"..I was actually rather sorry for the poor Lakeperson because of the damage those idiots of Oldham could have inflicted on his career..."


Heeheehee!

Oh, Sweetums, you DO make me chuckle!

On Friday, following a trip to A&E at Exeter, I was limping around the grounds of Exeter University, with my shepherd's crook type stick, having torn a groin muscle (ouch!) and Gandalf the Blonde came into being...

Well, (I know Joe, but I'm getting there) :0)...Well, my friend (who had taken me to A&E and then had to attend a lecture) and I went passed The Great Hall and memories of Seth's Sensational Gig came flooding in.

Oh what a night! A packed Hall, all standing, queueing right around the Hall to get in, people desparate for cancelled tickets, mighty long queue there too...and the biggest Tour Bus I ever did see! When Seth came out on to that stage, which was so beautifully lit, thousands of young people went absolutely crazy! They whooped and cheered, clapped and whistled, and as the thundering, pounding beats started, and Seth put his fiddle to his shoulder, the floor shook with the vibration of people dancing. They knew all the words, these youngsters...all of them stood there, singing songs of their part of the country, cheering when Seth mentioned a particular place here, or another there....all taking in the most famous singer of The New Tradition. And when he did his 'Kitty Jay' bit, where his fiddle almost self combusts, they went WILD!   When he stopped, there was a silence of around 5 seconds, as people stood there, stunned..then, deafening applause filled the air.

Of course, that night, we were doubly blessed, as Seth's special guests were Dan Donnelly (Fantastic!) and Steve Knightley, who absolutely wowed them with his songs! Phil was in the audience, and as Steve was singing, the group of chums behind me whispered, "Who's this bloke? He's great!" So I filled them in.."Ah, Show of Hands, we've heard about them." and they nodded..

Nothing can hurt Seth's career, he's a rising star, who'll just keep rising, as I've always said he would. Thank heavens he spread his wings and stuck to doing his music his way. It's been the saving of him. Seth is a one off, and he's bringing in thousands to folk music, absolutely thousands...but heck, didn't it take the Folk Awards a long time to finally give in and give Seth something! Gee Whizzzzzzz!

Yes, he got in under Ian Anderson's 'radar', as did Show of Hands...and bloody good job too!

Seth Lakeman - Our Dartmoor Bunny