Tom & Cain compered on this rainy summer evening – Cain kicked off with a death-rant against Sponge Bob Square Pants (yes, really!) then Graham & Andy soothed us with melodic harmonies. Sarah & Rob made a welcome return with something classy on acoustic fiddle & flute. Bluesmeister JoNathan mused about why women love men (anybody know?), and Jay sang an ode to the missing piece of his jigsaw puzzle to a respectful, hushed audience (said Tom). Mand sang Lights On Broadway by request, then a debut from Bacup (or the next village) The Shiny Trails gave us slow & soulful renditions of The Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness & Will The Circle Be Unbroken. Three great & very different voices blended into wonderful harmonies; I hope we’ll be hearing more from them soon. What is it about Bacup?
Maybe Paul shed some light on that with what is probably the world’s only song about an existentialist maggot (in a magic mushroom), then Mic followed in the same vein with a song complete with farty sound-effects. Tom said Liz was getting feisty & loud (humble apologies) so it was time for All I Want, with Andy on guitar. Derek and his keyboard completed the first half with Great Balls of Fire.

Tom started the second half with a requested long love-song set in a chip-shop (you coulda heard a pin drop) Then Ste & Andy did their song Blue Moon with Craig playing solo on a plastic toy sax he got from Paul for his birthday… great sound! Mick sang harmony from the floor, then commented it shoulda been a rubber sax so Craig could join an elastic band… Moving swiftly on, the young & talented Patrick performed an old classic, then Rory played a peaceful melodic piece on the piano. Tom commented Mick was still uppity after the Bacup incident (?) & needed to blow off steam, so he gave us a very short distillation of the essence of an English folk song in 4 lines. Mand returned with a smoking song, James sang Umbrella Head, Sarah sang Sneaking Thru The Garden, & Dawn & Dave did something fabulously folky. The fabulous combo The Shiny Trails ended the evening with a song about the perils of the Old Purple Tin.

Another great evening, Cain needn’t have worried about us being thin on the ground at the start!

Liz