Live In Maidstone 1970 ［DVD+CD］

This CD is literally drawn from the soundtrack of Tony Palmer's recently rediscovered film of Fairport Convention and Matthews Southern Comfort playing an open-air gig at the Maidstone Fiesta in 1970 -- the narrator's voice occasionally pops into the beginning and end of the tracks, and while the sound quality is good, the firm compression and lack of stereo spread certainly suggest the tone of a shot-on-16mm documentary from the early '70s. Also, at just over half an hour divided between two bands, this doesn't offer much of a picture of either act, through folk-rock legends Fairport Convention are certainly in spirited form on these recordings. This performance features the same edition of the band (Richard Thompson, Dave Swarbrick, Simon Nichol, Dave Pegg, and Dave Mattacks) that recorded 1970's classic Full House, and the speedy, swaggering jigs and reels are every bit as impressive as those found on the excellent live album House Full (recorded the same year, but not released until 1988). Matthews Southern Comfort's British variation on American country-rock doesn't get as much time on this disc, although Iain Matthews' rich, supple vocals are wonderful, as is the band (especially guitarists Mark Griffiths and Carl Barnwell and Gordon Huntley on pedal steel); perhaps their music is less immediately exciting, but if given a few spins to sink in, this reaffirms the consensus that Matthews Southern Comfort deserved more much attention than they received in their day. Short and sweet, Live in Maidstone 1970 documents two of the finest bands of the U.K. folk-rock scene near the top of their game in front of a clearly appreciative audience, and what's here is splendid -- hopefully some archivist will someday unearth tapes of the full sets both acts played that afternoon. ~ Mark Deming|