By David Wootten

After 36 years, Fairport Convention are a band with nothing to prove.

Their fanbase is loyal, yet not totally uncritical, and the band have the chance each August to really show what they can do at their own music festival – just up the road from the Mill in Banbury, at Cropredy.

The build-up to Cropredy begins for many of the faithful at the Mill where Fairport play two warm-ups for their Saturday night headline extravaganza at Cropredy.

It was obvious throughout that this was a band playing for their friends.

Not many acts recognise fans simply by their voices and as vocalist and guitarist Simon Nicol pointed out, he knows Fairport are close to their fans but ‘sometimes it gets dangerous’.

Such banter was a feature of Monday’s show when the Fairport boys took the chance to leaf through some of the massive back catalogue of the band as well as remind everyone that they are still writing and playing great new songs and arrangements.

The line-up of Dave Pegg (bass and mandolin), Simon Nicol, Chris Leslie (vocals, mandolin, fiddle, bouzoki and flute), Ric Sanders (fiddle) and Gerry Conway (percussion) all took the chance to shine throughout the evening as the band ranged through traditional folk songs and tunes, including the Adderbury Morris anthem The Happy Man, to their own Cropredy homage The Crowd Song.

Underneath the good humour of any Fairport gig, and particularly these warm up shows, there remains a band who have survived on the basis of their musical talent.

Peggy’s bass playing moves the instrument from being a mere rhythm as he leads the band through sets of jigs and reels, and Gerry Conway works his way round not just the drum kit but an array of congas, bongoes and rain sticks as he adds a depth to the drumming seldom heard elsewhere.

The dual fiddles of Sanders and Leslie were outstanding on the instrumental The Flow, written by Adderbury’s own Chris Leslie. And Simon Nicol proved on both acoustic and electric guitars that he is as good a guitarist as you will see.

The set list threw up a few surprises. Old songs like Journeyman’s Grace getting a much needed airing, an Indian flute solo by Chris Leslie, and the wonderfully complex Western Wind making its way into the live set for instance.

But, of course, no Fairport gig is complete without the closing duo of Matty Groves, this time complete with M.A.S.H. theme tune introduction and the Fairport anthem Meet on the Ledge, particularly evocative in the 25th anniversary of Sandy Denny's death.

On Saturday night there will be nearly 20,000 people singing along to this in celebration of what for many is not just a band, more a way of life.