I went to the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester to see them last night. On the whole, I was disappointed. Why? Apart from missing Tim oBrien, I didn't think the sound was up to scratch.

This could have been largely down to the hall which is designed for un-amplified music hence it is rather bass heavy and has a natural reverb which tends to muddy and confuse amplified sound. The point about not enough Russ Barrenberg was compounded by the fact that I couldn't hear his mandolin playing at any time throughout the whole evening. In addition the sound balance for solos always tended to be late.

Although some may disagree, the low points of the whole evening were the girl from "Nashville" who arrived on stage with a purple guitar - which simply served to make her stand out from what we have come to know as the Transatlantic Sessions even more - and the unnecessary, in my mind, heavy electric guitar playing. Perhaps the TSs are having their Dylan moment! (Which actually happened in the hall the Bridgewater replaced).

As for Tim oB, I see from his website that he's playing nowhere until the 25th February in New Zealand - and guess where I will be then - I feel another concert coming on!!!!