They could be no better way to conclude our ‘seven gigs in eight days’ tour than by having an evening of music in the company of good pals who you've known for a long time. Even better when you don't have to travel more than one motorway junction to see them!
So, with the luxury of a proper ‘tea-time’ and a 6:45pm departure from St. Albans, the three of us set off for the Pump House in Watford, home to the wonderful Watford Folk Club.
The venue was already set out by the time we got there. So, we unpacked and set ourselves up quickly. This left plenty of time to chat with club organiser, Pete Nutkins. Pete is a good friend of ours and a great supporter of Na-Mara’s music, and we were introduced to Mel and Cynthia who are now working with Pete to manage club nights.
It was another beautifully sunny evening and, with St. Albans Folk Festival getting underway that same evening, it wasn't clear how busy the venue would be. Pleasing then to report that any pre-concert fears about attendance levels proved unfounded. A mix of club regulars, club newcomers and friends of Na-Mara boosted numbers and, by the time Pete started the evening off with his rendition of ‘The Calico Printers Clerk’, the room was nicely filled.
As evidenced throughout the evening, Watford Folk Club is a great singing club. It is also very friendly and filled with talent. Dave Artus, who’d supported us only three days earlier at Dartford Folk Club, performed a Reg Meuross song for us all. He was followed by club regular, Boris, who sang ‘The Ploughman Lad’, before both Ray Owen and Liz Lawley sang songs of their own composition.
Looking out from the performance area, it was obvious from our very first chorus of the evening that everyone was up for a good old singsong and our first set simply flew by.
Such is the array of club talent at Watford Folk Club that, before our second set, a further five performers were able to contribute to the evening. We had Ady Shaw singing his song, ‘Bar Room Philosopher’, Mel played a tune on piano. Sue and Michael sang Billy Bragg's ‘Northern Industrial Town’, and Carrie sang ‘Katy Cruel’ before a final number from Pete Nutkins, a Sarah Makem song.
Then, making it a hat trick for us over the course of the week, Dave won the raffle ahead of our second set. (If we win many more bottles of wine, we might be able to open an off-licence.)
Energy levels remained high in the room until the very end of the concert which we finished off with an encore of Maid of Culmore.
CD sales were pleasingly brisk after the show. Indeed, after a week of good CD sales, our carrying stock was so depleted that we actually ran out and had to make special arrangements to help get a desired CD to a disappointed customer.
Many thanks to Pete Nutkins and the Watford folk club for the invitation to join them again, and for their kind words and thunderous choruses.