We arrived by taxi at the Wooden Doll, North Shields. A bit of confusion occurred as we passed the Wooden DOLLY and The Wooden DELI? Eagle eyes Kev spotted The Wooden Doll, high up on a hill. When we arrived inside the pub Marty was setting up the electrics for the evening's entertainment. Marty was looking great, seems to have lost quite a bit of weight and looked very contented. We had not seen Marty since March '99 with Lindisfarne, so the change in him was quite a surprise. The Wooden Doll is quite a small pub with a lively atmosphere - reminded me in some ways of 'CHEERS' as everyone knew each other's name. We were lucky to get a seat as it soon filled up in there. Marty smiled when I flashed my Happy Cats t-shirt at him. I had won this in a Happy Cats Caption competition and it was the first time for me to wear it. Marty was amused to see that the cat in the middle (see opening page to Happy Cat's site for picture) had a larger than usual grin on it's face, that's all I'm prepared to say on the matter, hee hee! I presented Marty with a bottle of whiskey, much to his delight, a truly Happy Cat indeed. He tells me that it will travel with himself, Brian and Les to Scotland when they go to record their debut album, looking forward to that. Marty's son Andrew played a few songs to kick off the evening’s entertainment, one of which was a classic from The Eagles TAKE IT EASY. This young man has indeed inherited his father’s musical gift. Marty helped out on one of the songs with a bit of harmonica, marvellous! Then it was the turn of The Happy Cats. What a night folks, what a night! The pub was full when we go there, all seats spoken for, but as soon as The Happy Cats played, the whole of North Shields decided to turn up and dance the night away. The place was packed and the atmosphere was electric, dancing on tables, the lot. Marty said it reminded him of their New Years Eve gig. A friend of mine remarked on how much the band had improved since the last time he saw them. Well, after 100 gigs, I’m sure the lads are purrfect! They sounded pretty damned good to me and Kev. Nice to hear Marty play his vast collection of instruments once more. My friend Charles Orr encouraged me to grab my Shaun the sheep bag during 'I CANT HELP FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU’ (EWE) and this caused the place to erupt with laughter. Sorry if I spoiled an intimate moment for any of you. Anyway, here is the set list for the fantastic evening's entertainment (Cheers Marty!) PIZZERICO - THE MAVERICKS DRIFTIN' THROUGH - MARTY CRAGGS ALL FALL DOWN - JAMES ALAN HULL DON'T THINK TWICE - BOB DYLAN LOOKING FOR THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT - TOM WAITES YOU'VE GOT ME ON THE RUN - SAW DOCTORS STILL THE ONE - SHANIA TWAIN JE SUIS DESOLE - MARK KNOPFLER HELP - THE BEATLES WALK AWAY RENEE - THE FOUR TOPS FAIRY TALE OF NEW YORK - THE POGUES THE KEEL ROW - TRADITIONAL DIRTY OLD TOWN - THE POGUES LILLY OF THE WEST - MARK KNOPFLER SPEED OF LONELINESS – NANCY GRIFFITHS SIXTIES STILL - SAW DOCTORS CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU - ELVIS MEET ME ON THE CORNER - LINDISFARNE!!!! DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY - THE MAVERICKS BROWN EYED GIRL - VAN MORRISON BRING ME DOWN - THE MAVERICKS THE LAST TIME - THE ROLLING STONES Now, what can I do to coax The Happy Cats down to South Wales for a few gigs? I'm gonna keep nagging Marty, I'm gonna keep nagging! Thanks lads for a superb night on the tiles!