We have not always been great fans of Bristol but we can be lured across the bridge when there are enticing events eg The Mighty Boosh,John Cleese etc. The arrival of an email from Radio 4 inviting us to attend their " More than Words" recordings was too tempting to resist. After perusing a variety of shows we selected a double-bill at St Georges, Bristol, starting with " With Great Pleasure".
Not being known as early risers it took someone of the stature of Cerys Matthews to get us to the lovely old church early on a Sunday morning. Refreshed by coffee and ( a non-stale) Lemon cake we could smuggly relax knowing their revolutionary ticketing system of giving people numbers as they arrived would give us priority entrance when the door opened.
We duly had great seats close to the former Catatonia lead singer who was genuinely nervous at the start. Perhaps it was due to the formal nature of Radio 4 contrasting with her more relaxed stint as a presenter on BBC 6.
For those (like me) who do not normally listen to " With Great Pleasure" it devotes a programme to one person to fill it with their favourite music and poetry. Like a good Llanelli girl she started with a beautiful version of " Myfanwy" before reading some of Dylan Thomas's ! A Child's Christmas In Wales".
An hour (plus) is a long time for one person to fill so she wisely invited a couple of friends to join her, Julia on Bass accompanied her reading with a poet providing his own words.
I have seen Cerys on 3 previous occasions but I learnt more about what makes her tick in this one show. She has always been charismatic (pun unintended) but she revealed what a truly unique individual she is, leaving home in her teens to explore the world, not just to fill a gap year but to truly sample and understand different cultures.
But, firstly she is an entertainer. This is not all high-brow showing off. She can deliver a lovely Spanish song and destroy any emotional ideas we may have harboured about its meaning by explaining afterwards it referred to a cross-dresser. Her emotional roller-coaster took us from a moving 9th century poem about a poor Irish to a hysterical modern piece about an older woman beautifully describing the contours of a young woman showering, knowing what will befall her as the years pass. Her trump card was then introducing the writer in the auditorium.
Even though we started late and was over-running Cerys is a woman who knows her own mind, She had lovingly selected these items and was determined to air them all finishing on more Dylan Thomas with her two (less than willing accomplices) on improvised musical instruments.
This is what I happily pay my licence fee for. Thank you Radio 4. It will be broadcast on Monday 16th July at 4.00pm & is well worth a listen.
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