Each member of the band, we would guess, was fifty years old or more. The songs were older than the band members. The jokes were older than the songs. Most members of the audience, we would guess, were even older than the jokes.

Such familiarity might breed contempt.

This, though, was not the case with The Fivepenny Piece. Songs, jokes and audience were treated with the love and affection that exists in close-knit families, and indeed the concert had the air of a party with all your favourite relatives.

Norman Prince, a former Houghton Weaver, now plays with the band occasionally and his self-deprecating humour ignited the evening. Loud, and proud of being a Bolton Wanderers fan, his early comments about life on the relegation frontline brought gales of sympathetic humour from what must surely have been an audience of Blackburn Rovers fans.

With a packed house, there was a warm, friendly atmosphere in the theatre but The Fivepenny Piece cussedly opened with EEH BAH GUM BUT I’M COWD. The opening set continued with favourite folk songs like Ewan McCall’s THE MANCHESTER RAMBLER and DIRTY OLD TOWN.

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