Divison two

A frustrating weekend music wise. On Saturday I attempted to see a US soul band called the Contollers, about whom I know little, at the Rhythm Factory in Whitechapel, but when we got there we discovered that the gig was off. It seems our wonderful immigration people had turned them away at the airport, having travelled from Alabama, because they had the wrong kind of visa. Would this have happened if they hadn't happened to be black, I wonder? So we listened to some Northern soul records for a bit before sliding away. Now we are waiting to see if we get a refund. I have my doubts.
On Sunday evening I went to the Tales From the Woods gig in Ladbroke Grove to celebrate Tony Annis's birthday. It was definitely Division Two, if not Blue Square League, in terms of quality and featured the usual mostly British rockers and country singers who feature in TFTW gigs. Keith is to be congratulated for putting these shows on, and I'm sure that those who were there enjoyed it, but. with one or two exceptions, it was a case of gritting your teeth and singing along to much loved numbers. My photo shows red headed New Orleans diva Corliss Randall in full flow. Corliss is great to watch and totally OTT, swearing at the band and getting down - literally - as her emotion takes over. But she was struggling in this setting: the crowd wanted straight ahead 50s rock and roll, which they got from the likes of Wee Willie Harris, Danny Rivers and, er, Rockin' Gerry.