Folkrock legends Fairport Convention will start their forty-fifth anniversary celebration in style with a major UK tour during January and February 2012.
Formed in 1967′s ‘summer of love’, Fairport Convention has been delighting audiences for 45 years making them one of the most enduring bands to emerge from the fertile 60s music scene. Hailed as the originators of British folk-rock music, the band is still as vibrant and inventive as ever.
Fairport Convention’s 2012 tour will visit thirty nine venues throughout England and Wales starting with The Playhouse Thteatre, Oxford on 21 January and and finishing at The Union Chapel, London on 10 March.
The 2012 anniversary tour will feature songs from the band’s recent studio album, the critically-acclaimed Festival Bell. However, with such a long history the band has a vast repertoire to draw on so this year the tour concerts will also include a selection of favourite songs and tunes specially chosen in a poll of the band’s fans.
Each concert on the 2012 tour will open with a supporting set by Kieran Goss, one of Ireland’s best-loved singer-songwriters. Raised in County Down, Kieran has supported Elvis Costello, Christy Moore and Joe Jackson among others as well as filling concert halls in his own right. His songs ‘Brand New Star’ and ‘Just Around The Corner’ were recorded by Mary Black and he also has half-a-dozen albums and a top-ten chart single to his credit. For the tour appearances, Kieran will be accompanying himself on guitar.
“Forty-five years is a milestone,” says Simon Nicol who co-founded the band in 1967, “but we don’t intend to rest on our laurels or hark back to the past – Fairport is a band that always looks to the future. All five of us are looking forward to getting back on the road – in fact, we’re raring to go – because our first love is live performance.”
As well as Simon Nicol on guitar and lead vocals, Fairport Convention features Dave Pegg on bass and backing vocals, Chris Leslie on fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki and lead vocals, Ric Sanders on violin and Gerry Conway on drums and percussion.
Fairport Convention has won a coveted BBC Lifetime Achievement Award and Radio 2 listeners voted Fairport’s groundbreaking album Liege & Lief ‘The Most Influential Folkrock Album of All Time’.
January
21, Oxford The Playhouse Theatre, 01865 305305
25, Tewkesbury, The Roses Theatre, 01684 295074
26, Salisbury, The City Hall, 01722 434434
27, Basingstoke, The Anvil, 01256 844244
28, Leamington Spa, The Royal Spa Centre, 01926 334418
29, Exeter, The Corn Exchange, 01392 665938
31, Yeovil, Octagon Theatre, 01935 422884
February
1, Truro, Hall For Cornwall, 01872 262466
2, Croydon, Fairfield Halls, 0208 688 9291
3, Lincoln, The Drill Hall, 01522 873894
4, Manchester, The Lowry, 0843 208 6000 (online & web) 0843 208 6010 (all printed media)
7, Southend, The Palace Theatre, 01702 351135
8, High Wycombe, Wycombe Swan Theatre, 01494 512000
9, Bury St Edmunds, The Apex Theatre, 01284 758000
10, Tunbridge Wells, Assembly Hall Theatre, 01892 530613/532072
11, Margate, Theatre Royal, 0845 130 1786
14, St Albans, The Alban Arena, 01727 844488
16, Weston Super Mare, The Playhouse Theatre, 01934 645544
17, Farnham, The Maltings, 01252 745444
18, Milton Keynes, The Stables, 01908 280800
19, Hayes, Beck Theatre, 0208 561 8371
21, Shrewsbury, Theatre Severn, 01743 281281
22, Burnley, The Mechanics, 01282 664400
23, Crosby, The Civic Centre, 0151 928 1919
24, Stafford, Gatehouse Theatre, 01785 254 653
25, Leeds, City Varieties Music Hall, 0113 243 0808
26, Gateshead, The Sage Gateshead (Hall 2), 0191 443 4661
27, Kinross, The Green Hotel, 01577 863 467
28, Edinburgh, The Queens Hall, 0131 668 2019
29, Chesterfield, The Winding Wheel, 01246 345334
March
1 , Kendal, Brewery Arts Centre, 01539 725133
2, Swindon, Wyvern Theatre, 01793 524481
3, Chichester, The Venue, 01243 781312, www.wegottickets.com
4, Cromer, The Pavilion Theatre, 01263 512495
5, Dorking, Dorking Halls, 01306 881717
6, Colchester, Colchester Arts Centre, 01206 500900
8, Pontadawe, The Arts Centre, 01792 863722
9, Birmingham, Town Hall, Birmingham, 0121 780 3333
10, London, Union Chapel, 0207 226 1686
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