I arrived half an hour after the start of the gig and Kington Langley village hall was already in full swing. It was like hopping into a TV set from Midsommer Murders, although disappointingly... there was no murder. This was my first experience of this type of event and I was expecting the worst.
As I entered the village hall I noticed that almost everybody was up dancing, and this is not your ordinary shuffling about type dancing, this involved complex moves and partner swapping (Don't even think it!). Everyone was having a good time, all ages from 2 to 92 were up on the floor.

The Jellied Reels are all competent Musicians and they are VERY good at what they do. According to Si the bassist, a Celidh band consists of a caller (the guy that tells the dancers what to do) a musician and as many others as is felt necessary to pad out the band. The caller explains the next dance to the audience and off they go. Now these dances are not simple, each involves quite complex instructions that made me think that everyone would soon be tripping over each other. This did not happen and after some slight initial confusion everyone was dancing together and having a great time.

A few times during their set, after the dancers were confident, the band would morph the song they were playing into a rock classic. So... imagine a bunch of people barn dancing to Paint it Black by the Stones and you will understand my sense of surrealism at times during this event.

Before any of you originals bands out there start to mock this, think about what we have here. Plenty of work, an audience that knows how to have a good time and a competent band. And that my hard rockin' friends (and new Ceilidh dancin' friends) , is what it's all about. Well except for mega-stardom I suppose.