Singalingaling

This is Peter Chrisp's photo of our show at The Lexington.
It was cold up there, but The Antipoet certainly warmed the audience up, playing a tight and sharp set that got everyone laughing and broke the ice (which was forming around my fingernails). The sound was superb and the double bass was crystal clear, so musically it worked on a level that I've not heard before.
After that, Martin and Jim and Jimmy (Morrison and Cole on fiddle and banjo respectively) played a lovely string band set which took the mood in a more reflective direction; again, the sound mix was wonderful (hats off to the sound guy all night) and by then the venue was filling up. We went on at ten and charged through the set at breakneck speed sometimes- although we settled into the groove by about the third or fourth song. We played almost everything, bar a couple of instrumentals and I must say that I enjoyed every minute of it. These songs are in my bones- we toured so much in the 1980s that they are completely automatic, including the chord shapes which are in different configurations to what I play now. All of us are better musicians now too and it all come much more easily (also possibly because I no longer drink!). The hour went by in a flash and we finished with Freight Train with all of us on stage; I've done this song with the Antipoet and with Martin and Jim before so everyone knew it, and lots of people were dancing. We just managed to squeeze an encore into the curfew time, and we managed to sell a few CDs and a lot of badges! The CD will be officially out in January, which is when it will be available worldwide etc (just got a note from someone in Canada).
Thanks so much for coming everyone! A lot of old friends came along, some from far away, and I was delighted to see so many students and ex-students, and fellow musicians. It was touching. Thank you for supporting the night, very much, from the bottom of my heart x