| Reviews 2022 | |||
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Woodman Folk Club - Reviews |
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| Anthony John Clarke & Julia Porter |
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| Woody* | 18 Nov 2022 |
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Hi everyone. Woody here again with a review of another fabulous night at
the Woodman Folk Club; and as the chimes of Left Bank Two by the
Noveltones faded into the distance the evening was opened by our MC, Mr
Bryn Phillips, by asking us to sing a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday To
You, not to a single person as is usual, but to John, Jim, and Mike. This
we duly did and in the interval were rewarded with a chocolate from each
of three tins, or more if you managed get round all those with the tins
quickly, and before they realised that they had seen you at least once
before. One of the birthday boys, and I use the phrase advisedly, provided support to our guest artists, which at his age is quite a feat. Introduced as John Hoare; The Lintels (Carol Hoare and Debby Jones) on backing vocals and keyboard with Derry Jones on bass. We were treated to a 5 song set, comprising 2 of John’s songs – Tin Man and First Date, as well as a rendition of the Ralph McTell song The Unknown Soldier, with narration by Carol; Six Thousand Miles by Two Coats Colder – about fish or whales depending who was talking and finishing with the Dougie MacLean classic This Love Will Carry. Well received by the audience, it set us up well for the rest of the evening. It is worth mentioning at this point that all or part of the band joined AJC and Julia on stage later. John of course was the subject of much ribbing from AJC throughout. I have been watching and listening to AJC and all the various people he has had to accompany him since about 2005. This means I certainly missed his first visit to the club in 2002, but I have tried to make up for it since. Tonight, his 16th visit to the club and his first since 2019, he was accompanied by his wife and soul mate, Julia Porter. Julia has been part of the AJC “team” from the beginning, driving him between gigs. What is not so well known is that she has been the other half of the song writing team as well. It is only right therefore after all this time that she is formally acknowledged as one half of the duo. During all those years sitting in the audience, she has been the butt of many of his wittiest remarks. How wonderful it is to see her get an opportunity to “get her own back.” A visit by the pair is always an event, and despite the hiatus caused by Covid, it did not take long for them to get into gear, just as if nothing had changed. Two sets of beautifully crafted songs, interspersed with witty stories and comments, reinforced as usual, by entreaties for the audience to join in choruses; not that they need any – firstly the women; then the men; with French accents, German accents; louder; softer and “Like a folk club.” As if… Having done as we were asked, often as not we were told of the depths to which our self-esteem had plummeted in doing so. And we accepted it. See I told you nothing had changed. When the guest is someone like AJC everyone in the audience has their own list of favourite songs which they want him to play, but since his list of compositions is so long you can guarantee there will not be time. In the first set and in no particular order from the back catalogue we heard The Boot Fair and Years Ago Not Now as well as three new songs, Inside You And Me, Westminster Bridge and We Pulled Through. In the second set we heard You Mean The World To Me with Julia playing the whole of The Entertainer at the end. My Good Old Days, which is ostensibly a list of nostalgic items such as Tonka Trucks and Green Shield Stamps, left some of the younger members of the audience completely baffled by the whole thing. Irish Visit ’91 was on AJC’s very first album way back in 1992 and makes a further appearance on the 1997 album A Sideways Glance – haunting. Missing Mary about his mother and the ever-popular Tuesday Night Is Always Karaoke completed the set but was immediately followed by the beautiful Walking On Sunday. There was much applause and cheering. And so, another evening came to an end and the audience wended their way home to return another day. I shall conclude as normal by saying A Wonderful Night Was Had by All. Here’s to The Next One. * Notes taken by Les Jones, who also typed up the review, but the views expressed are those of Woody, the club mascot. |
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