The group went on to remember WHEN GRANNY SANG ME SONGS (a Bernard Wrigley composition, and the only song of the entire set that we didn’t know) and recalled WHEN I WAS A LAD (a song to which comedian Tom O’Connor owns the rights!)

One of the highlights of this opening set was the wonderful BLACKPOOL BELLE (see our interview with Norman Prince elsewhere on our web site). Howard Broadbent and Jimmy Smith wrote this many years ago now, and the whole audience sang along so joyfully it was as though we were all riding the tram down the golden mile on one of those wonderful Saturday nights of yesteryear.

The Fivepenny Piece, though, are not only about nostalgia. Global issues were addressed, too, with the rhetorical WHAT CAN YOU DO WHEN YOUR CLOGS LET WATER IN?

There was a strong communal singing of THE LEAVING OF LIVERPOOL, and Norman Prince recalled his tv series with The Houghton Weavers with a rendition of A MON LIKE THEE, which served them as a signature tune for many years. Typically of the songs in this concert this has a lovely, "Lancy" feel to it, and is all about good neighbourliness.

Perhaps by standing out so distinctly from such sentiments, it was a lament for lost love that proved the diamond in this opening set. THE WATER IS WIDE has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity over the last twenty years, and is now a major ingredient in Irish folk music. Tonight Andrea Mullins and Alan Taylor performed it as an aching duet.

The set closed with a "traditional" sea shanty that had the audience offering full support vocals and harmonies. This was a great rousing number to finish what had been a gentle, almost wistful, opening half.

Most of the audience then departed to the bars to wet their whistles and gargle or whatever it is great singers do when they know their services will be required for another forty five minutes or so. The opening set had left nobody in any doubt that there would be many more chorus songs to come.

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