A magical afternoon with Mike Silver at Folk On The Dee
There was a wonderful sense of nostalgia at our latest Folk On The Dee, as we welcomed
There was a wonderful sense of nostalgia at our latest Folk On The Dee, as we welcomed the brilliant Mike Silver, joined by his wife, Julie Boreham, for a very special afternoon of live music.
Kicking the afternoon off, the Jones Family included a particularly special performance of The Light in My Mother’s Eyes for Helen, who recently celebrated her 70th birthday. It was a lovely moment and a fitting way to begin the afternoon.
Then it was time to welcome Mike Silver.
Mike has been writing, singing and performing his brilliant songs for many years and has long been one of the most popular guests to have passed our way. It had been far too long since he was last in our part of the world, so having him back at Folk On The Dee felt particularly special.
And from the moment he began to play, the years seemed to disappear.
There was something about the atmosphere in the room that afternoon that transported us straight back to the old days at The Black Horse.
One memory in particular came flooding back – the first time we ever saw Mike perform there. It was a Tuesday night in the middle of winter, sometime in the last century, and a snowstorm was raging outside.
We battled our way to The Black Horse convinced nobody else would turn up.
Mike made it – and so did an audience of eighteen people!
Tom offered to pay Mike and call the evening off, but Mike wouldn’t hear of it. People had made the effort to get there, he said, so he was going to play.
And play he did.
We recently rediscovered the recording we made of that night and listening to it again brought home something we were reminded of at Folk On The Dee: some things simply don’t change.
Put Mike Silver in a room with a guitar and an audience, and something quite special happens.
That was certainly true this time around.
Mike and his wife, Julie Boreham, gave us a magical afternoon, with Julie joining Mike for part of each set and adding another lovely dimension to the performance.
There were memorable songs throughout the afternoon, including Certain Something and Pretoria, but some of the most special moments came towards the end.
Old Fashioned Saturday Night had the room in wonderful voice, creating exactly the sort of warm, communal atmosphere that made those old Black Horse evenings so memorable.
And then came the final song, Not A Matter Of Pride.
With Mike leading the way and everyone singing together, it was the perfect ending to the afternoon. For a few minutes, performer and audience seemed to become one, and the room was filled with voices.
It was one of those moments that captures exactly what Folk On The Dee is all about – great songs, shared memories, wonderful performers and the simple joy of making music together.
A huge thank you to Mike and Julie for giving us such a magical afternoon, and to everyone who joined us and helped create such a wonderful atmosphere.
It was an afternoon full of music, memories and friendship – and one we’ll remember for a very long time.
We look forward to seeing you again, next time around.
If you’d like to relive some of the magic from the afternoon, you can watch a selection of clips from the day, below.
Turn up the volume and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere – and some fantastic singing from the audience too!
