Just how many acts can you squeeze into one night at a folk club? Bromborough's contribution to the Wirral Folk on the Coast Festival was a specially extended version - kicked off early and finished late, packed to the gills and sold out weeks in advance.
It was down to the resident irregulars -"The Illych People" to get things off the ground, and then regular resident Phil Chisnall competed with the bells from next door's campanologists' practice session, sometimes aided by Chris Wilcox on violin, a mixed set of his own work and covers, finishing with a nicely done version of the popular "Caledonia".
Next up - Sally Williamson - this time with an electric bass and percussionist who added an extra dimension to her sound. Five songs, mostly her own compositions, all delivered in Sally's very polished, clean style - her guitar playing is always very accomplished, and sometimes I find myself wanting Sally to go one stage further and whip up a bit of a lather. At one stage during a quiet song, the drummer John Lancashire gave a great heave of his shoulders, paused as if counting down, and I thought "here we go..." But no, he was just having a stretch and while the song built nicely with both the bass and later bongos, the sound stayed on the ground floor.
It's actually harder to write this kind of thing down about folk who you meet quite often (very often in Phil's case) and I trust that everybody takes it in the spirit it is meant - I'm just saying what I think - and you may get your chance to turn the tables one of these days...
Fourth in line was our local Urban Troubadour - John O'Connell - regular readers will have picked up that I like John a lot, and tonight he played a short but well defined set, Gordon Lightfoot, Cat Stevens and Janis Ian covers, his own "What a day..." and then he sat down and played an instrumental "One Time Swing" which had everybody craning their necks to get a glimpse of his technique as he rocked his way through the tune. "Moondance" concluded a set full of passion and confidence, in which he controlled the 'temperature' of the music to perfection. John has developed a fine crack in his voice too and he used it here to great effect over his rich guitar sound.
The John Dowling Bluegrass Band - John D, Russ Williams (bass) and Ian (accoustic guitar), played a laid back set with the ever modest John Dowling redefining the banjo standards with more than adequate support from his 2 friends. "Gypsy Jazz" highlighted Ian's accoustic guitar, and then, once they had agreed the key, "Red Headed Boy" and "Red Bull Boogie" followed. "Lady Madonna" gave each of them a chance to solo, and the audience was singing along, but there were problems with the sound that marred this set somewhat, and they finished on a bluegrass high with "How Mountain Girls Can Love" before John O'Connell returned to duel with John Dowling in the now standard "dueling Banjos".
And so to the top of the bill - Cream of the Barley - eagerly anticipated by those who caught them at this event last year - and by those who heard what they had missed, the place was crackling when Shay brought them on - now most of the bands I've heard who play this style of Irish music work up to a frenzy and play out with "Irish Rover" - The Cream of the Barley STARTED with this song and took us up from frenzy to whatever's next! There was uproar for "The Leaving of Liverpool" and "Maggie May", there was "Ride On", Shay got invited up to sing along on "Whisky in the Jar" to great applause. When they started to play "The Boxer" in the wrong key, there was a quip - "He wasn't that poor- start again" and off they went, playing the most unsubtle version of this song your likely to hear - it felt like a Sherman tank being used to crush a grape - later the banjo broke a string and the rest of them just carried on while he went off to change it, until he came back - whereupon they hurled abuse at him!
A slight rest while they calmed down for a moment playing "Carrickfergus", and then it was back to uproar for "Nancy Riley", with the sweat pouring off the players, the floor bouncing and some rarely spotted smiles from some of the regulars!! And through all this, Keith the fiddle player stood and smiled his contented smile and played away as if this was all just normal....
They closed with "Holy Ground" and an instrumental I didn't write down the name of, but by now there was dancing too and Peter, the landlord of the Bridge Inn came and finished things off with "Danny Boy"
Wow - I'm worn out re-living this as I type it out - it was another cracker of a night - well done John Coleman and everyone for sorting it out - and it was only Wednesday - half way through the Festival...... That's six acts by the way - not bad at all for under a fiver!
Bromborough Folk Club meet every Wednesday evening at the Bridge Inn, Port Sunlight, Wirral - all are welcome.
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