Fairport Convention/Anna Ryder, Medina Theatre, Newport, 4th March, 1999
First Class Fairport
By Vic King
Great to report that Fairports Winter tour again took in the Isle of Wight with a return visit to Medina Theatre.
Fairport's special guest this year is Anna Ryder who opened the show with a striking performance. 'Sliding into a Dream' employed Fairport 'new boy' Gerry Conway on 'Rupert Brown' style hand percussion and Anna's bouncy yet relaxed guitar/voice set the mood for a fine night. 'Tried and Tested' was of similar style.
By way of variation, Anna performed a Bessie Smith song in which she also played trumpet and accordian and she had the audience contributing the 'trumpet' sound at the end.
A bonus for us was to discover that Anna's, song 'Sailing Boat', covered by Fairport on their last album had a strong Isle of Wight connection. Anna explained that it ws about sailing holidays that she enjoyed in the Solent as a child, before she switched to an electric keyboard to perform it.
'Pockets on Fire', the title track from Anna's new CD, deals with the subject of what men carry in their pockets, in a catchy yet sophisticated style.
I don't know who Anna's music reminds me of. Joni Mitchell?, perhaps Suzanne Vega?, maybe. What can be said is that she has a strong individual style of her own.
Anna described the bad luck that she has had with cars and her final song 'Heaps of Metal' brought the full Fairport Convention line up on to the stage.
They then continued with their stage show, 'Slip Jigs and Reels' was quickly followed by 'Woodworm Swing' an instrumental featuring the 'Hot Club of Banbury' in Grappelli/Reinhardt mode. Kristina Olsen's 'Dangerous' was indeed 'bloody dangerous' as Simon Nicol put it, a tight and taut version. New drummer Conway certainly introduced a slightly rockier edge which drew much praise. Other first set highlights were a sublime 'Wistfulness Waltz' and old favourite 'Crazy Man Michael'.
Twin violinists Ric Sanders and Chris Leslie opened the second set with Leslie's insturmental 'The Flow'. The masterful Sanders is such a big part of the Fairport equation but Leslies contribution, particularly as a writer was highly evident. As Dave Pegg explained: 'Chris has been writing songs while we've been in the pub.
There were fine examples here of new Leslie songs as yet not on any album. 'Banbury Fair' was one and perhaps the best was 'Close to you', a song about a lighthouse.
Lilting violin, superb three-part harmonies, the kind of music to me that suggested stnding on the Calbourne Road outside the Blacksmith Arms and gazing out over the Solent.
Leslie's mandolin supplemented the missing Mattacks vibes in Ralph McTell's 'The Hiring Fair' and equally filled out a faithful 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes'.
Driving violins had people up and dancing in both 'The Bowman's Retreat' and 'John Gaudie,' another Lesley song.
All that then was requird was 'Matty Groves' and the 'Meet On the Ledge' encore to windup a most enjoyable night.
Good attendance. Great sound and lights. Well done to all, including promoters Wight Leisure.
Vic King.
Website stuff:
Fairport Convention
Anna Ryder
www.folkcorp.co.uk