Review: The Peter Donegan Band, Seaton Delaval
Nov 24 2008 by Tony Henderson, The Journal
THIS was a concert set against the tale of two halls.
The Peter Donegan Band’s performance raised around £800 for the National Trust’s campaign to buy Seaton Delaval Hall and 450 acres of surrounding countryside for public enjoyment.
The band packed out Seaton Delaval Arts Centre and the venue proved to be particularly apt.
Last year, Seaton Delaval Pantomime Society, which was looking for a new home, learned that the local Salvation Army hall was in danger of being demolished.
Volunteers formed the Seaton Delaval Arts Centre Ltd charity and raised £40,000 via a community campaign, backed by a grant from waste management company Sita. The hall was bought and given a major refurbishment, and now stages regular events.
With the concert a sell-out, the centre was delighted to help Seaton Delaval Hall and to show off its own new facilities to so many first-timers.
Peter Donegan is, of course, the son of Lonnie Donegan, who was a key figure in popularising US “roots” music in the UK in the 1950s and racked up more than 20 hit singles.
He turned out the first record by a British artist to enter the UK charts at No 1 and in 1978 his album Putting On the Style, produced by Adam Faith, featured Rory Gallagher, Brian May, Elton John, Ringo Starr, Ron Wood and Leo Sayer in tribute to the musical inspiration provided by Lonnie.
Peter, who lives in Bedlington Station, North- umberland, looks and sounds like a chip off the old block, and was joined on stage for the night by younger brother David. The band has been together for two years and also features ex-Lindisfarne Ray Laidlaw on drums, Mark Anderson and Michael Bailey on guitar and Michael’s wife Rachel on fiddle and accordion.
They all live relatively local to the hall and were quick to back the trust’s bid to raise the £6.3m needed to secure the Vanbrugh masterpiece.
The band plays across rock, blues, folk and country and tailored its offering to suit what was very much a community audience.
With Peter switching between guitar and banjo, there was a selection of Lonnie’s hits.
Most notable was Lonnie’s version of Leadbelly’s Rock Island Line, which gave him his first Top 10 hit in the UK and US in 1956.
Also in the mix were Lonnie’s Putting on the Style, a No 1 hit in 1957, Tom Dooley, which made No 3 in 1958 and Battle of New Orleans, also a No 3 hit, followed by It Takes a Worried Man and Have a Drink On Me.
Numbers like Love is Strange , Who Do You Love and blues offerings completed the package.
The only minor disappointment was that the sign-off number before the inevitable encore, the classic Goodnight Irene, was cut short.
An extended version in the manner of Ry Cooder would have been the icing on the cake, with perhaps Rachel’s accordion replacing the evocative concertina solo in Cooder’s act.
Sir Francis Delaval was very partial to his 18th Century musical evenings.
Although he would be surprised by how musical evenings have evolved 250 years after his time, there is no doubt that he would have approved of a great night for the community, and one big and one rather smaller hall.
