Amy Leeder.

The Cross Keys High Street Bedford. Friday 7th March 2014.

Another welcome outlet for live music has joined the rapidly swelling list of pubs catering for people who like a touch of full on entertainment with their beverage. The Cross Keys is situated in the middle of Bedford High Street and is also one of the oldest in town. However you would never guess as inside it has the decor and fittings of a fairly standard 21st century boozer. Bands and solo artists are certainly something that you wouldn'y have had here, even a couple of months ago. That remarkable change has come about when the leadership of this hostelry was taken on by Mr Danny Amatsah. A gentleman who, for over twenty plus years, was at the helm of Bedford Esquires and helped shape the music scene in Bedford. This ever-smiling host is a legend of the local night life scene and he appears to be relishing the chance to bring some culture to a pub with a notorious reputation.

With Danny taking charge, The Cross Keys now presents live music on Friday and Sunday evenings. Tonight, and returning for a second visit, is AMY LEEDER. I first saw this precocious singer-songwriter way back in 2007. Amy never loses the ability to enchant and entertain. This evening she is ably assisted by Shaun from The Ivory Collective. He expertly taps away on his percussive cajon. Although a prolific writer of her own songs, a pub gig usually gives Amy a chance to sing some of her favourite covers. They range wildly and bizarrely at times. The more conservative options include "Valerie", "I think we're alone now" and even a burst of "Mercy". Naturally a couple of Cranberries compositions pop up, namely "Linger" and "Zombie". Amy admits that she would "love to have the sexy Irish accent"!

After spending the last few months in her home environment, tonight represents Amy's last full length gig before she leaves for her usual entertainment job on the (hopefully) sunny east coast. Although it is a difficult crowd of people to fully open up and engage with, these are the sort of bread and butter gigs to toughen up any singer. As always she tells plenty of amusing and charming tales between songs of which "the Premier Inn at Southampton" features highly. Amy also received some "brilliant news today" as her "car got fixed". Bubbly excitement takes over her demeanour. Her own compositions are sprinkled in the set and include "You" and "Order and obey". Amy cryptically comments on the latter as "a song that didn't exist beforehand, it was created". A song that wrote itself! "My last goodbye" also gets a welcome airing. Ah, "If looks could kill". The evening is amusingly rounded off in a semi-BBC light entertainment seventies way when the aforementioned Danny joins Amy for a cute duet of "Stand by me".