KING PLEASURE AND THE BISCUIT BOYS, THE WINCHESTERS

IT may have been a superb collection of upbeat live sounds - but it definitely didn't seem like the blues.

However, The Winchesters and Fat KP's band of boys certainly set the scene for an excellent Easter weekend as they entertained what looked like a capacity crowd at the Burnley Mechanics.

First up were The Winchesters, a bunch of Rochdale-based rockabilly types who were as good to look at as they were to listen to.

Their last trip to a certain cricket club in the area attracted a criminally small crowd of just eight people. After last night, they shouldn't have that problem again.

They delivered a series of instantly accessible songs which had the whole hall moving in their seats.

Up front, their lead singer was dressed in a pair of clown style pants - and had all the gags to go with the image.

"We're available for weddings," he said, "and honeymoons!"

Their keyboard player, Arthur Sturgeon, presented a host of props to help with the playing: lobsters, dogs, reindeer antlers, etc.

While their drummer Yelling Yeti - who had his usual puppet friend with him - had the hilarious ability to play an invisible kit!

But then it was big boy King Pleasure who most people had come to see.

As the programme said, the "Boys appear to step straight out of a 1943 black and white B-Movie and onto the stage".

And flicking the switch on the time machine also had an amazing effect on the crowd. Within minutes the void between the stage and seats was filled with a mass of swirling bodies.

KP's performance was an ultra-colourful swing-time experience encompassing deep Al Johnson style vocals, Classic Count Basie and the brilliant brass you might associate with The Blues Brothers.

King Pleasure himself is a charismatic character with facial expressions like a mad professor from a fifties American film.

The saxophone playing lead singer seemed to dance with his eyes, while his sweat-filled smart jacket, paid testament to all his hard work.

And although the Birmingham based band's songs weren't exactly politically correct, they were perfectly correct for the crowd.

Mama, they loved it!SIMON DONOHUE

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.