I was a fan of the folk group, The Johnstons, back in the 60s when Paul Brady was a member, along with Adrienne and Lucy Johnston and Mick Moloney. I really liked Paul Brady's singing voice and it's good that he is still performing, as is Mick Maloney. The Johnstons were a terrific band and I have a few of their albums.
Hello Val, how was the show?
I saw yesterday a small video of 5 minutes with short scenes of various parts of the concert in Manchester, on youtube, so great! looking forward to my show!
Hi jbaent. We have now arrived home after a very enjoyable couple of days in Newcastle.
We both enjoyed the show very much, but Aly Bain was missing from the band. Unfortunately he became ill on Tuesday and has had to rest at home. We weren't told what is wrong with him. It is always good to see Aly, but the rest of the band managed fine, especially John McC who is the only other fiddle player.
There were lots of highlights, especially Dirk Powell who sang songs relating to his grandfather, including Waterbound, which was especially good. After the interval there was a very unusual song with Sarah Jarosz accompanied by Jerry Douglas, which I enjoyed very much - a kind of non-singing song, which you will know what I mean when you hear it.
John Doyle joined John and Mike with Donald Shaw on piano and sang a great version of False Lady in his own inimitable way and his sense of humour had everyone laughing. I have heard him sing this with John and Mike a few times before and it always goes down well, especially his description of the song!
We both enjoyed Paul Brady's performance and he sang a few quite modern songs which he had written and another traditional song which I hadn't heard before. Even though he is 73 he is still pretty energetic - I think I first heard him with the Johnstones when he was still in his teens.
There was a lot of banter to and fro between Phil Cunningham and Jerry Douglas, which I hope you will appreciate.
Another artist who impressed me was Leyla McCalla, who is of Haitian descent and she played some songs accompanied with her cello. She usually plays with a banjo, but, unfortunately, it was damaged beyond repair en route from the USA. I liked her voice very much.
As usual there were loads of jigs and reels which John & Mike & John Doyle do brilliantly, also with the whole band.
This morning we decided to visit Whitley Bay, Cullercoats and Tynemouth. It was bitterly cold with a gale-force wind, but the sky was a brilliant blue. We took some pictures of Spanish City and had a coffee inside at a place called "Valerie's Tearoom" which I thought was apt! We also took a look at the Tunnel of Love lyrics in the paving! We then moved down the coast a mile or two to Cullercoats and it was extremely pretty with a beautiful sandy beach. I hope it is warmer in summer!
Anyway, jbaent I hope you enjoy the show as much as we did!
