Blown away

I went to see Kate Rusby and her band perform at the Lowry in Salford last night. The last time I saw her, was at the Albert Halls in Bolton a couple of years ago, and there were about 150 people in the audience. She's become much more famous since then - the Lowry's Lyric Theatre holds 1730 seats, and it was pretty much sold out. Even though I was up in the Gods, the sound was crystal clear, and the view was unobstructed.

The whole concert was fantastic. Kate has such a friendly and personal approach to her concerts and talks to the audience as though they are all old friends. She played a good range of songs, some from her new album 'The Girl Who Couldn't Fly' and some which are old traditional numbers.

Of course, I didn't just go to see Kate. John McCusker (Kate's husband) is one of the best folk fiddlers on the circuit and I admire him greatly, so to see him and Kate performing on the same stage is a double treat for me. I've been trying for ages to get hold of a copy of his songbook - The Bothwell Boy, but the online ordering service doesn't appear to list it, and I've been too lazy to order it by post.

I've always fancied myself as a folk fiddler, but listening to John makes me realise I've got a long way to go. Oh well, I suppose some practice might help.