckoo, a track from Jethro Tull’s 1968 debut album, This Was. Ian was on top form, alternately blowing snorting and roaring into his flute, Martin chipped in with a typically stunning guitar solo and the interplay between Ian and Fairport’s Ric Sanders was a joy to experience. A moment still savoured by those of us present.
FULL HOUSE – 2022
As someone who received his Fairport Convention life sentence back in the early years of the 1970s, I’m often asked which of Fairport’s 29 (yes, TWENTY-NINE!) studio albums is my favourite. Now, those 1,000 Greatest Albums magazine articles that crop up from time-to-time in the mainstream music press tend to focus – if, indeed, they focus at all – on that early triumphant run of What We Did On Our Holidays (1968), Unhalfbricking (1969) and Liege & Lief (1969). Those are all excellent albums of course but, for me at least, the absolute jewel in Fairport’s extensive canon is the peerless Full House, the album they released in 1970 following the departures of Sandy and Ashley from the band’s ranks and which marked the arrival of a certain Mr Pegg.
In 2020, Full House celebrated its Golden Jubilee and plans were hatched for a performance of the full album by the reconvened Full House lineup (with Chris Leslie depping for the otherwise occupied Dave Swarbrick) at that year’s Cropredy Festival. Oh… the best laid plans of mice and men…
The international embrace of the COVID virus meant that Fairport’s Cropredy Convention didn’t convene in 2020. Nor did it assemble in 2021, for the same reason. So, it was on 13th August 2022 that the Tourmaline Anniversary of Fairport’s Greatest Achievement was finally celebrated from the Cropredy stage. And, boy, wasn’t it worth the wait!! Fairport had already played what lesser bands would have considered to be a full set – 16 songs that included such gems as The Hexamshire Lass, Honour And Praise, Ye Mariners All and Jewel In The Crown, alongside a whole swathe of their most recent album offering, Shuffle & Go (2020), before the Full House chaps reconvened for what was to be special performance.
Peggy’s daughter, Stephanie, was three years old when she appeared alongside Fairport on the colour photograph that graced the gatefold of the original Full House album sleeve and it was Stephanie’s voice that introduced the live performance of the album, recalling that she’d been the only person on the photo that didn’t seem to have much hair at the time. Tempora mutantur…
The performance of the album, in it’s original running sequence and with Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman restored to its rightful place at the album’s heart was, needless to say, exemplary. This was Fairport at the peak of its power, with Peggy and DM laying down the most solid of foundations, Simon sprinkling the sweetness and RT setting the night sky ablaze. Special mention is due to Chris who performed the impossible task of filling Dave Swarbrick’s central role with huge aplomb. And the songs poured down like gold – from Walk Awhile to Flowers of the Forest, with a rousing, frantic Mason’s Apron to round everything off.
There was time for a short encore before the evening – and the festival – was concluded as always by Meet On The Ledge. But the talk, as we made our way out of the field and back to our places of rest was of Full House. In particular, many of the delighted punters were saying how, in a fair, ideal, world, Full House would have made Fairport into one of music’s biggest names. And, for many of us around at the time, that’s exactly what it did.
The reassembly of the Full House lineup at Cropredy provided the opportunity for Fairport to recreate one of their less-known 1970 band photographs and that photo, along with original version, was used as the cover illustration for Full House For Sale, the recording of that momentous performance and a permanent memento of one the most Magical of Cropredy evenings.
SNOW IN AUGUST – 1993
Fairport’s 1993 Saturday evening set was memorable for a number of reasons. OK, Richard Thompson hadn’t hung around to reunite with Fairport, despite him having appeared, along with Danny Thompson, on Friday night’s bill. But, otherwise, the list of guests that Fairport had invited along was breathtaking. Ex-members Jerry Donahue and Dave Swarbrick both put in an appearance as did future member Chris Leslie. Fairport’s ranks were further swollen by a list of stellar personages including Heather Wood, Bryn Haworth and Everything But The Girl. And Robert Plant made one of his several Cropredy showings described elsewhere.
But, for me, the highlight of the evening began when Dave Pegg announced: “We’d like to introduce you to a fella that was a big mover around the Birmingham scene when I was growing up: ladies and gentlemen: Roy Wood!” The hits rained down. Roy – and his all-female band – took over the stage and kicked off with Flowers In The Rain, the song that was, remember, the first to be played on Radio 1 when the station was launched in 1967. My head was swimming!
Fire Brigade was next, followed by Blackberry Way, Boadicea and a storming Are You Ready To Rock? But, surely, the highlight of that mini-set – and the moment that’s still talked about to this day – was Roy’s final song, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day. Performed on a warm summer’s evening. And, to add authenticity, fake snow tumbled from the stage’s roof as Roy and the band played.
Roy Wood returned to Cropredy. He topped the Friday evening bill in 1998. But, somehow, it’s that first, surprise, appearance that he made that sticks in the memory. Snow and all.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…MR ROBERT PLANT!
Robert Plant is a Cropredy regular. And, when we say that, we mean that he’s a ‘regular’ in the same way that you – and we – are. He likes to hang out, watch the artists performing, pop in at the bar for a drink, browse the various shops and stalls and meet up with his mates. Unlike you or us, though, he’s also been known to grace the Cropredy stage once or twice and, when he does, all hell usually breaks loose.
Robert’s long-term friendship with Fairport, and Peggy in particular, with whom he goes way back, is well-documented and it means that we Cropredy-ites often get a chance to enjoy surprise performances from a man that others would, literally, queue all night to see.
He made his first Cropredy appearance as a guest of Fairport at the 1986 festival. Robert’s star was back in the ascendancy after his Live Aid slot the previous year and, when he took to the stage to join Fairport, the audience couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Here, was a bona-fide, solid gold superstar, right in our midst. That night, he performed three numbers: Mess Of The Blues, She’s Nineteen Years Old and Mystery Train, with Fairport as his backing group. Then, as quickly as he’d appeared, he was gone and we were left asking each other: “Did that really just happen?“
Robert’s 1992 appearance, again with Fairport, was equally unexpected. 1992 was Fairport’s Silver Jubilee year and they played extensive sets on both the Friday and Saturday nights. Friday evening featured the then-current Fairport lineup of Simon, Peggy, DM, Ric and Maartin Allcock, and Robert slipped onto the stage immediately after Fairport had played their big ‘production’ number, The Wounded Whale. He kicked off with a stunning Girl From The North Country before thrilling everyone with a run of Zepp standards – Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, In The Evening and Ramble On.
He was back again – just one year later – in 1993 – when his name featured on a list of stellar guests – including Roy Wood and Everything But The Girl – who joined Fairport for a marathon Saturday evening set. This time, he really stuck around, as Fairport + Planty got to grips with a whole lotta Zeppelin in a nine-song mini-set. Highlights included Misty Mountain Hop, Thank You, If I Were A Carpenter, Whole Lotta Love and You Shook Me. It was, obviously, great fun but it didn’t please everyone; more that half of Fairport’s set that evening had been given over to guest appearances and a chunk of the Cropredy audience were vocal in asking for more Fairport next time around…
It is, perhaps as a result of that feedback that Robert didn’t make another Cropredy appearance until Y2K and, then, it was in his own right as the Friday bill-topper, with his band, Priory Of Brion. Robert had been spotted in the audience during Thursday evening’s show, enjoying the performance by the recently reformed Incredible String Band. This writer was pleased and surprised to see how long he was left alone, despite being recognised by one and all, before one audience member sidled up to request an autograph. And then the levee broke…
Priory Of Brion was formed by Robert as a vehicle for revisiting the music that influenced his career and the band’s setlist included songs by, amongst others, Love, Buffalo Springfield and Moby Grape.
The Cropredy stage was struck by another lengthy Plant-free hiatus until – and this was a genuine and thoroughly welcome surprise – he was invited back to duet with Kristina Donahue for a wonderful version of Battle Of Evermore at the 2008 festival. The song was performed as part of a Sandy Denny mini-set and its inclusion reprised Sandy’s appearance on the song’s original recording. Chris Leslie played the Jimmy Page’s mandolin part and the audience stood in stunned silence whilst the song was played. The roars that greeted Robert’s appearance on stage, and the conclusion of the song were, though, like nothing Cropredy has heard before, or since.
And in 2025 – especially for the younger Cropredy attendees – you never forget your first experience… Those of us in the know might have spotted Planty sipping soup in the hospitality tent, but the excitement about the fact that he might come one and play had to be contained. Deborah Bonham and her band had lit the spark and already welcomed one guest, a certain Dave Pegg, before she brought on another. And the stampede down the hill from the bar began. A couple of tunes Zep II and the whole gang genuinely having a ball. And did a rock star ever make pink shorts look so cool?
IT’S BIG BIG TRAIN!! – 2024
When one of your favourite bands plays Cropredy. And then appears for an acoustic spot in the intimate confines of the Radio Oxford tent. A tremendous (although necessarily shortened) festival set that began with the bold acapella of Miramere and took us through a snapshot of the BBT legacy. Proud Passengers (of the Big Big Train community) resplendent in their green ‘Big Big Train in a big big field’ event shirts, swelling with pride.
Picking a highlight might prove a task. The set closing instrumental Apollo (even without the brass section that gives a propulsive lift)that has Alberto Bravin rabble rousing; the duet with Nick D’Virgilio on The Florentine, the harmonies on Keeper of Abbeys and Hedgerow…but we’ll opt for Curator Of Butterflies. A song that BBT singer, the late David Longdon, himself a Crop visitor in recent times, made his own yet the version now sung by Alberto Bravin is a genuine emotional highpoint. And a perfect song for the early evening in the pastoral fields.
THE SWEET SOUND OF SWEDEN – 1988
I’ve said this many times before and, without doubt, I’ll say it again. My record collection is rammed with albums by artists that I heard and – on numerous occasions – heard of for the first time at Cropredy. The Battlefield Band, The Home Service, Moulettes, Peatbog Faeries, Reg Meuross, Pyewackett – the list goes on, and they all first entered my consciousness from the Cropredy stage. In 1988, I added the name of Swedish poll-busting 7-piece outfit Filarfolket to that list.
In 1988, World Music was enjoying its first flush of popularity and, around that time, performers from other countries and cultures would regularly take their places on the Cropredy festival bill. The 1987 lineup had featured virtuoso Hungarian ensemble Muzsikás. In 1988 it was Filarfolket’s turn to charm the Cropredy crowd. And charm us they certainly did, with an hour or so of sweet, rich music that so effectively evoked the lake and wooded hillside scenes of the Swedish countryside.
Featuring an eclectic instrumental lineup of violins, cellos, saxophones, flute, bouzouki, trumpet, keyboards, guitars and percussion, Filarfolket had the Saturday afternoon crowd on its feet, swaying and dancing to the rural tunes and rhythms of Skåne, Värmland, Gotland, Dalsland and the rest. They were called back for repeated encores, much to the delight of the sizeable group of Swedish fans who’d made the trip across the North Sea to set up camp, right next to us in the field.
The band played a selection of tunes from their soon-to-be released album, Smuggel, and numbers such as Tuffepolskan and Cowboyhalling really hit the spot. I spent the next few months trawling the record stores of London and the Midlands searching for a copy of the album. I was eventually successful and its an album I treasure.
THE HOME SERVICE SAVE THE DAY – 1982
They weren’t even meant to be on the festival bill. The Friday evening headline spot had been reserved, months earlier, for Richard and Linda Thompson, then halfway around an American tour to promote their seminal and (then) current album, Shoot Out The Lights. But that tour didn’t even start well and it ended disastrously and, when Richard and Linda returned home, they were no longer on speaking terms. An alternative headline act was required.
Formed in 1980 from the nucleus of what had been, perhaps, the most successful lineup of The Albion Band, the Home Service were hot stuff. The band’s frontline of John Tams and Bill Caddick were both excellent songwriters and vocalists of real distinction; Graeme Taylor remains a guitarist in the class of Richard Thompson and Jerry Donahue and the brass section of Roger Williams (trombone & tuba), Howard Evans (trumpet) and Colin Rae (trumpet) carried real weight. Add powerhouse drummer Michael Gregory and bassist Jon Davie to the mix and you’ll agree – here was a band capable of stepping into the largest pair of vacated shoes.
The first Home Service Cropredy appearance preceded the release of their debut album – that was to follow a couple of years down the road, in 1984, and it was a long wait! The details of the band’s setlist have been, largely, lost to the mists of time but I do remember being knocked sideways by Rainbow Waistcoat – Bill Caddick’s tribute to the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel – and falling face-first into a cowpat as I idiot danced to a frantic version of Beginning Of The World. Did they do Peat Bog Soldiers too? Possibly but I can’t be sure from this distance. What I do know for sure is that Friday 13th August 1982 was a life-changing day, thanks to The Home Service.
A PROG HIGHLIGHT – 2022
There are inevitably some Prog rockers on the Cropredy bill, maybe more in the latter years. Legacy bands and those who deliver a contemporary take on the iconic genre. Mention of Solstice and the twenty five year gap between their appearances, Focus, Fish, Rick Wakeman, Caravan and Marillion and the trend continues in 2026 with Soft Machine.
After choosing Big Big Train’s 2024 appearance as one highpoint, how about Steve Hackett and his band playing the Prog Rock classic Supper’s Ready in the Friday night spot of 2022. Not his first appearance of course having joined Marillion for a healthy Prog representation in 2014 right at the start of his Genesis revistations. However, after a decade of touring the classic Genesis catalogue of which he was a significant part, to be at Cropredy and to hear the Apocalypse In 9/8 pumping across the field in the dark, with the menace of 666 being no longer alone looming plus the spectacle of the visuals and lighting accompaniments which are part and parcel of the experience – magical.
HELLO! HOORAY!! – ALICE COOPER 2013
Did it REALLY happen? Did Alice Cooper – bona-fide rock God, a man to whom none of us are worthy and who incited a generation of rebellious children – myself included – to leave school early because, you know, School was OUT – did he REALLY headline our favourite little festival on Thursday 8th August 2013. History relates that – indeed he did. But, it’s still something I find almost impossible to believe.
The disbelief took root in February 2013 when, during a slow Monday morning in my office, my attention wandered from the fascinating world of Rail Franchise Bidding and I spent a second to visit Fairport’s website to see if there was any new news. There was. They’d only gone and booked Alice flippin’ Cooper! The snake-wielding, rapier-thrusting, top-hatted black-eyed monster of Detroit was coming to the Oxfordshire Cotswolds – and I already had a ticket!
Fairport Acoustic, Fake Thackray, Romeo’s Daughter and Edward II all did a sterling job of getting us in the mood and, by 9pm the atmosphere in the field was electric. Many of the audience had dressed the part – top hats, face makeup and white suits were all around and the stage was obscured from view by a huge curtain. “You will not BELIEVE what’s going on behind here,” warned compere Bobby Bragg, but we were soon to find out as what was perhaps Cropredy’s most exciting, thrilling stage entry ever took place before our eyes. The curtain dropped, a shower of sparks rained down from the stage roof and, there, clad in a slinky red-and-black striped suit, stood the man of the moment. Alice was amongst us.
I don’t think I’d ever felt the hairs on the back of my head stand up so strongly – I certainly haven’t since – as they did when Alice half-sang, half-shouted the opening words to Hello, Hooray and the crowd was in the palm of his hand from that point on. The stage set was the stuff of nightmares – complete with (fake?) body parts and instruments of death and mutilation, and Alice’s band members were dressed to – literally – kill.
And the hits just kept on coming. No More Mr Nice Guy, Under My Wheels, Billion Dollar Babies, Welcome To My Nightmare, Killer and Poison – Alice did them all. there was a smattering of deft covers – Foxy Lady and My Generation amongst them – and he finished with, what else – School’s Out. And, if you’ve never stood amongst 20,000 fifty-somethings, bellowing the words to THAT one at the top of your voice, you haven’t really lived.
And, you know the nicest thing of all – Alice had a great time. “Who’d have thought that the best show of my European tour would be at a folk-festival?” he said. But we knew, didn’t we?
SETH DOES DIGANCE – 2023
In 2023, the earth shifts on its axis. Richard Digance is unable to do his traditional comedy routine with songs opening to Saturday. What about the white hankie moment? A call to International Rescue and who should step up from the subs bench but Seth Lakeman in trio form with Benji Kirkpatrick and Alex Hart and and to some (at least one…) more than an agreeable replacement.
Seth confessed to the ATB team in the catering tent over a morning cuppa that he was aware of something going on with white hankies and whilst being on the ball, took his lead (with some bemusement, but he was as cool as ever about it) from a crowd who wouldn’t let the tradition die, when they rose as one and marked the moment in the traditional fashion . A great set with the intimate Bury Nights set against the bouncy jive of The Giant. And then they could pack their bags and head off for another festival appearance later in the day.
For the record, Digance was back in his slot the following year, although some may have preferred the new order.
STEVE HACKETT, PLUS THE WATERBOYS! – 2014
Whilst there will be many at Cropredy this year whose first was the first, way back in 1979 it was only last year that I broke into double figures for Cropredy visits. The festival is now an essential part of my music calendar and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every one I’ve attended. But the first is always unique. As unique as the marvelous atmosphere.
When I found out that my long time favourite artist, Al Stewart, was on the bill, it didn’t take much thinking to accept an invitation to join the merry throng that meets up every year. Added to this Steve Hackett performing Genesis Gabriel-era songs added to the excitement. I was in awe listening on that first night, soaking up the ambience and enjoying my introduction to Wadworth’s 6X – then the festival’s staple lubricant!
Hackett played everything I wanted with Nad Sylvan more giving a creditable vocal effort. I remember thinking: “Well, it can’t get better than this!!” Shortly The Waterboys came on and stole the night. I was only familiar with their hit,Whole Of The Moon, but, that night, a whole new world was introduced to me. They played most of Their seminal 1988 Fisherman’s Blues album and I became totally hooked on Mike Scott’s vocals and Steve Wickam’s violin.
I couldn’t have had a better Cropredy birthing and now a year without it is unthinkable
