Dancing at the Duke

It's not a secret that the much hyped (on these pages, anyway) Hamoaze Band is also part of a larger operation. On occasion, we three merry minstrels join forces with Mad Max the Caller and Chubs Stifmeister (as she likes to be called) to become the Lords of Misrule ceilidh band. Sometimes, although not this time, the Lords becomes an even larger outfit than that, with guest players rolling in to tootle along with the tunes.

Last Saturday was, arguably, the Lords' biggest gig to date as the Plymouth branch of the Samaritans held a big bash to mark the 40th anniversary of their founding.

And so we got to play in the most salubrious surroundings that I've ever strummed or sung in (apart from the occasional amateur musical at Bath's Theatre Royal).

Yes indeed, we found ourselves within the walls of one of Plymouth's landmark buildings the Duke of Cornwall Hotel.

Needless to say, I find it quite hard to take photos at the same time as playing, so I don't have any action shots of the night and you'll just have to content yourselves with these couple of early evening efforts taken on my phone's slightly inadequate camera. Here's bassist extraordinaire Chubs surveying the hotel's ballroom from the stage.

And here's the view she was enjoying.

We played for a hour or so from half seven and a fair few of the attending Samaritans were well and truly up for a dance, the ballroom floor got a veritable horde of them stepping up and down, dosey-doeing, promenading and stripping the willow.

Then it was time for food, so we got an hour and a bit's break time while the assembled throng tucked in. We got a couple of plates of sarnies, which was jolly nice.

After food and speeches (these occasions demand at least one speech) we got to playing again and there were plentiful episodes of good Samaritans flinging themselves around the dance floor.

As the clock crept, like a Spinal Tap amplifier, to eleven so the crowd started to thin and we started playing more songs and tunes to keep the atmosphere going as the dancing more or less stopped. By midnight, we had the ballroom almost to ourselves and it was time to dismantle the kit and head homeward.

'Twere a grand night and I think the Samaritans really enjoyed themselves which, of course, was the whole point!

In the event that anyone would like to book a ceilidh, please take a peak at the Lords of Misrule (Cornwall)'s website: www.lords-of-misrule.co.uk. I think you'll find we do a damned fine job, have a lot of fun and don't cost the earth . . . 

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photo of the Duke of Cornwall Hotel shamelessly nicked from tripadvisor.co.uk