Auckland New Zealand
We had been given to believe in the lead up to the last club night of 2009, that the guest spot with Brouhaha was going to be a varied and interesting affair, and guess what folks, we were not disappointed.
The harmonies were awesome, the musicianship and talent displayed on the various instruments was also very enjoyable with a variety of folk songs, sea shanties, jazz standards and music hall numbers and even a very good rendition of the show tune "Hair," from the 1970 musical of the same name (not that lead singer Lou has much of that commodity, you understand). Other songs of a more familiar & traditional nature, were also very well received. The members of the group: Lew Black (vocals, banjo, mandolin & percussion), Andrew Gough (vocals,guitar & bouzouki) and last but not least, Warren Payne (vocals, button-accordion, harmonicas & whistles); are all talented singers and folk musicians in their own right, with Lou and Warren also being members of the Maritime Crew, sea shanty folk group.
They say in folk-music circles, that the measure of an enjoyable guest spot is gauged by the amount of singing along by the audience, joining in the choruses of the songs (familiar or otherwise), rendered by the singer or group on stage. Judging by the sound of the rafters being raised with lovely harmonies on Saturday night, that theory has been proven to be correct on many occasions at TFMC club nights, not the least when Brouhaha performed on Saturday night of 12th. December. Add to that, a first-half of floor singers with a varied and enjoyable repertoire of carols and other songs of a Christmas nature, as well as familiar sing-a-long standards, I would have to say that Sat. 12th. Dec. 2009 was one of the more memorable and remarkable club nights.
John Watkins
Back to December 09Last Update: 2014-08-20
The Club was conceived in 1965 when the Clancy Brothers didn't come and someone had the astounding idea of having a sing-a-round thus transforming an audience into a folk group. Formally established in 1966 we're still going strong.