25th Anniversary Concert

AMG Review of 25th Anniversary Concert

Steven McDonald
All Music Guide

Recorded live to DAT at a performance that had fiddler Chris Leslie filling in for Ric Sanders, who had injured himself in an accident involving a plate glass window (Sanders was able to provide keyboards, however), 25th Anniversary Concert was a festive outing with numerous guests (including Fairport founders Richard Thompson and Ashley Hutchings). The two-disc set ranges from the sublime (a ferocious, Boiled in Lead-style take of "Matty Groves") to the slightly surreal ("John Barleycorn" with the lyrics screwed up). The sound is unfortunately too bright and metallic, and the mix, taken from the soundboard, is sometimes atrocious, but trimming the highs helps with the former, while the latter, in the spirit of live shows, can simply be ignored. Not the best example of Fairport, but highly entertaining. [The CD was reissued in 2007.]