The tickets had been sold months in advance. The waiting was almost over for a Letham Nights summer extravaganza that promised to be one of the nights of the year. And it didn’t disappoint. Two amazing acts, pizza, drinkies and fine society combining to create an evening of entertainment that none who were there will ever forget.
It doesn’t matter how you spell it there’s a whole lotta fun in those little O’s. We’re no strangers to trans-atlantic shenanigans here at Letham Nights and Taylor and John are no strangers to our fair isle either this being their fifth time on Scottish soil. And it was a very pleasant hit of hi-jinx that these boys brought to our humble hall on Saturday night. Hauling themselves all the way from Dallas, Texas, The O’s have travelled light on this tour, foregoing their usual rhythm section in place of a two-footed engine room with a kick-drum and kick-tambourine providing ample drive for Taylor’s guitar and John’s banjo. The O’s have a nice line in repartee and seem to love playing together which endears even before you hear them sing and play. And boy, can they sing and play? Sweet harmonies, tight guitar runs and virtuosic banjo picking (and rock n roll banjo solos – yes, you read that right) brought songs such as ‘Lady Icarus’ and ‘Outlaw’ (which could be a trad Scottish number with the addition of a fiddle) soaring into the Fife night air. O, O, O, it’s magic!
Anorak corner: The steel guitar contraption that John plays is a Lowebro, built by Mike Lowe from Rockwall, Texas. So there you go.
It’s no exaggeration to say we have never had a more eagerly awaited performance at Letham Nights than Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward & Fisher’s slot at LN30. Tickets had sold out shortly after the turn of the year and there was not a spare seat in the house. If any held doubts that such hotly anticipated fare could only disappoint then no such doubts existed after they took the stage and launched into a set that would soon be Letham Nights folklore. AMWWF are, simply, an embarrassment of riches. Some bands have one great vocalist; they have five. Some have one or two great instrumentalists; they can play a dozen instruments between them and you wouldn’t know they weren’t specialist in each. Their mixture of styles might prove too eclectic in lesser hands but they hop and skip between folk, glam rock and hip hop (and perhaps even calypso merging into klezmer at one point – or am I being silly?) without ever losing their essence (their Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward & Fisherness?). Their range of voices and incredible musical abilities puts me in mind of The Band and I can’t think of much higher praise than that. Needless to say the dancefloor (moshpit?) was ten deep and dangerous. It might have seemed a good idea by the band to do the encore before they left the stage but there was no danger of them being let go without a fight. To their credit, they found the energy from somewhere to get back on stage and leave us with a playfully shambolic and perfectly judged version of Sally Brown which got everyone in fine spirits for the journey home.
Once again The Doorstep Bakery kept everyone fed with the finest horsebox dispensed pizza anywhere and special thanks go to Brad Eggleston of Barking Mad and family for handling the Clap & Tipple Bar.
