Paperjam

Cropredy Festival - Revenge of the Hippy

Gigs // Nick // 21st August 2005

There is no way of getting around it, last weekend I went to what is nominally termed as a folk festival. I could argue in lots of ways against that particular nomenclature, but given that this is something that has been going for 20+ years and is run by Fairport Convention, I don't think I'll get away with it..
So let's get over a few traditional cliches, myths and see which are true and which are a bunch of Syrian Scrumpy (i.e. not only non-existent but non-sensical).

On the myth-busting side;

1) I did not see one Morris dancer, let alone a troop
2) there were a large number of non-vegetarian food vans, serving odd stuff up to and including the endangered buffalo for burgers
3) Arran sweaters were not included in the ticket price
4) there was no compulsary requirement to own an instrument with an odd number of strings to play / mouths required to blow into
5) bands were aloud to plug into extraneous bits of electronics to make a big noise

On the myth-confirming side;

1) There were a great number of stalls selling bad jewellery that give you rashes (same as any festival)
2) There were lots of acts playing acoustic guitars / ukuleles / mandolins
3) nothing was stolen from any tents. At all. Honest.
4) There was an ever present smell of 'sweet cigarettes'.
5) whatever man, coz I was like, just enjoying the vibe, you know?

Overall, I cannot believe that this is the first year I have been to Cropredy. A friend has been going every year for a decade, and every time has invited me. Most years I have had an excuse of holiday / work / can't be arsed but still I should have made it sometime. When you have the added advantage of a site that is only 25 minutes away so you can go home and de-stink yourself, get a breakfast and top up the beer supply of a morning why wouldn't you? Festival lite for the older generation.
Anyway, despite the rain pissing down on Saturday afternoon, the hangover through much of saturday alieviated by the hash cakes thanks to Ross (thanks for that, no thanks to the elephantine snore during the night) this was great fun. I didn't get to the thursday night when Jah Wobble was playing amongst others, but I got to the Friday / Saturday which had the big names (in folk?).

I could go on now and do a blow by blow description of the bands, the experience and so on but I think that a few snippets may be better, as all gig-going people know you can't re-create a moment:

Highlights on Friday;

1) The Muffin Men: dedicated to playing Frank Zappa and the odd Beafheart number, could have looked very silly as most of his ouevre is horribly complex yet mixed with his own twisted brand of humour. As someone who saw Zappa live I can say that these guys truly cut the mustard. Was most disapointed to find that the remainder of their tour this year is in Germany. Oh yes, did I mention Jimmy Carl Black of the original Mothers of Invention jammed with them?
2) Ukulele Orchestra: What can I say? Only that if you haven't heard them doing a lounge-lizard swing version of Wuthering Heights you haven't lived. Born to be Wild and Miss Dynamite weren't to bad either. I'm up in Scotland in a week and they are playing at the Fringe so I've booked tickets - how much more of a recommendation can you get from a miserly git?
3) Richard Thompson : Often touted as the best kept secret in blah blah blah, a man who played with Fairport, Crosby Stills & Nash, wrote songs for numerous luminaries and who Loud Reed was 'stunned' when he first heard, he really is a legend. Living in LA for the last 20 odd years he still writes songs of delicacy about life in the UK, and his own home region specifically. He can turn up and do a solo set or with a full band. In this case it was a halfway house, with a double-bass player and some guest singers. Either way we were entranced.
4) The Dylan Project: Famous people do Dylan better than Dylan. And I know the guitarist so I should take the piss, but it's not possible.

Highlights on Saturday;

1) Going Home: The ability to nip home and have a shower / shit / breakfast due to only being 20 minutes drive away.
2) Water proof trousers: My North Face (tm) ones did the job admirably in storm conditions
3) Tex-Mex burritos: Or some such. May be called something else as they were folded differently, but did the job
4) The Hamsters: Called themselves hard blues but were far better. Any three piece that can do a full version of Voodoo Chile and not look pretentious deserves respect. Particularly as the guitarist went on to do the Star Spangled Bannor a-la-hendrix and didn't come off stage with a knife in his back.
5) Endgame - Fairport: In their usual semi-shambolic way get lots of guests on stage, appear to not know what they're doing but when the music starts you can tell they've been doing it for decades.

Yes it was a folk fesitval in terms of attitude. No-one cared what you looked like, what you liked (as long as it wasn't the current 'soul' in TOTP), and everyone looked out for each other. But this isn't a couple of hundred people in a muddy field, this is a few ten thousands of people.

You put the walls up (as at Glastonbury) and the people who come will come with that mentality. The laid-back attitude is a consequence of a laid-back attitude from the top. Something to think about when the government is trying to pursuade us that at every corner there is a suicide bomber and at every mosque there is a radical imam preaching hatred.

There will always be nutters. I just hope they'll be Morris dancers or Mandolin players. And yes, I do do drugs, and they're Great.

Add heading here

Cropredy Festival

Information on the last few festivals

hippy.com

The web site for the hippy in all of us