Waiting for the night to kick off around 8.20pm, I got what I'd promised I would next time I found myself at The Junction: an Old Rosie Rhubarb cider. One pint of that gorgeous stuff was just what I needed (and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves unusual ciders). Part way through leaning on the bar drinking that, Luke takes to the small stage. The vibrancy of his guitar was what struck me immediately, closely followed by the rapidity and clarity of his vocals which could never seem to decide on a constant pitch or tempo. I heard a mixture of a lighter George Ezra and a lighter Matt Tuck in there (and most likely a lot of other voices I was unable to identify). This man had what I would like to coin a 'chameleonic' voice, mutable and always changing itself - a soft voice coming from a rough heart.
By this point, the bar floor was packed and I knew my long-gone cider would soon come back to haunt me, meaning I'd have to weave my way through the tight crowd, but that was later. Right then, Truckstop Honeymoon made their way onstage. A charismatic couple (Katie and Mike West) playing classic rockabilly and bluegrass to the tune of an upright bass, banjo and guitar. Their songs were honest - the looser morals and simple joys of life put to music - and they kept up an entertaining commentary between songs.
'There is not enough liquor in the classroom' to quote Mike. And as many would agree, rightly so.
For their final few songs, a 'costume change' was in order, which turned out to be nothing more than Miss Katie changing her upright bass for the banjo, but they both pretended they now wore new clothes, Mike sporting a 'bee-hive' and Katie a 'sequined dress'.
As a parting notice, we were urged to spend our £10 on their CDs, either for ourselves or as a gift, or to be prepared for them knocking at our doors at 5am trying to sell the CDs. I, understandably, obliged, (following the inevitable toilet break) purchasing 'The Madness of Happiness' as a Christmas present for my dad (and to prevent these lovely people from having to get up before the milkman haha).
Now I was at the very back of the bar, unable to see much of anything, when more people continued to fill the room and Beans on Toast made his headline appearance. I'm not sure what I was expecting from someone who is described only as a 'drunk folk singer' but it wasn't this, and I'm not even 100% sure he fits that description. More of an acoustic and crude form of Enter Shikari which appealed to the older generations as much as the young because he spoke about the issues of modern culture (politics in short)...along with a lot of anecdotes and mentions of drugs/getting high, drink, etc. He did four songs with Truckstop Honeymoon too which went down pretty well with me, but his own material just didn't cut it. So I pottered back home around 10.50pm.
I hope for anyone who wanted to come and couldn't, this review sheds light on what it was you missed. To quote Beans on Toast, though, 'don't take my advice'. But thank you again to Truckstop Honeymoon for potentially converting me to rockabilly-blues.
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