A Month of Sundays

At the moment the Co-op is in the middle of their 'Month of Sundays' programme (4th, 11th, 18th and 25th of March at 7.30 pm), basically a chance to see the work that has been done and to catch performances by local poets and musicians. The programme changes each week. The first week featured Gary McCormick, amongst others and atracted an audience of about one hundred.

A number of drawings and paintings, and some photographs are already on display, ranging from a set of sketches on the Cable Car entitled 'You don't know what you've got till it's gone', through landscapes to a series of drawings of Cilia Black by one Dylis [unclear: Rheese]. Many (presumably many!) of the artists have also been devoting themselves to sculpture, and a tremendous self-sacrifice must have been necessary to drink all the beer that was in the cartons before they became modern art.

The evening entertainment didn't start exactly at 7.30 - excusable when you take into account the fact that there was no audience. But by 8.30 there was a small crowd of around thirty and a nice relaxed atmosphere to go with it. It's all very casual and you can sit or lie on the floor with your beer and the kids.

The entertainment kicked off with an impromptu jam session made up of electric guitar, flute and occasional bongoes, together creating a suprisingly good blues sound. Ian Wedde was the first legitimate "performer" with one short poem and an epic of "Ancient Mariner" proportions called "Halfway to the Sea". It was an interesting mixture of common and intellectual phrases, and of story and abstract ideas. Easily the best poem of the evening anyway. Next up was Bob Ore who read six short, and more traditionally styled, poems. He was at his best when emotionally involved as in "Capricorn Song for Ezra" a reflective piece written about his son.

Following this there was a change of pace with the introduction of singer and guitarist Brian King. King was a pleasure to listen to. The clarity and tone of his voice and his playing made for a refreshingly different performance; and I don't even like folk music. Beginning with a traditional English folk song 'Come me little Washer-lad', he progressed through two miners songs, one English, one American, and finished with a complex Willie Nelson song called 'The saga of the Red Haired Stranger'.

More poetry followed; Dylis Rheese (who obviously has a thing about Cilia Black) read her poem about Cilia Black and a nonsense poem, and a lady identified only as Marion gave us a number of poems including a trilogy entitled 'Dark Circles in the Dawn'. Marion has a rather intense style; all her poems were very personal, and for this reason perhaps a little beyond the average listener. However her last offering was a tongue - in - cheek - ditty called 'Boy' which completely justified her inclusion in the programme.

Marion then went on to introduce a friend of hers named Gary Henderson who in her words 'sings good songs'. Unlike Brian King, Henderson performed original material, again with just his own guitar backing. I found his first offering 'The old Man Son similar in sound to that of Micheal Murphy who became a one hit wonder with 'Wildfire' in 1975, although his lyrics were deeper and more thoughtful than Murphy's. Hi third song 'Youth line' was reminiscent of Bob Dylan with a similar verse structure to 'Hard Rains', and brilliant lyrics. He finished with a song called 'Going Home'. I wish I'd known the words: I would have loved to sing along.

The final performer I saw was Lindsay Rabbitt who contributed several rather vicious little poems to the evening's line up. Rock group Hackett were scheduled to perform at 9.30 and there was a rumour that Living Force were also going to drop in, but when I left at 10.00 there was no sign of either.

All in all a bit of a mixed bag, but even the worst of the poetry was listenable, and the best of the music made up for it all. W people like Bob Dylan (who's no longer up to it) and Jackson Browne (who never was up to it in the first place) continue to make millions while talented people like Brian King and Gary Henderson remain anonymous is beyond me.

So anyway, if art (in any form) is your thing, and you've got the time, go and see the Co-op. They could do with your support, and you might even enjoy yourself.

Ruth Delaney