Pleasant wee evening down the Labour Club last night as Joe Woolley brought his beat generation acoustic vibes. After a dinner of Unambitious Spaghetti, Joe and I turned up at the club just in time to watch Paul Cox do his opening set. He was a little bit on the quiet side, but this was not a mistake made by your correspondent. Stand-up-Man-and-Burns-against-Society job. A couple of faintly spectacular whoopsie-daisies, but a reasonable set for the most part. Enjoyed the singing bit, but did miss the guitar freedom that comes with a backing track. Joe came on and delivered a fine, fine set, though he too could have benefited from a bit more volume. Still, people were paying attention anyway, so that was pleasing. At the end of Joe's set, as midnight came around, I joined him onstage for a version of the Velvet Underground's "Afterhours", the appropriate timing of which seemed to delight him. Then we played Bob Dylan's "She Belongs To Me", and I'm forced to say that I think we played it rather well. Back to Shakespeare Villas for thoroughly agreeable conversation and fiercely competitive smoking.

So there you go. Apparently the NN1 Acoustic Tendency will shortly be mounting an invasion of the Oakley Arms in nearby Rushden, involving Joe, Ghost Train, Robert Bray and your correspondent. I'll let you know.