17th February 2005

This was a cracking good night - lots of performers and audience, welcoming and friendly atmosphere, appreciation for all the artists, organisers and helpers, and still free.

In the spotlight tonight was our very own John Campbell - two grand sets with genuine cheers for an encore. Absolutely great... perhaps our best night so far.

1 Rob & Lynn, got us off to a great start with a hornpipe 'Napoleon Crossing The Cheviots' followed by their Gay Gordon tuneset.	1 After the music started even more musicians arrived. So Val announced that there'd only be time for 1 each from the floor spots. Shame, but it's the only way to get everyone on.
2 In his usual good humoured way Jack, our resident Country & Western singer, had us all smiling as he played 'Running Gun	Unfortunately we didn't get a photo of Kevin. We'll do better next time. 3 Kevin Robinson writes some fine songs, but for his first performance at the club he chose the classic 'House Of The Rising Sun'. Come back soon, Kevin, the camera's waiting!
4 Playing a nylon strung guitar, Dave Donohoe gave a gentle rendition of 'Rags Of Our Time', a thought provoking song written by Kevin Robinson.	5 Harmony was the order of the day as Old English (Al & Pete) sang a delightful traditional song 'In Search Of My True Love'. They'll be our spotlight performers on 17 March - don't miss it.

6 Spotlight In his opening spotlight set John Campbell mixed Beatles with Al Stewart, Bob Dylan, Tom Rush, and even found time to embarrass his wife with 'Yellow Bird'. John Kaye joined him on harmonica to round off the first half with 'Have You Seen That Gal Of Mine'.

7 A one-night only reunion for The Northerners launched the second half with a rousing version of 'Home Boys Home'.

8 First time at Ashington, Zak confessed to being nervous. He needn't have worried as his self penned 'Take What You Want' went down very well with the attentive audience.

9 Renowned for his gentle and emotive songwriting, Dave Anderson was on form with his thoughtful 'Love's Sweet Song'.

10 Peter Hawkin is another songwriter new to the club. The performance of his own 'More Than Salt' left us looking forward to a return visit.	11 After his customary nervous introduction, classical guitarist Alex gave a lovely rendition of 'Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring'. Great stuff!
12 Neil is another fine songwriter who can only make it occasionally to Ashington.  He put his all into 'This Ain't Just Another Song' - and wow, it wasn't - don't leave it so long next time.	13 'This is a song by a man in a Ben Yeowart suit' was how Ben introduced his recent composition 'My Best Friend'. Smashing song, well done, more please...
14 We're happy that George Rosenthal is becoming a regular visitor. His version of Billy Mitchell's 'It Ain't Over Till The Fat Man Sings' was super.	15 In gentler mode than usual, Ray Derrick sang his newest song, 'Spring', a celebration of Winter giving way to brighter days - judging by the snow we had recently, Spring may be some time coming.

16 Ann Lunam-Cowan always amuses with her poetry. Tonight her 'Dog That Laid The Golden Egg' left some of us feeling queasy. She followed that with the hilarious story of 'Moses' by the irrepressible Les Barker.

17 Spotlight To finish the night we welcomed back John Campbell with John Kaye. Five more songs from the likes of Gordon Lightfoot, Howlin' Wolf, Slim Harpo, Neil Young and Muddy Waters led to cries for more from the audience. Fittingly John and John encored with 'Put On Your Red Dress Baby', the first song that they played together 6 or 7 years ago.... wow!!!

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