We had our biggest attendance since moving to the current room at TJOs, and it was a bit of a squeeze, but a fine evening nonetheless.

Rosie's melodeon was first to be squeezed for Seven Stars. She later played a set of Irish jigs and sang You've Got Her In Your Pocket, with Martin standing in on guitar for the still-incapacitated Alan. Martin started with his own song, Betray. Later on he gave us the Manic's Everything Must Go and Tim Minchin's hilarious JLA Song, duly adapted for the venue by including a snippet of Bring Us a Barrel.

Dick seemed to enjoy that tribute. He'd started the evening with Let Union Be and followed with The Miller and His Lass and Man in the Moon.

Next to squeeze was Simon accompanied by Dave, with Steamboats/Rambling Sailor, the Huntsman's Chorus and a couple of Flemish tunes. The usual role reversal had Dave singing Barrack Street, Little Pot Stove and (solo) the lovely Walked 1000 Years Today, which I can't find on the web.

Dave S joined us for the first time in a while, and we were very pleased to welcome his wife Alison! Congratulations to the happy couple. Dave was in good form on Liverpool Judies and Fiddlers' Green.

Interesting incidents seem to await Patrick in all of the far-flung locations he finds himself. One of tonight's songs gives something of a clue: a baby being born on a bus he took in Ecuador. Another, American Killer Heroine, concerns a Vietnamese girl who'd lived in the Cu Chi tunnels. On his recent trip to the West Indies, an attack of diarrhoea caused him to start his walk around some cliffs later than he planned. He therefore avoided being on the cliffs when they were later destroyed by an earthquake caused by a volcanic eruption. He's not written a song about this yet, but could perhaps use the name of a social disease as a rhyme when he does.

After she'd started a fit of coughing around the room, it was suggested that Karen might perform The Coughing Policeman or The Coughing Monologue. Instead, she headed across the Atlantic and sang The Great Divide with Roger and then a well-rehearsed Oh Cumberland, with an excellent arrangement of twin guitars from Steve and Roger. The stateside theme was continued by Steve with West Coast Highway and Dylan's Make Me Lonesome When You Go. Roger made more than the usual number of terrible puns and played an unnamed jig for us on the guitar.  

We had a brief visit from Vicky, who was double-booked for the evening. She accompanied herself on guitar for The Duke and the Tinker. The need for barre chords demonstrated why folk music is not often played in F (unless you want to discourage the melodeon players from joining in).

As usual, John joined us later on and started with When All Men Sing and finished the evening for us with the ever-funny If You Had a Brain.  

Here's hoping for a good turn-out next week, when we'll be at The Prince Albert at Frieth. The address is Fingest Road, Frieth, RG9 6PY.