Bob Fox and Billy Mitchell, Farnham Maltings

Having promised Darren a review for this gig, I've gone and lost my notes that I made at the time. Oh dear, that's me in the doghouse!
Well, maybe Pete Fyffe will write a review for him. He's one of the founders of folking.com and was supporting Billy and Bob with someone else who's name esapes me!
Billy and Bob were both equally good, and being old mates from the pub, they were relaxed and happy on stage together, with lots of teasing each other about age, lack of hair etc. The thing that made me laugh out loud was their part-cover of Arthur Askey's 'Busy, Busy Bee' - I think they should do the whole song, in between their more serious songs about the decline of the coalmining and shipbuilding industries around the Tyne - just to see how the audience reacts!
It wasn't all 'grim up North' though - Billy included 'The Rocking Chair', a song about his storytelling Granddad, and 'Born at the Right Time' about being lucky enough to be born early enough (amongst other things) to afford your own house! I often make a grateful 'phew' as well, reading the property sections of the local papers! Bob sang a version of 'When The Boat Comes In' also including new lyrics on North-Eastern family life. Of course everybody joined in the chorus enthusiastically.
You can't help but like Bob and Billy - Bob's passionate dedication to North-Eastern folk, Billy's boyish good humour and the wonderful storytelling ability of both. I hope they continue to work together and tour round our way again soon!

Martha Tilston and the Woods, Bracknell

This has got to be my Gig of the Year 2006, an absolutely wonderful experience. I’d heard that Martha was to design the stage so that it seemed like she and the band were playing around a camp fire in the forest, and sure enough, it was, er, kind of similar. Dried foliage adorned the stage, monitors were disguised with green cloth, two pillars painted like tree trunks and there was a leafy-framed projection screen showing a forest (which changed to show videos to accompany each song). The ‘fire’ was a little wigwam of sticks with those fake gas-light bulbs inside, it was hilarious when various members of the band pretended to warm their feet against it or dry off their setlists! The band members were dressed formally as if they were part of an orchestra, except with wellies, causing further hilarity. Martha herself was wearing a stunning red dress with cute stripy wellies, she looked beautiful and I couldn’t blame Mr Badger for going starry-eyed (for once!).
The music was excellent, including plenty of new songs as well as (inevitably) Red Riding Hood from Mousetales, A Surfer Courted Me (to the tune of ‘A Blacksmith Courted Me’ and two piano songs (a Steinway in the middle of a forest – amazing!). The highlight of the evening for me however was ‘Artificial' from the new album, with a brilliant video of a box-headed office drone who decides to leap across the desks and flee. Bill and I were both humming or singing that song for the rest of the week. Dammit, it’s got into my brain again! If the charts were in any way fair, this song would be No. 1 for weeks and weeks.

Pony Express

A bit of a surprise on the train this morning – as the train pulled in to Dorking West station we were surprised to see a horse on the platform! The little group of us who sit together of a morning all started laughing. The train stopped so that the horse was right in front of one of the doors, and the horse looked as if it was about to get in! A woman getting off the train took the horse’s head (it was unbridled), it neighed and jerked away, but moved away from the train. When I travelled past in the evening, it was back in its field not far from the station.
Cue extremely bad jokes about Pony Express, Neigh return to Horsham etc!