Monday night and The Mike Sanchez All Stars (Mike Sanchez, pno, gtr, vocals, Andy Silvester, gtr, and how!, Al Gare, bass, Mark Morgan, drums with the Harlem Horns), put together an absolute extravaganza, their customary display of urban R'n'B excellence punctuated by the appearance of their guests, the constantly shifting line up giving real pace to the show.
They started with a song from Mike Sanchez' Big Town Playboys days' She Left Me Driftin'' and everything was rocking. Despite a throat infection, Mike still gave 100%, covering a whole range of songs, from Brook Benton's 'Hurtin' Inside' to rockers such as 'Fast Train' on which he played guitar.
The Extraordinaires exploded on to the stage wearing pure heaven-born suits, jitterbugging, doin' the splits and singing 'Rock Bottom' like it's 1955. 'Let's Rock It, Let's Roll It' and 'Heart Of A Fool' showed they had the harmonies down too. 'If That Don't Prove I Love You' sounded great, the dance moves redolent of Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers.
Extraordinary is right!

Imelda Clabby was introduced and added her considerable vocal skills to songs ranging from Lavern Baker's 'Voodoo Voodoo' to Wynona Carr's 'Till The Well Runs Dry'. Shirley and Lee's 'Let The Good Times Roll' saw her and Mike singing in sweet harmony as the band showed their understanding of New Orleans dynamics.
Paul Ansell bounded on and threw caution to the wind for his take on James Brown's 'I'll Go Crazy' and Clyde Mcphatter's 'Lover Please' returning later for a solid version of 'Somebody Trying To Steal My Girl'.

On this showing i didn't think there was anyone to touch them. The audience agreed, so, despite throat infection, we got an encore: Chuck Berry's rarely heard 'Almost Grown' with the Extraordinaires taking the Moonglows' parts and Andy Silvester contributing one of his peerless I-dont-do-slavish-note-for-note-solos.
And then i woke up.

Neil Thompson - Juke Blues