TOPIC OF CONVERSATION

The Cock and Bottle on Barkerend Road, Bradford hosted the Topic Folk Club’s first guest night following their enforced move from the Melborn Hotel. Being the oldest Folk Club in the world and now entering its 50th year the club continues to attract the highest standard of performers. In a packed room and with an atmosphere of great anticipation it was announced that Barry Smith and Westport would play two sets while the Scarlet Heights would perform the middle set of the evening.
It was a surreal experience hearing Westport sing Dirty Old Town when you felt, due to the atmosphere they portray, that if you walked through the door you would instantly feel the heather of the highlands under your feet and not the tarmac of West Yorkshire. I am sure that if the Scottish Tourist Board handed out free Westport CD’s with every brochure then the highland hotels of “Bonnie Scotland” would be packed to the rafters, the feel good factor was here for all to enjoy. With the Scarlet Heights giving tremendous support and leaving the crowd with a folk version of “Pinball Wizard” as an encore, this was a night to remember.
When the ever versatile Barry Smith sang “Couldn’t Have Come At A Better Time” we couldn’t have put it better ourselves, this was an evening’s entertainment of pure class.