Shrewsbury gig that was a real knockout

And all very rock and roll or, to be precise, very folk rock, because the band on stage that night, albeit rather briefly, were Fairport Convention, who were on their farewell tour.

It was Wednesday, May 23, 1979, and the 500 or so Shropshire fans had paid £2.50, or £3 on the door, to watch their heroes.

They were only 10 minutes into their performance when the concert abruptly dissolved into chaos, and was subsequently abandoned.

One of the audience that night, Wendy Woollaston, recalled: "We all sat there wondering what was going on and were then told we could have a refund or tickets for Mike Harding the following week."

Another, Pete Dickin, speaking at the time, said: "Everyone had been fooling about. It wasn't completely accidental in the sense that he walked into it. But I am quite sure Pegg didn't mean to hit him as hard as he did."

The violinist victim of Dave Pegg's bass, which was broken in two by the impact, was Dave Swarbrick, universally known as Swarb. As he lay unconscious Pegg vanished, not to return. Another member of the group told the audience they would try to carry on later.

As Swarbrick revived, there was a massive cheer when he climbed to his seat and, still dazed and with Pegg missing, announced that they would have to call off the concert.

Swarbrick was at first thought to have broken his jaw and was driven to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, where an x-ray revealed there was no fracture. He was treated for bruising to his face and allowed to leave.

Music Hall manager Glyn Baldwin said: "The band are great guys and the best of friends. Things for some reason went terribly wrong. Whether it was pressure of life on the road, or what, I don't know."

It turns out that the band had been drinking in a Shrewsbury pub before the concert, and were joined in their revelry by Ronnie Lane, formerly of The Faces, who lived near Bishop's Castle.

By the time they went on stage, Swarbrick was having trouble standing up, and kept leaning on Pegg. Then he hit Pegg in the eye with his bow. The third time that happened Pegg lost his cool and smacked him over the head with his bass, breaking off the neck of the instrument, and knocking Swarbrick out cold. Thinking he'd killed him, Pegg ran off and caught a taxi home, all the way to Oxfordshire.

The disappointed audience were offered refunds, and a notice appeared in the Shropshire Star a few nights later: "David Pegg and Members of Fairport Convention wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused to the audience during the concert on May 23, 1979, at The Music Hall. They are at present negotiating a return visit to the Music Hall to present the concert they were unable to complete."

They were as good as their word, and when the gig was announced for July 20, there was a tongue-in-cheek billing: "Seconds Away! Round Two."

The reception from the audience was rapturous, but our reviewer was not impressed. "Although the audience gave the band some of the most enthusiastic applause I've ever seen in Shrewsbury, I couldn't find anything to justify it," our reviewer wrote.

"The real problem seemed to be the lack of enthusiasm and commitment coming from the stage. This could have resulted from unfortunate memories of its previous visit, but it could also be one of the reasons why the group is to disband shortly.

"Perhaps this was why the audience was so determined in its call for encores. More probably, it resulted from the nostalgia for the group's earlier successes." Fans can still see the band today, as they still tour, including an appearance at the Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury last March.

But not with Dave Swarbrick. He was not part of the new line-up and famously in 1999 his obituary appeared in the Daily Telegraph while he was lying ill, but alive, with emphysema, in a Coventry hospital.

"It wasn't the first time I'd died in Coventry," he joked.

Sadly on June 3 this year, Dave Swarbrick – who almost died on stage in Shrewsbury and who reportedly died in Coventry years ago – really did die. He was 75.