£175 and several bags of produce are on their way to Nuneaton Food Bank this morning, after ribald scenes upstairs at The Crown in Town last night. Another full house forgot the worries of the strange world outside and pending elections. They had a damn good laugh at a startling variety of acts and material instead.
First up was The Oldest Swinger in Town, Joe Roberts, making his NFC debut. Joe doesn't give a damn quite frankly, and even though we gave him The Graveyard Slot, he swung his pants mysteriously and hysterically through songs we later thought might have included "My Old Man's A Dustman." Truly unbelievable, in every sense of the word.
Dave Webb brought some decorum to the proceedings and included the Labourer's building site anthem about pullies ropes hods and wheelbarrows going alternatively up and down with the hoist operator at the hands of gravity. A still slightly poorly John Neal followed, giving us three chuckleworthy ditties including a clever one about nothing coming from what you thought might be its original country of origin.
Finger In The Jar became Two Fingers as Phil was also poorly (though gamely still in attendance) and then Dave Parr commenced songs about Dogging, Molecatching and general misrule. The Good Taste bar was being firmly set at zero, but fortunately Thrupp'ny Bits emerged from the back of the room and entertained us with three witty, erudite numbers including a topical song about hunting for Christmas Puddings. (More humane to inoculate them, quite honestly?).
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| Folk music-it's all doom and gloom isn't it! |
Terry and Jan Wisdom concluded a riotous first half, Jan as promised, wearing a very fetching purple afro wig. I had warned people beforehand that this lovely and charming couple also had a sideline in slightly naughty songs, and Terry's autobiographical musical tour of his early days in Folk Music demonstrated most ably that I had been telling the truth.
Malc Gurnham and Gill Gilsenan kicked off the second half. I'd like to say that they raised the tone a little, but that would be misleading. Malc was obviously in a mood for Inappropriate Touch, and after roping me up for a Richard Digance song about our emerging Bromance, Max and Marilyn Wright were then involved in a needless and rather worrying ditty which would have had the licence revoked immediately had the City Watch been in the room. ( Brenda, we have photographic evidence, if you'd like to see him put away for a Seven stretch).
John Kearney then had the audience hissing atmospherically for his classic version of "The Boxer" in which a few words had been amended, and by popular request, finished his spot with "Jolly Boys Holiday." By this time, the upstairs roof was bouncing up and down, the audience were in great voice and the Pot Collectors were being kept busy.
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| John Kearney getting in the mood |
For a Finale, songsheets and musical instruments were distributed, and The Mac Awe On Tour Big Band took the stage. Almost off its foundations, as it happened. Malc Gurnham, Dave Parr, Sue Sanders, John Kearney and Geoff Veasey whistled us through a hasty pastiche of Novelty songs. With four ex-Parrots (like ex-Pats but with beaks) up there, it was never going to be seemly or well-organised.
Nonetheless, with all onstage clearly enjoying themselves, " The Odeon, " and "On Bedduth Bank" got the audience going, and "The Whistler " ended up like a badly run School Assembly ." The Di Di Song " probably vied for Jolly Boys with the night's earworm, and "The Bold Pirate" ( a request!) socked it to Risk Assessors and H. & S. Inspectors everywhere. We had to finish with " What a Folking Liberty" and the stage was literally shaking as the House Band thundered through it. A sumptuous end to a corking evening. Folk music can be FUN. It's official.
Thanks to Tom for once again doing a brilliant job with the sound, to everyone who gave up their time to play for free, and to a tolerant, bemused but very eager audience. Thanks also to Julian and Sam for their continuing support. Some very needy people will benefit from what we all experienced together last night. No-one goes to Folk Clubs any more nowadays do they? (See picture below)
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| Claire cannot believe what she is seeing |
