What a night!

I arrived at the Kirkate Centre surprised to see the hall laid out in 'concert' style - not at all what I expected -still, the bar was open and seats all had a great view of the stage...but what of the music?

South Quay set the standard for the evening - Keri's fabulous voice reverberating around the rafters and new guitarist Jamie (I can't believe he's only 17!!!) playing with the confidence of someone far older than his years. A blinding set starting with the instrumental 'Scuttlebuttin' set the pace - Jamie cementing his place already in the band. Keri joined the band and immediately got the crowd on her side - she's a natural performer. The set, woefully short included the amazing 'Summertime', 'I Don't Need No Doctor' and ended to tumultuous applause with a fabulous rendition of the Allman's 'Whipping Post'. Follow that boys!

...and follow it they did.

But what of Sidewinder? - Who they? Well, Singer/Guitarist Mike has been round the blocks a few times, as they say - he's been playing on the Cumbrian Music circuit since Noah was a lad! Mark Singleton (Drums/Percussion and - so I'm told - Harmonica) is known from his hard work with Stealer and The Answer, and Kev Farish (Bass/Vox) played with North East based classic rock combo 'diamondback' for some years.

Enough of the history lesson! - They stepped out into the lights and from the first number it was obvious they're not messing. Opener 'How Many More Lies' showed confidence from 3 guys obviously up there for the sheer hell of it. A blistering set consisting of blues/rock standards 'Calling Card', 'Born Under a Bad Sign' 'The Thrill is Gone' was augmented by some brilliant interpretations of Mark Selby's 'Blind Since Birth' and Boz Scaggs 'King of Old El Paso' made definitely their own in the way Keri and SQ made 'Summertime' their own. Slow blues weren't ignored, a delightful 'Need Your Love So Bad' with a middle section so quiet the audience were shussing anyone talking exploding quite frighteningly to a massive finish, and an exquisite slow rendition of Johnny Cash's 'Folsom Prison Blues' which the man in black will no doubt be approving of from wherever he rests now.

The inevitable encore saw Keri joining Sidewinder for a rollicking version of Tommy Tucker's 'High Heel Sneakers' - what a finish!

All in all a fantastic nights music. The poster posed the question 'Who says Cumbria hasn't got talent?' On this night of fantastic music - who indeed?

Great Stuff.
RJ