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Hors d’oeuvre: Andrea Ferguson Main Course: Rocking Bob, Richard Bircumshaw, Mike Steele Steve Cooper, John Ecob, Sam Harrison Rob Sullivan, Steve Jackson, Bob “Easy” Reid Dessert: The Shantymen It’s another jam-packed night and there’s not a seat to spare as Andrea gets the night off to a bright and breezy start with Michelle Shocked’s rock ‘n’ roller, “My Little Sister”. She continues on the up with Gillian Welch’s bloody murderous killing song, “Caleb Meyer” before rounding off with “Angie Baby”. Next up is Rocking Bob with some karaoke. While free expression within acceptable parameters should be actively encouraged, it is the strong belief of this column that karaoke flies in the face of the spirit of an open mic and after all, there are numerous venues in Lincoln that cater for that sort of thing. Richard follows Rocking Bob once again. Perhaps Andrea feels that he is the ideal antidote. Richard begins with a sweet rendition of “Blood In My Eyes” before trying out a new tune, Leo Kottke’s “Three-Quarters North”. Unfortunately the room has become rather noisy at this point so it’s difficult to make an assessment but no doubt we will have other opportunities to really take stock of it. Richard then concludes with his usual capable cover of John Martyn’s popular evergreen, “Sweet Little Mystery”. A bit of blues next as Mike makes a bright start with Freddy King’s “You Know That I Love You”. Mike then continues with his familiar renditions of “She Never Spoke Spanish To Me” and “Werewolves Of London”. As previously stated, new faces are always welcome down here and especially when they’re as talented as Steve Cooper. He looks relaxed and confident as he makes a very solid debut with an interesting original, “Lonely Road”. Steve then takes us to the break with a fine cover of Lennon and McCartney’s “And I Love Her”. Our landlady, Tracy, has prepared the sandwiches tonight and anyone who has the pleasure of savouring her cuisine before will know what a treat they’re in for. Andrea opens the second half in typical Taurean fashion by sweetly laying to rest the ghost of her last performance with a word perfect rendition of “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”. John’s wearing a big smile tonight as the news of Lincoln City’s superb 3-1 win has just come in. Musically he just keeps going from strength to strength. Possibly Peter Jackson has inspired him but more likely it’s the presence of his dear partner Liz. Whatever the case, John’s in tip-top form as he treats us to a new song, “Wilderness Two” and another self-penned composition, “Hollywood Sunset”. Sam begins with Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” before showing Rocking Bob how it should be done with a live version of “Jailhouse Rock”. Now for something completely different, for next up is a long-standing friend of Andrea, the self-styled stand up comedian, Rob Sullivan. Rob recounts a tale (not his own, incidentally) about the experiences of a man who visits a sex shop during a weekend in Amsterdam. It takes a lot of courage to stand up alone and carry out such a monologue in the full view of the public eye and no mean talent to pull it off – which Rob does – and he should be applauded for that, but it’s definitely à la Roy “Chubby” Brown ‘after the watershed’ material and whether you find it good old bawdy Chaucerian humour or downright obscene and offensive will depend very much upon your point of view. Most unusually, Steve borrows Andrea’s guitar for “Love Hurts” and then switches to his Gene Parsons autographed guitar for a new song, the Gram Parsons styled “When The Shit Hits The Fan”. Easy offers us another fine performance of Willie Dixon’s “Built For Comfort” and “Summertime” before the Shantymen finish off the evening which, despite having been on the whole another good night’s entertainment, has left some lessons to be learnt. |
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