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FaBclub review 25th January 2009 written by Liz Montgomery Bill opens the compering for the afternoon with possibly the worst Chinese burns night joke ever - which makes us all wince….and laugh! And we progress into the Scottish theme with a medley of some lovely traditional tunes on concertina from Bernard. Trevor B wows us with "Breathe" - supported by the FaBclub choir - such a great song. "Easy Street" is a great tune too - love the middle eight key change - and as Trev the Hat says, spot on for these times of credit crunch. Fresh from his triumphs last week, some poetry from Ken - a serious one on WW1 theme to start which Ken has written himself - which prompts some very inappropriate response from our wicked audience. Ken sings Ken Dodd next with "Please release me" and requests for encores from the assembled masses. With absolutely no preparation to be compere this week, Bill continues to wow us with a stream of jokes and stories between the various acts. How does he remember them all? - excellent stuff! More music maestro please - this time from Len - with one of my favourite Neil Young songs with some of his best lyrics IMHO - "Only love can break your heart" . And another classic to follow - with excellent guitarwork -"For no-one". Liz has brought along a book of poems by Modern Scottish Women Poets - and reads us "Windowbox" by Angela McSeveny and "The Living Fire" (originally written in the Gaelic) by Mary MacDonald Some M&S from TDL next (allegedly - well we can't have the FaBclub site blocked can we) - involving a rubber chicken - "Miss Whiplash" - followed by Trevor having a dream involving a singaround on a roof…"Nobody's round". When he had the dream he thought the song was by Johnny Cash but can't find any trace of it, so probably it's an original TDL song with lots of chorus and some inspiration from one of the Guthries. Bill rolls up the first half with a Scottish song - the original this time - "Bonny banks of Fordie" - rather than the more localised version he is renowned for performing recently (Bonny banks of… Tilbury) . More singing along by FaBclubbers of course. As he may have to leave soon Ken gives us a surreal Englishman, Welshman, Irishman and Scotsman story… We open the second half with JoJo - a joke about company mergers she has poached from Norman…and now for a song with LOTS of noises…and FaBulous participation "She'll be coming round the mountain.." Maureen provides us with gaelic - if not Scottish - humour with a mischievous story about an Irishman, recently deceased… and then one about an Irish parish priest. And then some more lovely tunes from Bernard on the concertina.. "St Augustine" is another great love song from Trevor the Hat - with a super chorus for us all sing along to. "Streets of London" is his next number - unusual for Trev as he normally just does his own songs - a lovely version of this classic. And back to Trevs own compositions with "A Sign like Batman" - a tremendous song - an absolutely classic. Always interesting words and tunes with a twist that make you want to sing along. A new one from Bill now - watch Myspace for the next episode … apparently he has a little dongle… a song all about friends you make on social networking sites (honest Bill - we'll explain) - "Cakehole Presley is my Friend" More classic Neil Young from Len - "I believe in you" - on top form today. And more Beatles - "Hide your love away" and "Norwegian Wood" Liz ends up the second half with "Sausages" - by Simon Bartram, "Ageing", by Janet Caird and "What a Poem's Not" by John Hegley The final spell of the afternoon and after the fab FaBclub raffle, we are all delighted that TDL are getting back on form again. Some Scottish (ish) tunes - the first is from Walter Scott's Bothy Ballads - but probably predates this considerably. Great TDL heavy folk arrangement guys… Sue performs a great number inspired by a recent naked Scottish rambler…. "Cold around the Cairngorms". (I was instructed rewrite this bit of the review, as the first draft made it sound like Sue was reciting this in her nothings and she threatened to never write a review again if I kept the original wording ;-) ). And a lovely version of "Freight Train" from both of TDL to round off complete with train whistle accompaniment from JoJo. More lovely lyrics - written in 1884 by Sir Harold Boulton - "The Skye Boat Song" - and performed as a Cockney poem by JoJo. And Bernard follows up with the tune… Len produces a storming performance of "To love somebody"… And to round off the afternoon, the Man in the Hat is back. "Fire and Rain" ; "The Sun Shines over Romford" (which makes us all feel quite exotic…or neurotic, depending on whose words you believe) - and a request from Michelle - "What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?" Gosh haven't heard that for ages, and it prompts a lively discussion about Andy Fairweather Low Brilliant afternoon all - see you next week - at the FaBclub 4th Birthday party!!! |