Musical Variety Night

On Thursday I went to Acton Bell's Musical Variety Night at the Perseverance. I like it there and I like Acton Bell's nights. Alec Dunnachie was M.C. and told us all a long shaggy dog story with great authority, producing a pair of burnt sausages from his pocket at the end that he informed us were the fingers of a piano player who had upset his music-hall colleague by flirting with his lady-friend, prompting him to strangle the lady-friend with a piano wire and sit on the piano lid while the piano player was playing, thus chopping off his fingers.
Alex's stories are believable up to a point, the point differing according to who is listening!
Portia Winers played first, creating song-soundscapes on-the-go, short and catchy and experimental all at once- she's a very interesting performer to watch.
Trees and the Slipway played again, genial as always, and this time reminding me of Nirvana, probably because that's who I listened to last! I like the way their music bowls along; their Casio keyboard player produced a sea of crumpled paper from his bag looking for instructions for their last song, which was a new one. I liked that.
Acton Bell was serene as always, reviving those family favourite hits from the sixties. She's going to be playing at my night in February, but I'm not telling you about that just yet! (except that it's on the 24th so keep that night free!)
The last act I saw was Claire (above) whose songs I love and who plays a mini-guitar. I had to leave before the end as I was so tired. Claire is brilliant. I will put her Myspace up here when I've fed the cat.