The invited audience, which comprised of la crème de la crème of north east culture and myself, were there for the 75th birthday bash of Ros Rigby OBE.
Ros, known throughout Europe and the UK for her work, among many other callings, in promoting live music, irrespective of genre, at Sage Gateshead (now the Glasshouse) and other venues, greeted those who'd made their way via sat-nav, the stars and sheer good luck, to Byker's best kept secret - the Old Coal Yard.*
First impression is of just that - an old coal yard. However, it's people who make places and the warmth of the greeting by Ros' daughter Annie far exceeded that of a dozen coal fires.
Among those present was former trumpet player Clarence Adoo MBE, formerly with the Northern Sinfonia and Tomorrow's Warriors, whose tragic story is well known yet still maintains a career in music with the Paraorchestra. Such is the power of music and of people like Ros Rigby who reach out to every performer or listener.
Various members of the Northern Monkey Band (pictured) were present but before they assembled on the small stage, there were eulogies from Annie and Ros' son Sam that revealed so many more facets of her illustrious life, a sumptuous buffet and a variety of music from several local (and beyond) legends.
Alistair Anderson, virtuoso of the English concertina, got the ball rolling with a couple of pieces - one dedicated to our birthday girl - before handing over to another north east folk legend - George Welch. George, who seems to have been around forever although he's actually younger than me sang The Herring Song complete with audience participation (how Ann Alex would have loved this).
Needless to say, given Ros' association with Sage Gateshead it was only fitting that the Northern Sinfonia should be represented and who better to fill that role than Bradley Creswick MBE, the former leader of the Northern Sinfonia.
Bradley crosses genres as easily as he changes his socks and, with a virtuoso display of fiddling he somehow incorporated all of those genres into one piece. He brought the house down.
Truly a 'follow that' moment and it took 2 x trumpets, 2 x trombones, 1 x tenor sax, 1 x tuba, 1 x bass drum and 1 x snare drum to do it. In other words, the Northern Monkey Brass Band.
The dancers danced, the drinkers drank and the listeners listened and if you want to hear The Waters of Tyne like you've never heard it before these are the guys to go to. Alternatively, a lady sitting nearby also knew the song!
At this point the Metro beckoned and we reluctantly left. As 'Coal' Porter once wrote: what a swell party this is. Happy Birthday Ros. Lance
*The Old Coal Yard, Elizabeth Street, Byker, Ne6 1JS. DETAILS.
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