The Whybirds, Tinker Jack, Amy and the Integrals, Verity Sessions, Harriet Langley.

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. 3rd April 2009.

Tonight is, I'm afraid, a most fatal combination. It's one's birthday (!), plus promoter The Little Red Roster has garnered together a most amazing local line up of my favourite artists. The cream of the Bedford scene. The end result is, I must say, a very satisfied reviewer. It's a gig I have been looking forward to for weeks, in fact as soon as the line up was revealed.
Tonight I am joined to celebrate with four of my oldest friends who have never set foot on level 2 in their entire lives! They also never go to 'loud music gigs'. I sense this could be a tricky one. The main criterion they had was that they had to be able to sit down, which as you know on level 2 is pretty damn difficult! Anyway, with that request granted it was time to settle down to the music.

HARIET LANGLEY returns and my entourage are applauding politely. Thankfully Harriet performs a couple of well known covers. One is "It's if it makes you happy" by Sheryl Crow. The shouts of delight erupt from my party!

Having seen, heard and encouraged people to witness the acoustic delights of Hertfordshire's VERITY SESSIONS, the young lady most certainly did not let me or my birthday guests down. They thought she was brilliant. Verity wears a most striking purple beret tonight. She really blows them away from start to finish. "Somewhere inbetween" is viewed diligently, whilst "This time last year" garners total whoops of delight from my side. The oh so sultry and reflective "This summers ours" rubber stamps their opinion. Verity throws in a couple of covers. The Kings Of Leon as before, but this time "Hey ya" is performed. It's one of Verity's favourites. As she plays it I sip another of my birthday drinks as my collective are noisily clapping in unison.

So to AMY AND THE INTEGRALS whose consummate ease of performing is, I must say, totally staggering. They are all so relaxed and confident. It's all very much our well loved favourites and as "Smile now", "Chavs", and "Master of disguise" rain out I can see my level 2 'virgins' questioning the age range of the band. How can they be so very good at their age? Those of us in the know shrug it off. We have seen the development these past couple of years. That's "The truth" as Amy would no doubt tell us all!

For my entourage who are not regular gig-goers, a couple of hours can seem like a long time. I urge them to see TINKER JACK, who in the past two years have emerged as one of Bedford's brightest young prospects. I am thankfully rewarded as they perform "Stranger". I must admit, as I sip another beverage, that it doesn't get a lot better than this. Good friends, good drinks, and Tinker Jack performing the utterly gorgeous "Stranger". Wow! It's only when I realise how old I actually am today that I get a reality check! For people like myself who feed off the enthusiasm of these youngsters who put so much hard work in to their music, like Tinker Jack, well what can I say. Just, thanks!

Oh dear, my friends are fading fast. Headliners THE WHYBIRDS have just performed their first song and although the musos in attendance have erupted into rapture, my level 2 'virgins' are not entirely impressed. "Too loud" says one and the others heartily agree! I am totally gobsmacked. This, in my humble opinion, is the best current Bedford band around and my friends are very anxious to move downstairs rather sharpish. Oh well, sorry boys, but friends are so special! On arrival in Danny's Bar it's the covers band Bootleg Zoo who meet us as they go through their usual repertoire. The birthday party gang are happy once more as bursts of Bon Jovi and AC/DC fill the room. I just think that thankfully birthdays only come around once a year. As my lovely guests depart in their taxi, I can at last reconnect with the wonderful Whybirds.