The foyer and bar area were packed, another sell-out concert! I was standing near the artist's sales stall, when coming across the hubbub of the waiting audience drifted the familiar tone of a Belfast accent. There was a party of six people who, as far as I noticed all spoke with a similar accent. Whether they were just visiting or were living here, I had no idea, but one of the men was having a birthday surprise foisted on him and he was desperately trying to find out whose CDs were on sale that night and was being prevented. He turned to me as I stood there clutching a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale and an almost full pint glass and said to me "Do you know who's on tonight?" Quick thinking, I quickly replied "Jimi Hendrix" as I noticed the Hamsters tribute band poster on the wall at the far end of the bar/restaurant. "And," I continued, "Van Morrison is doing the support spot tonight". A great roar of laughter went up as the man was frustrated from finding out who was truly on the bill. During the concert, I could hear these now familiar voices talking out from the crowd to Beth when she asked if their were any requests, so I can only assume that the cat was out of the bag and that they were enjoying themselves as much as everybody else was. 

Starting the evening was Beth's son Ernest Chapman, who played the piano and acoustic guitar and presented his own material. He was good natured and with a wacky sense of humour. He started off with a soul searching number, Stay With Me which was delivered on the piano and his voice was of the timbre similar to a mixture of Brian Wilson and Billy Joel, but to reach their pinnacle, obviously a little more polish and apprentice-ship serving will be necessary. He said that instead of presenting his music in the traditional manner he would be releasing it as it was completed by way of the internet and his website called bite-size pieces (www.theonion.com), which he thought sounded like a cookie manufacturer from Idaho. From what I heard during the interval, the music playing in the auditorium was all Ernest's handiwork and sounded far more expansive than the narrow range he had given us on stage, including something which sounded a bit Hungarian or Romanian or some such country and it sounded very good indeed, so check out his music. He put the lid on his solo spot when we gave us "Space Attack" - completely tongue-in-cheek and would have been more at home on an early Todd Rundgren album in the category of totally outrageous.

For his final number, Adult Shoes, he called on his mother, Beth (Acoustic Guitar, Piano and Lead Vocal), Martin Allcock (Bass & Acoustic Guitars and Support Vocal) and John Ragussa (Wind Instruments and Conch and Support Vocal) and Ernest himself who eventually after this number moved over to occupy what seemed like an electronic drum kit. I couldn't be sure because my view was blocked out by Beth's Grand Piano. 

At this point the evening really took off. Beth has a voice that is both mellow and at times almost angelic, with very complementary harmonies delivered by the all the rest. Martin Allcock played some very nifty jazzy type bass playing and gave a solid sound to the rhythm section, while John Ragussa played some very stunning flutes of various types and sizes and a pocket trumpet and even Jew's harp and Conch to augment the otherwise excellent sound. Songs performed were Adult Shoes, Trying To Love You, Free, Angels By My Side, Emily, The Prayers Of An Atheist, God Is In, I Keep Coming Back To You, Love Is Blind, Shine All Your Light, Every December Sky, Say Goodnight, Not Goodbye, Sir Duke, This Kiss, 'r Addfwynbryd Chan Crist s Gwynebu, Beautiful Fool, You Will Always Touch My Heart That Way and Happy Girl. (Forgive me if I have made a mistake with my mother tongue.)

Apart from a lot of beautiful songs the unexpected high-point of the evening came when Beth, jokingly announced that it was time for the audience's interactive part and that she would sing two choruses of the Stevie Wonder song Sir Duke and we would do the rest on our own, not thinking we could do it. But when it came to our turn, we did it almost note-perfect. Beth was knocked out. Here at Acoustic Sussex we're really cool! Beth, from a religious viewpoint, comes from a Catholic family and has a strong faith in her religion and a strong belief in humanity. During her stage performance she put out a good strong feel-good vibe. But it wasn't just limited to those who have a belief in a God, because I am a Buddhist and I felt the vibe too. Did I say Newcastle Brown Ale, Smack Hand, Naughty, Naughty!

Review courtesy of Bob Preece