A few years ago I noticed that friends (Hi Helen, Hi Jim) had the cartoonist Tony Husband as a facebook friend. I’ve been a big fan since his ‘Oink!’ comic days so messaged him to see if he wanted an MP3 version of the ‘Oink Song’ – I’d kept the 7” version I had in pristine condition (I used to sing the kids to sleep with it). He did and we too became facebook friends.

Just before Christmas I saw a flyer for this evening’s show with poet Ian McMillan and snapped up some tickets. I’d first come to love Ian when he was on ‘Mark + Lard’s’ evening Radio 1 programme – they introduced me (and I’m sure many other uncultured 20-somethings) to many poets thanks to those shows. Lard (aka Marc Riley) also worked on ‘Oink!’ and recorded the Oink song…..circles within circles…..

As we entered the Heart centre, Ian was there full of beans chatting to everyone as they came in. We were the only ones with kids “You’re the youngest by about a million years! Come to the front so they can see” – So we ended up on the front row for what turned into a fabulous night.

Ian – a self confessed small fat bloke from Barnsley – takes the first half with a motor-mouthed comedy routine that takes in signs he’s pinched from various church halls and schools they’ve played (‘Waste Food’ “What kind of instruction is that for a child!”) interweaved with his poems. My son Matty laughed so hard he almost fell off his chair twice – which Ian loved. He got Sally and Mia in on the act too…..his empathy and kindness shone through…..the kids had a hoot!

In the second half (“There’s no interval because people don’t come back”) we made up a poem, line by line, which Tony illustrated ‘live’. It was loosely based on the fact that we were in an old school building: ‘Gerty Cunliffe’ – a teacher who went mad with late night marking and OFSTED checks, threw herself off a cliff but was saved by landing on a friend. Excellent stuff!

The kids got to keep some of Tony’s original artwork (now on their bedroom walls) and we got his new book ‘From a dark place’ which charts his sons descent into drug addiction, and rehab with the help of professionals (LUF) and photography – Paul was the photographer a friend’s Mike+Jo’s wedding and they are spectacular photos!

Managed to catch up with Tony for a drink post gig and after mentioning that the misses speaks German, he gave me a German copy of his other ‘serious’ book ‘Take Care Son’ (about his dad’s Alzheimer’s) for her – what lovely, lovely men these two are – a highly recommended show!

Bob the Chiropodist

Tonights gig was a suprise birthday present for Dave from Helen and we were lucky enough to join them. A birthday meal out meant we missed most of Henri Herberts set but his last song burst with the kind of rock’n’roll gymnastics you’d expect from the ex-JJR supremo .

This was Richard Hawleys final gig of his 18 month tour, in his home town, to a crowd who clearly loved him. I remember Marc Riley commenting that he thought Hawley had sold his soul to the devil because everyone seemed to like him – and the audience tonight was such a mix of ages, there was no way of catagorising them. His set was heavy with his newer material (which is quite heavy) with the odd oldie thrown in (but alas no ‘Born under a bad sign’ or ‘Remorse Code’). Funny and poignant between songs, it wasn’t the ‘dipped in chocolate’ experience I’d had the first time I saw him, but very entertaining nontheless. He seemed to have an endless array of guitars with a different one for each song, including one intriguing looking 12-string…..his guitar tech should’ve got a mention at the end! He ended as ever with ‘The Ocean’ and there were smiles all ’round.

Bob the Chiropodist

An acoustic night down the Brudenell with 2 acts I ‘ve seen before but not without a band…

Teddy Thompson may be well known for being Richards son, but should be FAMOUS for his voice, guitar playing and songs. He completely swept me away with the most delicate, intricate guitar playing you could hope to hear. He had lots of funny banter between songs and was completely charming. I first heard him live in session on the Andy Kershaw show (?late 90’s) and made sure I saw him at Glastonbury when he was on. In a Leonard Cohen Mojo special some years ago, I remember reading that he stopped putting Leonard Cohen tracks into his set as people would always come up to him afterwards and say ‘what was that amazing song you played?’….and it was always the Cohen track. As a tribute to the recently deceased genius, he did a beautiful song of his about a man and his horse (I think) that I hadn’t heard before: “I was lucky enough to meet Leonard a few times and on one occasion told him ‘My new album is a country one’. He looked at me and said in his slow drawl ‘I went country…….once!’….”

Mark and I got to see Lissie back in 2010 by accident at Glastonbury when the crowd for Stevie Wonder was too big. She really impressed us then, so it was nice to hear some of those songs again, stripped down at a sold out show. Her guitarist for tonight did some lovely guitar solos and she won us over with her Brudenell T-Shirt “I found it whilst un-packing recently” and an enthusiastic performance…..whilst polishing off a bottle of wine…….

Bob the Chiropodist