Christmas came early for the staff and students of the “Best school in Boro” (c). Last Thursday at Trinity Catholic College local heroes Cattle & Cane played a surprise, and completely free, concert at the school’s sixth form. Joe and Helen Hammill treated us to a short set of their own tunes mixed with a few well chosen covers. The night began with organiser and teacher at the college; Dan Donnelly, playing us a couple of songs. Now those not familiar with Mr Donnelly will be unaware that he is now officially the second most famous pop star at the school. He writes tunes and plays gig as well as engaging the students to the wonders of Shakespeare. His short set (2 songs) was well received and included his track “Running”. Check it out at the link below. A man of many talents indeed.

Next up were two students; Chloe & Michelle. Who woo the audience with their superb takes on recent tunes. Both have voices that will see them go a lot further than a school hall.

Following their short but sweet set were “Callahan” the name chosen to represent the talents of Donny & Jack. Are they named after Ian, former Liverpool legend or Jim, one time Prime Minister? I think the world needs to know. Their set is all covers which goes down well with their peers but I would like them to do some tunes of their own. Their undoubted talent will make these well worth waiting for.

Finally Helen and Joe Hammill sneak onto the stage. With little fanfare they launch into Silent Night. Now you probably know my take on covers but Helen’s hauntingly beautiful voice makes this a pleasure to behold. in fact all three covers tonight are great. Mr Brightside is stripped down and given a unique re-working making it almost like a new song. Sold my Soul and The Poacher now border on being part of a greatest hits sequence despite neither of them having been made widely available. I have been promised by Joe that the album will be with us soon. I have been predicting/looking forward to it’s release for 3 years but finally this may actually happen. Like The Second Coming and The Las debut it has taken on legendary status before it even gets out in public. 2014 could finally see Cattle & Cane gaining the attention that their undoubted talent deserves. They finish with Can’t Sleep another gem to be added to their growing rapport of classic songs. As genuine and unassuming as always we chat about the forthcoming album and the chances of them returning to the school. Hopefully they will come back but if not Trinity Catholic college has been lucky to witness their greatness.

A big thank-you to all those performers and especially Dan Donnelly who put it all together. Well Done.

SET LIST
Silent night (Traditional)
Mr Brightside (Killer’s cover)
The Poacher
Sold my Soul
Red
Fairy tale of New York (Pogue’s cover)
Can’t sleep

LINKS:

DAN DONNELLY “Running”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luDmoz_xl9U

CATTLE & CANE: http://www.cattleandcane.co.uk/

TRINITY CATHOLIC COLLEGE: http://www.trinitycatholiccollege.middlesbrough.sch.uk/

By peter on December 15, 2013