It was a real pleasure to be back at the Ely Folk Club. We have visited the club a number of times over the years and have always enjoyed our time there.
Fearing rush hour motorway traffic, we made our way across to Ely reasonably early and, our worries having not materialised, we were rewarded with the chance to have a brief walk around the magnificent Cathedral precinct. Ely is a town of great beauty.
We returned to the car, picked up our gear and made our way into The Old Dispensary on St Mary’s Street, the very pleasant home of Ely Folk Club. As we entered and said our hellos to club organisers, we were treated to a few seconds of the night's main act finishing their warm up and it sounded great. We were in Ely to play a support slot for the wonderfully talented Miranda Sykes and Rex Preston who, for this and a number of gigs on this tour, were joined by the extremely skilled guitarist Grant Gordy, from New York.
It was obvious by the number of chairs being put out that the Club was expecting a big night and so it proved to be.
After a very kind introduction from MC for the evening Andy Wall, we took to the floor for our half hour set. All of the material we played was from our new Navajos & Pirates album and took the audience on a metaphorical tour of western Europe. We started with some French and Breton songs. We followed these with some Galician dance tunes and ended with two or our own songs – one about England, the other about Germany. All were well received and, as we made way for the main act to come on, it was a great honour to have a member of the audience ask if we could be given the space to do another. The club organisers were fine with that as were members of the main act. So, we obliged with a brief encore, playing 'Time Wears Awa', a song from Scotland.
Along with audience members, Rob and I were then treated to two excellent sessions from Miranda, Rex and Grant. Three immensely talented musicians, very much in a groove together, they treated us to a rich array of contemporary and traditional music from the UK and North America. We had Grant's guitar weaving intricately and expertly with Rex's mandolin and bouzouki playing, with Miranda's sometimes sonorous sometimes thumping double bass adding a whole extra dimension to the soundscape. All of this was topped off with fine vocals and harmonies.
After the final encore died away, we gathered our gear and turned for home, saying our goodbyes. We had had a great night. We'd played well, been warmly received and we’d seen an excellent headliner act. Our fears for the roads might not have come to pass on the way to Ely but Vexatia, the Goddess of motorway slip road closures, still had a trick up her sleeve. Thankfully our mood was good as we listened to a North American podcast of Galician music featuring, amongst others, some of our music. We were happy to go home via the back roads.
Many thanks to Andy Wall, Ruth Bramble and all our friends at Ely Folk Club for the warm welcome and we sincerely hope to be back in Ely playing music again soon.
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