One of the highlights of the Weekend is the annual late night Laugharne's Got Talent, which kicks off after everything else has closed and features Keith Allen and band and guest vocalists. It has been known to get raucous so I must have caught it on its best behaviour. As I turned in for the night cartoonist Martin Rowson – who did the logo at the top of this page – was delivering an a cappella rendition of Rolf Harris' Two Little Boys...
By Sunday I was expecting everyone to be wandering around the town like extras from the Walking Dead, but for the first time the sun had come out and everyone was skipping merrily up and down the streets. Writer Magnus Mills was in playful mood discussing his new book, The Forensic Records Society, about a group of men - it is usually men - who use a room in a pub to discuss their favourite records. Mills played us some of his own singles, including a very short Small Faces single, The Kinks' Waterloo Sunset and The Who's Happy Jack.
According to Mills' book the perfect single is three minutes long. I'm going to have to dip into my own record collection and get my stopwatch out to check this. Mills said he would only answer three questions from the audience. Someone asked him what his top fifty singles were. There was more music and chat from Stuart Cosgrove, who has written extensively about America and music in the 1960s, tying political upheaval and musical upheaval together. I don't know if Cosgrove has ever been in a record club but he'd probably fit in - he was able to name all of the Isley Brothers off the top of his head.
And lastly, but by no means leastly, Robin Ince concluded proceedings in the Millennium Hall with a sparkling stand-up set. Luckily nobody was scheduled to follow Ince because – no shit, Sherlock, he overran by thirty minutes and still only did a fraction of his planned set. The previous day had started with Ince discussing the nature of being on form with Mike Brearley and maybe it inspired Ince as he was on excellent form discussing pretty much everything from working with Richard and Judy (more about that Roger Moore joke please) to touring with Brian Cox to discussing pictures of women knitting. The slide machine that had eluded Simon Day seemed to have been sorted now.
The intellectually questioning comic had his perfect audience here. Attentive, appreciative and probably pretty liberal in their outlook. He concluded by quoting Kurt Vonnegut's advice: "God damn it, you've got to be kind.” but the audience looked pretty beneveolent already. At least I assume it was what he finished with. I left as the lights came up. It wouldn't surprise me if this latterday thinking person's Ken Dodd is still onstage.
Footnotes: Rather annoyingly I arrived too late to see Nick Revell, but I heard he was superb and he has a Radio 4 series coming up. I also missed Adam Kay and Franscesca Martinez, but you should already know how good they are. Crime writer Stella Duffy was a veritable human dynamo who could light up Laugharne if the power ever goes down. And if I'd known Simon Day was going to start late I'd have nipped in to see folk legend Peggy Seeger, who was considered by many to be the highlight of the weekend alongside harp and kora duo Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita, who received a standing ovation. Roll on Laugharne 2019...
And finally, sorry if I've missed out your favourites. It's highly possible - I couldn't catch everything and there's something for everyone at The Laugharne Weekend. At least everyone with good taste.
