After much thought and mulling over Fairport’s Cropredy Convention 2025 opened the gates to a new format and a weekend of glorious weather. Was it the same? Did it all come round again? Spiral Earth sent Simon Jones to deepest Oxfordshire.
As Cropredy edges towards its half century its perma- presence as a lynch pin of the Festival Season comes with a recognition that survival in the 2020s means reinvention. Faced with challenges on various fronts such as rising infrastructure costs, unpredictible audience numbers post Covid – probably more than that too- those in charge, consulted, conjutated and considered. the upshot of which was a stripped back, trimmer and fitter Cropredy for 2025. A model which ensures its future, Sensible soutions for Cropredy’s tomorrows.
Of course there had been the predictible doom merchants and nay sayers on social media patforms. In reality the old phrase about empty vessels and most noise rang true. Cropredy 2025 was the ultimate put down to such self centred and blinkered thinking. So you didn’t attend this year, well in truth you only hurt yourself and boy did you miss out musically.
Fittingly the festival began for some of us with a back stage toast. A glass raised to the memory of Stevie Horton from Iconic Media who’d handled festival press and media matters for years. Her sudden passing at the end of 2024 shook many – including yours truly. It was only right that new PR company One Fell Swoop – Rich Pontefract and Dave MacTeague – invited us to salute her achievements. Nice one chaps.
Matters started in earnest with the ringng of Cropredy church bells and a swift unplugged burst from Fairport to bid us all welcome. What hit next was a melodic hurricane, Joe Broughton and the Birmingham Conservatoire Folk Ensemble arrived in a storm of melody and good intentions. 45 of them, yes 45 crammed on the stage. Some looked like young Earth mothers in flowery dresses and painted faces, others earnest and organised like orchestral players, there were even those convinced they were in a modern jazz band, whilst one of their number did a perfect impression of Bez from the Happy Mondays waving and bashing a tambourine, bush hat and sun glasses to boot. Headmaster Broughton grinned like a Cheshire cat. Dancing seemed compulsory, their cross cultural fusion setting the template for many of the weekend’s participants.
Later on Firday Spanish roots’n’shanty new wavers El Pony Piscador took dancing matters to extremes and audience participation to new heights. To say they were animated would be a gross understatement. From the moment they first stepped on stage they never stood still, rushing across and around, one moment on stage the next off pushing through the crowd. Each song brought a different dance and a couple of thousand at the front learned new moves in a matter of minutes. When sea songs were welded to Celtic jigs atmospherics rose by several degrees. El Pony would have played all night had they been allowed and the audience would have danced until dawn. Quite exhilarating.
El Pony Pisador get ready to haul in the bowline.
Trevor Horn was this year’s Party Central – he missed 2024 due to his medical condition. ” We’ve had him redesigned and rebuilt,” joked Lol Creme before the band began their late night Friday set. You’ve got to hand it to Trev, he’s been there, done that and got the T shirt more than most. From ‘Video Killed The Radio Star,’ to Tatu’s ‘All TheThings She Said,’ guests Steve Hogarth from Marillion, the long absent Bruce Woolley and vocals from backing singer Izzy Chase adorned a mix of heavily funked bass, high energy keyboards, granite solid drums and keening guitars. Why I had to even admit a begrudging respect for Yes’s O.T.T A.O.R survivor ‘Owner Of a Lonely Heart.’ Great to see Lol Creme getting his share of the spotlight both in terms of repertoire and onstage banter. Yes that meant samples of 10 cc and Godley/Creme. Welcome any time.
” I’ll be doing some guitar pieces, lots of country rock I suppose but there will be things people might not expect from me,” relayed Albert Lee when I quizzed him about what he’d planned for his contribution. Given his legendary status amongst guitarists and rock fans Lee seemed like a natural fit for the festival and thus it proved. With a signature sound full of twang and twist Lee tore into the music with more gusto than a man half his age. His backing band were equally full on, the results pleasingly diverse and those surprises came when he laid aside his guitar to sit at the keyboard, singing choice selections from ” a great writer by the name of Jimmy Webb,” by association Glen Campbell too. His voice still in fine fettle Lee shows no sign of letting age be any hinderance.
Instead of a pleasant singer songwriter set PlumHall ditched the acoustics and plugged in which did their songs no end of favours. Great melodies, perfect harmonies, sing a long choruses, and intelligent lyrics their hallmark. “Blimey they’re like Buckingham Nicks,” said a punter within earshot after some particularly tasty lead from Nick Hall. Whilst the comaprison may have been a little wild – the Cropredy sun was quite hot at this point – PlumHall produced attractive rock of a high quality. No doubt new fans were gained in numbers.
The Scots mounted a considerable raiding party for 2025, both bands showing why Scotland is light years ahead in terms of progressing roots in meaningful and relateable terms. It would have been great to see producers/mixers Valtos at Cropredy – maybe next year. Heavy hint. The Peatbog Faeries were as you might have predicted nothing short of spectacular. Remember these guys began back in 1991, yes that long ago, basically they’ve never stopped evolving since. They provided aural fireworks. Within no time of their arrival on stage they’re into a five star techno reel with twin fiddles and pipes carrying the melody at increasing speed, keyboards swirl around like a mountain mist and stoic rhythm thunders and rumbles underneath. Everything was impressive and irresistible. Cropredy doesn’t need much bidding to rise and groove on. The band possess a truly wonderful talent to reduce a field of thousands seated in quite orderly fashion to fist pumping jigging revelry. Quite glorious.
Would you buy a CD from these men? The Peatbogs blow up a storm.
Skippinish – somewhat younger- wear their roots on their sleeve: the island of Tiree and the sea which surrounds it. They too were well up for getting everyone rocking. Lighter in terms of sound than the Faeries, deft trad tunes delivered at speed on fiddle, accordion and pipes racing ever faster. The vocals of Norrie MacIver add character and a Gaelic individualism to proceedings lending them a commercial element. Their music comes over as widescreen with a vibrancy and confidence. They were the ideal way to wake up a crowd and set fire to a late Friday afternoon.
Rock of varying degrees and shades has long been present as part of Cropredy and just because the event was changing didn’t alter the fact. Steping into the spotlight first was Rosalie Cunningham ex Ipso Facto and psych rockers Purson but who’s been plying a solo career since 2017. Her music shows she’s well aware of classic rock and how to structure a decent melody.Just the same she makes certain that there’s enough darker and psych elements to her music, which along with her flexible vocals and broody guitar work more than proves her worth.
Martin Barre – yes you’ll know that name – has previous form from past visits and a long association with Dave Pegg from decades in Jethro Tull. It was that connection which proved to be the back bone of his Saturday set ‘A Brief History’ being the subtitle. He crammed a lot of history into an hour. Tull wasn’t all you got – an excellent cover of ‘Eleanor Rigby,’ from that Merseyside band came forth as well as a snatch of Roland Kirk on flute no less. But those in Tull shirts – and there were many- must have been grinning from ear to ear with his guitar work on ‘Locomotive Breath’ and ‘Cross Eyed Mary.’ Yet he’s also master of the acoustic ‘ Wondering Aloud,’ showed less can mean more. Pegg himself wandered on with his madolin for a tilt at some ‘Heavy Horses,’ material. All this provided a reminder, if any were needed at the diversity of his efforts and it has to be said that with this crew Martin Barre, steady hand on the tiller, gives the official Tull a run for their money any day.
And our mystery guest is well known tambourinie shaker…
The ability to conjure an ‘On My God!’ moment has often surfaced in this field and 2025 provided one of the more pleasing and fitting. It came during Deborah Bonham’s driving blues rock, but before we get to it, blues rock isn’t all she’s about as she showed when she diverted into near country territory and even folk at times ‘Take Me Down.’ More from Dave Pegg on mandolin adding delicate traceries. But that wasn’t the moment nor was it any of Peter Bullick’s soaring guitar work … hair in a top knot and in a pair of questionable salmon pink shorts, who arrives but Robert Plant. Oft to be found in the field, not so much on stage. Cue a couple of old Led Zeppelin numbers – Bonham D is Bonham J’s sister, see family link – ‘Ramble On’ the best, Robert in fine voice, clearly enjoying himself for ten minutes or so. Obviously he made quite an impression. Some of the audience were left open mouthed. But yes it was real.
Bob out does Billy in dazzling shirt stakes, minutes before Cropredy performance.
Box Fox and Billy Mitchell were perfect for the pre Fairport slot. Boths easoned performers with Lindisfarne, Jack the Lad, The Home Service and The Hush on their CVs, here they ran through many back pages and the Geordie songbook, humourous, a nod and a wink, wrapped in let’s all have have fun warmth. If you can’t enjoy the good time intentions of ‘Born At The Right Time,’ with its stomp along rhythm or the humanity behind numbers like ‘Sally Wheatly’ or ‘Bonny Gateshead Lass,’ well, all I can say is you’re missing something in the critical facilities department. Fox and Mitchell were as relaxed as if they were playing in the Whippet & Ferret folk club, cracking jokes, winding each other up and the crowd as well. North east music for everyone. Canny stuff hinny. Another thought- Lindisfarne or variation there on next year?
The Urban Folk Quartet pushed frontiers and musical boundaries in care free fashion. Okay there aren’t 45 of them but Joe Broughton and his merry band of fusionists gave forth truckloads of improvisation which they all seemed to understand telepathically. A healthy disregard for genres led to gleeful experimentation with traditional and contemporary tunes using all manner of ryhthmic and melodic trickery. Joe mostly on guitar whilst his wife Paloma Trigas took her fiddle playing off grid in time with Dan Walsh’s banjo picking. No doubt never playing anything the same way twice you can see why their live albums are as vital as any of their studio efforts. In all honesty it’s pure delight guessing what they’ll pull out of the bag next.
So to our hosts…. Fairport Convention had been highly visible around the place, Dave Pegg even sat amongst the crowd all day on Friday, obviously enjoying Cropredy from a different view. I guess the days of four hour extravaganzas with ex members rolling on and off are now passed, but Fairport still know how to put on a show. There was of course forty years of Gladys and her leap to celebrate, a new version of which sat in the merch tent on the Talking Elephant label, ‘Gladys’ Leap’ was of course also the album which marked the Convention’s full time return and its creators were all on stage tonight. From said album it was a great to hear ‘Instrumental Medley ’85’ revived and polished up it was a fine display of Fairport stretching out instrumentally. Likewise a welcome inclusion was ‘Man In The Water’ a song Rob Beattie penned about a drowning, which might sound morbid bit is actually a prime piece of human observation. Those departed were remembered, Dave Swearbrick with the evergreen ” Now Be Thankful,” and quite a few pieces from the pen of Sandy Denny, ‘Rising For The Moon’ ‘Fotheringay’ and ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes.’ Guests came in the form of Ralph McTell who joined Peggy to preview a couple of songs from their soon to be with us ‘Old Pals Act.’ Danny Bradley who’s been supporting both Fairport and Rrchard Thompson across the year showed his carefully finger style playing on a stylish bluesy creation ‘Fire & Muse.’ All too soon they arrived at ‘Matty Groves,’ still a signature track, its durability remains exceptional. Followed by compulsory swaying and choral singing ‘Meet On The Ledge.’ Midnight already? Cropredy 2025 was a fine vintage.
On The Fringe.
Tucked away in the village throughout the festival was a totally absorbing exhibition which shocased the life of Sandy Denny curated by her daughter Georgia Lucas, a warm, friendly lass who’ll chat about her mother for as long as you like. Whilst there is an ongoing Go Fund Me page to provide an archive for all Sandy’s possessions, what was here, photos, letters, clothing, notebooks, diaries, passport, guitars all spoke of and pictured the person behind the music. The real Sandy Denny who went back home at the end of a performance, as Maddy Prior so well named the individual – the woman in the wings. As such it was engaging, captivating and compulsive. Well worth searching out if it returns.
Closing Thoughts.
Refreshing Cropredy has given new life to the event and a clear way forward. The positvity around the site, amongst the acts, punters and traders was palpable. It was a pride that ran deep and was fostered at every opportunity. There were less people sure but the extra space meant you could breathe and wander without tripping over others. That freedom increased sociability, people smiled, were more likely to chat. Always friendly the festival became friendlier still. Social media sites were rife with tales of people having been alone but were soon ‘adopted’ by those around and were now having a whale of a time. The edginess that came with large numbers had gone and Cropredy became a place to appreciate and take your time enjoying. There was a marked relaxation. The music remains quality. Remember star names don’t always a festival make and by ensuring most of the bill had played before and got great reactions Cropredy 2025 got the balance spot on. It’s a formlula that fits. So will it be there next year. Is The Pope Catholic? What do you think?
