A warmup gig two weeks before the event? Something strange's going on. That
fact was emphasized when Matt from Murry the Hump turned up on stage
alone. Somehow he's lost the rest of his band, and the stage looks rather empty
without them. Having said that Matt used the solo opportunity to play songs that
'the rest of the band haven't learnt yet'. These include one which sounds like
'Daydream Believer' by the Monkees and a song about a headless chicken. He also
played older MTH songs, and was joined on stage by Robin and Joe Whispering Bob
for two songs, 'Booze and Cigarettes' and 'Thrown Like A Stone'. Of the two
'Thrown Like a Stone' was particularly lovely in its new arrangement of guitar,
violin and flute.
Four Storeys were onstage with all its members and the big guitar.
Your reviewer has to confess that she was too busy dancing to remember most of
the songs. But there was a waltz interlude, and of the three bands on the night,
they probably had the wildest dancers.
Whispering Bob are still improving, and now the whole band are growing
with confidence, not just Robin. Fulfilling the rock star role, Robin now has a
Country/Rock Star hair style, and they had a slide show behind them of pictures
of the band and that home of rock n' roll... Steventon. They aren't afraid of
dragging in old songs as well as playing new ones. The highlight of the new
songs is 'Standing Still', which is a contrast to the many slower anthemic
songs. The best big though was, for the encore, when they dragged back a song
they played at their first ever gig, 'Pocket Socket Rocket'. A moshpit at a
Whispering Bob gig? Well I told you it was weird.