A great night's groovy music in Audlem

It's Audlem Online's second birthday today so we are indulging ourselves somewhat with a musical revue spiced with a little topical political comment!

Last night, Audlem's Shroppie Fly pub saw the very welcome return of Carly B's Awesome Funk Collective. The ten young band members are renowned for their attitude to all things groovy and the band's awesome energy had everyone smiling. The band is led and managed by Carl Brunsdon, a graduate of the jazz course at the City of Leeds College of Music, and a regular in Audlem. All of the musicians in the band have been vetted for their musical expertise and, he says, down-right funkiness.

And what an impact they make. The music is superb, the enthusiasm infectious, the entertainment brilliant. With 'youth' the current obsession of politicians, the police and the media, it's just a pity Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Cheshire's chief constable Peter Fahy and a national TV crew weren't at the Shroppie last night. Simply making Carl Brunsdon Minister for the under 25s would have the so-called 'youth issue' solved in no time. The whole of Britain would be rocking as millions of potentially great musicians became great musicians under Carl's expert guidance!

The music is influenced by James Brown and Carl set out to emulate this musical style. The musicians, mainly graduates of music colleges, come from around the country – Oxford, Leeds, Liverpool, Macclesfield and, yes, Audlem's own John Gunstone, or as Carl introduced him last night – 'home-grown, the Gunstone' on keyboards. Tight brass arrangements punctuate the funky rhythm section. Souring diva vocals mix with growling male singing and raps to create a spicy gumbo of a performance.

The youngsters are fit too. They played an energetic non-stop two hour set. And they're fit in every sense. Vocalists Rachel Cook's and Clare Beresford's rendition of Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir? will have had the pulses of the male members of the audience racing. Their accents also showed, that under Carl's tuition, the language teaching problem could be sorted too.

So Mr Brown – we suggest you go see the Funk Collective and put Carl in charge of 'youth'. The only possible downside is that most of us won't be young enough, or talented enough, to qualify.

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