UKC

Saw them last night - 1st time I saw Carthy was over 40 years ago! And he's still going strong, pretty much as good as ever really, still a unique and fantastic guitar style and the voice pretty much spot on. And here's a thing - he seems one hell of a lot more cheerful now than he used to be, he used to be a grumpy old sod!

Poor Swarb hasn't aged so well, it was great to see the obvious affection and respect between the two of them after all these years, and great to see the man who pretty much kicked off the folk rock revolution single handedly. Great to hear his anecdotes and jokes as well, but his fiddle playing ... ah well, we're none of us what we once were.

Still, both living legends. See them while you can.

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Remember seeing Dave Swarbrick with Fairport Convention sometime in the early '70s - last tour they did with Sandy Denny. Played a pretty entertaining fiddle then.

In reply to OMR:

I think he's doing quite well for a bloke who's been dead for 15 years.

In reply to Tom Valentine:

Funnily enough I saw him 'die in Coventry' in the early 80s, with the brilliant Beryl Marriot (who was sort of his guru.) They were fantastic, but the audience ... well!

In reply to Tom Valentine:

And on his second heart and lungs

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

And of course Norma nearly died year before last

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Saw Carthy perform with his daughter Eliza at Glastonbury one year, was brilliant and so glad I caught him.

I grew up listening to this stuff through the early 80s, after my mum and dad had been regular visitors to North London's folk clubs throughout the seventies; seeing the likes of Fairport, Steeleye Span, Ewan MacColl etc down the local village halls. Seems incredible now to me that such quality live music was so accessible at one time.

Even though I'm too young to have experienced it, the folk revival stuff is seared into my mind & I quite often find myself knowing the words to songs I've apparently not heard since I was a toddler. I'll always love this music.