At the age of 55 and a gross weight of, well... gross, I was a bit nervous about going to my first standing only gig in years. I needn’t have worried, as I lasted the course and there were plenty there older and larger than me! A tribute to the wide range of interest Bellowhead generate.

The band played for the best part of an hour and 45 mins, and it flew by. We got the whole of Matachin - which has grown slowly on me since I bought it, but came alive at the show, especially Cholera Camp and Andy’s running trumpet interlude. And plenty of old favourites, although I missed not hearing Across the Line and Prickle-eye Bush - the latter was a rousing, non-broadcast, encore to the Kensington Folk Club show in July, my only previous sight of this amazing band. A great show, wonderful music stunningly played, with a nice touch of theatricals as well - I particularly liked Brendan’s crowd surfing and Paul’s Norfolk joke (having spent three years at Uni in Norwich in my youth, I know what he means!).

A great evening’s entertainment, and I’d recommend the band highly to anyone who stumbles on this and hasn’t yet seen them to go and do so. It’s enough to make an oldie like me want to stagger along to one of their outdoor shows next summer with my deckchair - or maybe Pete will lend me his?