What a fantastic night..

The club was full, there was no empty seats, and people standing at the back. The evening started with Tom and Linda, and Linda sang The Northern Plains, a lot of new faces at the club looked a bit surprised  when all the Rhyl members started howling along, a bit like a scene from  Robert Rodriguez Dawn till Dusk! Wendy and Richard did a short turn next, and Richard calmed everyone down with a Jim Reeves song.

Chris Birchall made the mistake of coming over to my table, and asking me if I could send him a couple of pictures of Merry Hell for his blog. He left carrying my camera,  muttering something about having a night off!  (Were thick skinned at Rhyl)  Now I thought we would get to see one of the best bands in the country, and have it photographed by one of the best photographers.

A sing along with Glyn and two songs from Penni and it was time to welcome  Merry Hell for their first spot.  As usual they were superb, The Kettles were in fine fettle,  Andrew and Virginia’s voices, so different, yet compliment each other perfectly, as they always do, John unique and infectious  guitar playing,  and Bob the fine riffs on his mandolins. The Non-kettles,  Nick,  giving us a great bass  line, and Neils superb  fiddle playing adds the last bit of magic to the mix.  I caught odd sight of Chris with my camera hanging from the roof, he was obviously enjoying himself, which made me happy that I had lent it to him!   The Time went to fast.  They went of for a well earned rest, while Neil had someone draw the raffle, and Barbra, Pam and Jackie  distributed surprise  plate loads of sandwiches!  thanks to the girls who made the sandwiches, they made a fantastic evening even better.

Could the evening get any better?  Yes, Whilst the band were enjoying their rest the Rhyl regulars did a song each, ending with Penni’s Falling Leaves. We then welcomed Merry Hell again , for their last spot and to close the evening. Those guys know how to write good songs, the night ended with the band giving us an encore. And so ended one of, if not the best guest night ever at Rhyl folk and Acoustic.

Chris returned my camera, and as he looked like he’d  had such a good time taking the pictures, I suggested  he might like to work his magic on the raw pictures, I was pleased he looked so happy about it.

So a big thank you to Chris Birchall for all the work and effort in taking,  and processing the pictures.  Anyone who has never read Chris’s blog  Google The Hairy Photographer to see what you are missing, ( I think he was going to review his visit to Rhyl, and the Merry Hell concert!)

See You All Next Week,

Ron.