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The Archive
| Governor Hindmarsh Hotel.Adelaide. 1-9-99. Strathalbyn Town Hall. 1-10-99. |
Photos by Ian Fry |
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Considering the lousy turnout Adelaide gave Fairport when they visited in 1996 , it was a total surprise to find them returning for not one but two shows in as many days . The 96 show was good but woefully patronised, with probably under 120 people attending the Royalty Theatre, which was cold , empty and uncomfortable-mostly due to seats that were so small that one was rubbing arms with ones neighbours throughout.
It is not so much that Chris Leslie is a better player, but that his combination of instruments has brought a new sound to the band. The addition of another fiddle has created some admirable sequences where the strings have come to the fore , giving a very rich sound and allowing the players to bounce ideas off each other.Chris has also brought with him some nice songs and this of course has led to a new feel to the bands repertoire.That said, there was not much variation in the set list or the instrumental intervals on either night and this is something that caused some minor disgruntlement amongst those of us who were seeing more than one show. One would have thought that it would have been possible to see a bit more fluidity from such a formidably professional unit such as Fairport , but at the moment the band are playing it safe and taking no chances. Even in the matter of what appears to be spontaneous stage banter is actually rehearsed and is more or less the same each night, which of course is no problem for the viewer who only goes to one gig, but given the fact that a goodly chunk of the audience was attending both shows it was probably a minor error on the bands part. Simon actually did ask how many of us had seen the previous nights show about half way through the Strathalbyn show and once he’d found out the numbers there was some change in his presentation. But one got the impression that he found it rather difficult to rephrase the introductions. However ,who am I to criticise, there's only so many ways one can announce a song and when you have been playing some songs for over 30 years it must be hard to find original ways to present them. The band were obviously feeling the heat on Saturday with an almost complete complement of shorts , with Maestro Pegg sporting a violently coloured shirt with a guitar pattern and ultra white legs to set off the outfit. Towels for head wiping were much in evidence and Ric also cracked a joke about how he had been sweating ever since he had arrived in Australia - especially in Brisbane airport where a nice Labrador had started to sniff him - resulting in a full body search for drugs ! 
It was nice to see some of the oldies such as Walk Awhile making a return to the fold and most especially Who Knows Where the Time Goes, which Simon delivered most effectively on both nights. The new numbers were also well received , especially Dangerous , which has a very nice dynamic -( and which to me is very reminiscent of Joni Mitchell numbers from the mid eighties )- John Gaudie and The Flow . Chris's mandolin playing was great on Woodworm Swing and Ric pulled out all the stops on the Bowmans Retreat . Not having seen the band for two years, the most startling ( and pleasing ) change was the funky opening to Matty Groves with Peggy getting most percussive and the band really building to an almost psychedelic instrumental climax at times .Both nights were capped off with tender versions of Meet on the Ledge to thunderous audience applause . My friend Ian brought along his Nikon and was busy snapping away, using a 36 shot film each night, the bands hammed it up for him, especially on Sunday, with much posing and wacky facial expressions - the funniest incident being when the Borderers all stuck their heads together in mid song as in a typical family snapshot ( see above ), which earned a round of applause from the audience. Overall this was a very successful stint in Adelaide , the venues and audiences were good and It was nice to see that there was a much better rapport between band and sound men this time round, ( for explanation see the 96 Royalty theatre review ) the sound being superb on Saturday night at the Gov ,which as usual delivered great acoustics, but appalling air conditioning. Sound was very good where I sat on Sunday at Strath but we were right down the front and the band commented on there being problems with the sound, as the acoustics of the town hall were apparently less than ideal . However ,otherwise I have to commend Strath as a venue- even though the hall only had six ceiling fans, which was just not adequate for the intense heat.Other than that , it was nice to see the band in such an antique hall and Strathalbyn is a charming place. Its so quiet!. During the intervals the audience streamed outside to get cool and we all just stood in the roadway -there were no cars, virtually no noise, just lots of appreciative talk about how good the band were ! It was ultra peaceful and so unlike the normal city madness.
The setlists.
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Fairport Convention In Australia pages
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