Robert Plant joins hosts on stage at Legend-ary Cropredy

Waking, yet again, to heavy rain that didn't ease until early afternoon, we stayed on the campsite for the morning before heading over to check out Bob Marley and the Wailers tribute act, Legend.



Now having enjoyed Bob Marley since I was little, I was somewhat apprehensive about seeing a tribute act, assuming they would be a dodgy pub covers band. How wrong I was.

Led by Michael Anton Phillips on vocals, the band ploughed through classic Marley after classic Marley, and boy, can he sing! So much energy and Michael's infectious smiling soon warmed the crowd and the arena was dancing the rain away.

Fired up by sweet reggae music, we went for another walk to the Fringe and came across all manner of things. Sambassadors of Groove playing a gig under a railway bridge, punk-folk band, Leatherat, playing a cover of Mindless Drug Hoover's 'Reefer Song' in a pub garden, and a variety of nic-nac stalls throughout the village, and more importantly, good ale, kept us entertained for hours.

The evening stayed damp, but we headed back to the main site to see what Midge Ure was up to. Not someone I'd considered going to see before, but I was pleasantly surprised. An acoustic set, just Ure and his guitar, he started with 'Dear God', the song he played at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday party at Wembley a few years back. After wooing the crowd, Ure finished up with a few old favourites, including 'Vienna' and 'Dancing With Tears In My Eyes', before handing over the stage to the hosts, Fairport Convention.

Fairport played a short (by their standards) set of only three hours this year, although were joined on stage throughout by various other guests, including the mighty Robert Plant who sung 'The Battle of Evermore' alongside Kristina Donahue. Other highlights included 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes?' and of course trusty closer 'Meet On The Ledge'.



So, as a first timer, I was pleasantly surprised by Cropredy. It wasn't as 'Folkie' as I had expected, and there was variety in the acts booked (although not too much far off centre to cause too much concern to the regulars); the site is well organised with plenty of facilities, and is centrally located just off the M40 motorway near Banbury.

Would I go again? Probably, as it's only up the road, but only if they continue to be liberal in the acts they book, and don’t just stick to the same old acts.

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