Review 060108

Our first FaB Club of the new year is a Get a Floor Spot
session, and it's a packed house after the holiday break
- with lots of old and new faces. Jo Migdal is our MC for
today.

It's an exciting start to the New 08 as we already have
our guest sessions booked up right through to
November - and lots of GAFS sessions planned too for
everyone to join in and have fun.

And don't forget next week we have the FaB Club
Charity fund raiser for the local Thurrock branch of the
National Animal Welfare Trust and their work to rescue
animals and to house pets that might otherwise be
abandoned as a result of owners going into care or
hospital ; with a big raffle and one of our FaB club
buffets; a great show is promised. It will be £5 very well
spent…

NORMAN opens up with a virtuoso performance on two
different Banjo Ukeleles - he tells us they have two
completely different tunings - first a George Formby
number of course - Andy the Handyman then Guarding
the Home Guards Home (I think…). It's nice to hear
some "new" numbers, and always interesting to hear
Norman talk about Ukeleles

BERNIE and MAUREEN are introduced cheekily by Jo
as the Little and Large of FaB Club - Maureen promises
to sort 'im aht after. A medley of Walter Kiddleys Waltz
and Three Hand Reel on concertina and guitar is our
recompense, followed by an arrangement of more
traditional tunes - Woodland Flowers and Marmelade
Polka - lovely stuff.

The man of steel - PAUL STEELE - provides a change
of style with his gritty and impassioned delivery of
modern folk numbers - Sweet Little Mystery (John
Martyn) and a great Band song - Rockin' Chair -
superb..

(Clive) Our resident poet next LIZ - provides us with
some late seasonal stuff - Christmas Day at Coalhouse
Fort and Christmas Shopping at Lakeside. Rounds of
applause and lots of joining in from the shoppers in the
audience.

Be afraid very afraid - TONE DEAF LEOPARD - provide
us more with traditional (ish) fare - the Cuckold song -
version B loosely based on Seven Drunken Knights -
Oddzoons..!!!!!! Then a great Eric Bogle song - Can
you sing any Dylan? (the answer is no!)

The variety continues and we have more ukulele fun
with MARGARET "LADY FORMBY" - rounds off our first
half with a song always associate with the New Seekers
- I'll Never Find Another You. And then to prove that the
ukulele is certainly not limited to George Formby - "Hi
Ho Silver Lining" - which really gets the crowd showing
their age and joining in with the chorus

Time for a natter… and to sell more raffle tix

JO opens up the second half with our second John
Martyn number of the day on one of his many beautiful
guitars - May you never - fabulous picking and
arrangement as ever. Then onto a mandolin number -
composed after an encounter with Hands Around - the
ladies morris side- called English Roses - which he tell
us is on his forthcoming new album - a great upbeat
number.

Marie (drums), Penny (guitar) and Tony (whistle) join us
from up the line near Cambridge - they are FFION FAER
- and featured on the Link FM Fab Club show in
November. Now we are delighted to welcome them as
live FaB Club virgins…Yay… quick bit of tuning
necessary by Marie due to "all the hot air" in the room -
surely not !!! - a medley of Jigs from County Clare to
kick off. An arrangement of Step it up Mary follows
-with storming guitar and vocals from Penny and solid
backing from Marie and Tony.

Amazing FaB Club raffle next with lots of prizes and
happy winners… still a few mystery prizes left from
before Christmas - I won a beautiful Waterman fountain
pen in my mystery prize then - I can't think of anything
more inspiring for creating new verses

Rounding off the afternoon:

NORMAN goes swimming with the wimmen - actually no
- its TT Races - the reason he joined the George
Formby Appreciation Society apparently…

BERNARD and MAUREEN provide us with another
atmospheric instrumental duet.

And PAUL STEELE - this time with all ten fingers - and
all picking as fabulously as ever - and as emotional a
delivery as you could ever want of I want you (Bob
Dylan, of course…)

(Clive)LIZ and Oh My - Haven't They Changed…well at
least 3 people in the audience haven't seen this before,
but those three people were so impressed !!!!! I don't
know what it is about this poem but I can listen to it
again and again and still hear something different.

MARGARET performs a song Dennis Homes wrote for
her: I feel lucky; and provides us an update on Maureen
and Keith who will be back in the UK shortly.

And our last half -

JO performs Nature's Wonderland - a lovely track from
his last CD - based on St Agnes in the Scilly Isles.

TDL treat us to an Elvis number, as it is around the
anniversary of his birthday - Trevor claims he
performed this in Dusseldorf the night Elvis died (or
was it Trevor died - I got confused at this point) - a
version of Are you lonesome night (involving Aludrox
and Tums and ExLax - phew what a combo!) he claims
he found on the net….

And a final serenade from FFION FAER. Penny leads a
song inspired by the works of a Fenland poet local to
them, about the Roma - Bow Top. Then some reels with
fine whistle work - London Lasses and Sally Gardens.
To finish off a joiny in thing - lots of other guitars and
shakers emerge around the room - Rattling Bog. Come
back back soon.

We may have to have a FaB club outing to their club I
think!

LizM