April’s evening of musical entertainment at Plug & Play proved very popular indeed with the return of Kirsty McGee and Mat Martin. The venue at Penrith Playhouse was virtually packed out with lovers of live music and we were very pleased to welcome local performers and those from farther afield to perform their own songs in the first half of the night, writes Mitch Mitchelson.

Dusk Till Dawn, a young rock band from Appleby were the first to take to the stage and got the night off to a great start with a set of four songs, three of which were their own. They played a strong set and we hope to see them again. It is always encouraging when young musicians from neighbouring towns and villages are prepared to make the effort to support Plug & Play and put their art ‘out there’ and develop a strong stage precense. Next up were Richards Piano with Jonathan Trengrove on guitar and Abi Barnes on vocals they performed three songs and the audience loved it, Abi had mentioned to your reviewer that one of the songs might be a little risqué, and this proved to be the case with a very emotional performance of a song about a romantic encounter turned sour. As the host for the event your reviewer made some apologies to the audience for the content of the song, Plug & Play exorcise some discretion with regard to lyrical content but we don’t like to sensor artists and can’t always know before hand exactly what might be said during a performance. Although there were children in the audience your reviewer can only hope that no lasting harm was done and that they were not put off romance for ever.

The next duo to take to the stage were Owl And The Birds who had travelled all the way up from Brighton without arranging anything with our team beforehand, not that it is necessary to make arrangements to play, anyone who would like to play need only make themselves known to a member of the Plug & Play team so that your reviewer can fit them into the running order. We were very impressed with their performance and hope to encourage them to come back and play again, perhaps even for a headline act. Billy Johnston travelled down from Carlisle to perform three songs, it was the first time Billy had performed in public for a little while due to illness and we were very pleased to see his return. Penrith musician Rob Heron took to the stage next. Rob is getting quite a name for himself as a very talented singer songwriter and is currently studying music at Newcastle University and can be seen in the summer months performing at folk festivals and music festivals across the North of England. Rob couldn’t have chosen two better songs to perform either as they happened to compliment Kirsty McGee’s own style, in fact Kirsty caught Robs performance and at the end of the gig he was signed up to support her on the current tour where she is performing songs from her new album entitled No.5. Eddy Allan brought the first half of the evening to a close nicely with two lovely songs. Ed also plays at music festivals and runs a singer’s and musician’s night at the Boot & Shoe Inn at Greystoke on the first and third Monday evening of every month, where all are welcome to bring an instrument and join in the fun, food is provided for musicians and singers and there is always a great vibe in the pub.

As mentioned above, the headline act of the evening was Kirsty McGee and Mat Martin performing songs from the current album entitled No.5. The Plug & Play team have been looking forward to the return of Kirsty McGee and her ‘Vaudebilly music for the new depression era’ since the act was confirmed some months ago. She has a truly beautiful voice and stage presence and is perfectly complimented by Mat’s own talents as a singer and musician. Kirsty McGee and the Hobopop Collective have just released their fifth album, No.5 and it’s getting some great reviews in the music press. Kirsty made herself available at the end of the evening to sign copies of her albums, which were on sale at the door, and expressed her delight with the turnout, saying how much she loved playing at the Plug & Play venue and what a great audience had turned up to make the night so special.

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