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Another Wednesday night and another good excuse to travel up to our favourite pub for the evening! And it's Norman's turn to drive. When we arrived the sound check was in progress, but by the time we'd decided which of the wonderful beers we were each going to have and what to have to eat, it was finished. We were greeted by the members of the band in turn, who then disappeared for a while and we gave our full attention to our meals. By nine o'clock the bar was quite full and The Happy Cats took the stage. Now I should say at this point that I didn't know I was doing a review, so I haven't any notes for the first set, it's all down to memory (oh dear!). They began as usual with Pizzerico, then Driftin' Through, and followed that with All Fall Down. It was the first time Marty had sung that in the Maggie Bank since leaving Lindisfarne and he said it felt a bit weird, as if "he" was watching. Well if he was, I'm sure he was wishing all the Cats well in their new venture, happy to know that his songs are in safe hands The set progressed with You Got Me On The Run, Heart of Saturday, Je Suis Desolé, You're Still The One, Help and Walk Away Renée. Then they performed Water of Tyne, which I hadn't heard them do since their first gig at the Grand in Tynemouth. It's a really lovely song and I, for one, hope it stays in the set. At this point (I think) Marty announced that there was now going to be a special guest, whereupon he introduced son Andrew to the audience. Andrew's first song, one of his own, was called Time Stood Still. Listening to it, I realised that one verse was referring to the previous day's horrifying events in the United States and when I spoke to Andrew later, he said part of the song had been written for some time, but he hadn't been able to finish it. Tragically, the destruction in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania provided the inspiration for him to complete his song, which he had done just the night before. Andrew's second number was, he said at the end, for Uncle Alan, namely Money Game. Great to hear it again! His final song was another of his own compositions, called Apriory (Tynemouth Song 2). This was the first time we'd seen Andrew perform since the City Hall Concert where he was the support for Lindisfarne, some years ago. He was singing his own material then too. Although I understand he's studying drama at the moment, I hope he doesn't give up the music, because he seems to have inherited Dad's musical talents and we're all looking forward to seeing him again in the not too distant future. Thanks Andrew. After a short break the Cats were back for the second half, which kicked off with an instrumental version of the Keel Row, followed by Dirty Old Town and Lily of The West. Les then gave us a brief solo performance, which in turn led into Speed of Loneliness. The highlight of the second set was Brian's Spanish speech. At least I think it was Spanish! Haven't a clue what it meant, but it sounded really impressive!! At the end of the set, the lads were joined by Andrew and Kenny Ward (remember "Kenny bangs a drum.." - the words from Alan Hull's Walk a Crooked Mile?) for the first encore, Willin', where Andrew played some slide guitar and Marty and Kenny had a little dance (was that to stop him singing?!). Too soon the evening ended with The Last Time. Another great night's entertainment and another appreciative audience. See you next time.
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