Vision Thing and Stanley Accrington – Over Hulton Folk Club – 6th July 2022

It’s the first Wednesday of the month so it must be Over Hulton Folk Club.

And an audience gathered in anticipation of another evening of quality folk music. The fare offered up tonight gave us two highly contrasting acts, one steeped in the quirky world of amusing folk patter and chanteur, the other more contemporary music style touching on a wide variety of songs featuring local and national issues past and present.

Up first were a duo from the Vision Thing band. David Windsor on violin and Pete Cunliffe on vocals and guitar may only represent a fraction of the whole band of five members but the performance gave us a wholesome entertaining set. The acoustic guitar and electric violin created a warm accompaniment to a too short setlist which delved into a wide range of topics: the hopeful return to normality, local mining disaster, transportation to Australia, social tolerance, our heritage and environmental beauty which all added to the interest and enjoyment the audience fully appreciated.

If this half-hour set gave us a soundbite of the full experience then I look forward to catching them at the upcoming local festival at Crooke Festival, Shevington. They have also landed a plum spot at the Wigan Diggers in September and The Atkinson in October. (For a full list of their future planned engagements visit www.visionthingband.com or their Facebook page).

The half-hour set passed far too quickly and they certainly deserved a larger audience which they will surely get later this year. They also have a new 10-track extended CD -Woman Like Me – recorded in collusion with Merry Hell’s John Kettle. For a fiver, it is outstanding value. 

Sporting multi-coloured garb probably only surpassed by Old Testament Joseph, Stanley Accrington warmed himself to the audience by greeting us with a cheery echoing hello in a music hall-style song.

His love of Paul Simon and partner Art Garfunkel came through strongly and dominated the opening to his act. With his Lanky version of America and a song inspired by his musings whilst waiting for a train on the way home from a Paul Simon concert in Manchester. The regular references to their long catalogue of songs was mixed with his musings of changing times and the recollections of significant events in Manchester from the past.

His highly original approach endeared himself to the audience with his chuckle-worthy ditties and unique wordsmithery showed a different scant on life which all those wishing to add comedy into the mix need to show their difference from the rest.

The Over Hulton Folk is persistent in providing us with the broad spectrum of Folk music and next up in August is the mouth-watering attraction of Steve Turner and Winter Wilson on August 3rd, which will serve as a wonderful prelude to the much missed  Cropredy Festival a week later.

Over Hulton Folk Club: Website / Facebook

Vision Thing: Facebook / website

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