Get yourself another beer and pull yourself together - there's a review to be done. Stay focussed. You can do it. It isn't Afghanistan. It's just King Tuts. You know where you are. Guinness in plastic glasses. You've been here before. Look around you. There's not a chimpanzee holding a red balloon anywhere.
Music. Sweet melodious, melodramatic music. Turn towards the stage, you fool. Who's that? That voice in your head says it's Lou Hickey. There's a few of them on the stage - somewhere between 4 and 6. Ms Hickey - let's be formal as she appears to have brought her family along - sings and plays the piano. Does it well too. She's not wearing any shoes. She sounds like a restrained version of my beloved Colette McKendrick. Then there's a "La la la la…" and I dance a one man tango. That trumpet takes me off to a land inhabited by people who wear top hats and too much mascara. I see her CD on a table. Buy it you fool, it might be the key
The mist clears again. A one man band on stage? Lawyer Dave is his name. His voice is a rumbling, mumbling clue to his past. The crossroads. He's been down to the crossroads and sold his soul to feel the heat of the country blues fire and get some above average co-ordination too. Boom-bang-a-bang. Guitars yelp. Then he's gone. Tried to sell my soul to the devil once so that I could secure the love of a good woman. The devil laughed and said "Does my bum look big in this?" That's how I found out who was really in charge of things.
Holly Golightly and Australia. Didn't think there was a connection but there were Australians everywhere. One loudly discusses his problems with conjunctivitis whilst the other starts having text sex with his pet wombat back home. No wonder that country produces so many simpleton soap operas.
Getting it together now. There doesn't appear to be many Brokeoffs. The only other person on stage with Ms Golightly tonight (always be polite and show respect…) is Lawyer Dave. But it's time for the enchantment. The spell that steals their souls. Lawyer Dave is the conduit. Tribal thudding. Slide guitar spitting flames. Ms Golightly is the bait. It's like she has tapped into the ether and connected herself up to the lost soul of Patsy Cline. The room sways as she sings or maybe it is just me. There's no fiddle but I swear that I hear one. It's all so normal. The relaxed inter song banter between Ms Golightly and Lawyer Dave. The audience laughs. The audience applauds. The whole world has gone country but Lawyer Dave knows he made that deal down at the crossroads. Maybe that's why they played "Devil Do". A homage or part of the contract? No matter because I'm a believer now.