NORTHUMBRIAN MUSIC
NIGHTS
What we said about
The WindyMills Ceilidh
Band
A TALE OF TWO
DANCES
By the time, on Saturday evening, the promoters of last weekend's Valentine's Ceilidh in Allendale's Village Hall started to set up, the hall was very tidy indeed, although the scent of heaving bodies, colliding male pride, simpering young girls, and agonised adolescent lust, was heavy in the air. The Allendale Cricket Club disco on the Friday night had been a dramatic success. Reports from participants were positive, and it is certain that this function is very much appreciated by the younger members of the community, even if the organisers have to expend a great deal of energy in cleaning up.
Similarly, the next users of the hall would find it immaculate as well. But if the old floor boards could tell a tale, they would smile at the numbers of bouncing, lilting feet skipping over them for the Valentine's ceilidh, and groan at the incessant drum beat of hordes of young disco-dancers looking for love. Certainly Northumbrian Music Nights had expended a great deal of energy promoting and organising the show, so it was only fair that less effort was required in cleaning.
Perhaps the overwhelming, overpowering urgency of dance gradually takes its leave of us, as we grow older and mature. Or maybe other exigencies of modern adult life intermittently get in the way of a good time on the dance floor; since organisers report that ceilidhs are often either feast or famine, perhaps there are just times when the adult juices flow better than others. Which is a shame, really, because the actual live music seems to get better and more consistent!
And they don't come much better than the WindyMills Ceilidh Band, with caller Lorna Silverstein, featuring Janice Hall on flute, guitarist Davey Naylor, Ray Johnson on mandolin, Andy Morgan on fiddle and a superb sound system to really fill the space. With scarcely a break in 2 hours of consummate musicianship, the band were very good value indeed.
The dance numbers came on fast and furious, and it was a great joy to twirl one's partner up and down, around and about and through the hall. Sometimes there were interludes when it was comfortable to sit at the table and enjoy the band's extensive repertoire. It's tempting to muse that maturing lovers have learned to pace their passion, as one has to do to get through a ceilidh evening. No longer quite so young, perhaps, but wiser, we think that's right.
