Rehobeth Chapel, Hakin. Un-prepossessing outside, but a revelation inside. Beautifully and tastefully decorated in clean pastel colours which we are certain was no easy task for those with that responsibility, the ceiling extending seemingly to the heavens. Much rich glowing mahogany around entrance doors, pulpit and railings, evidence of a bygone age of the artisan craftsman, befitting a chapel of its period. The venue and ambience always important, but more important is the welcome, and there was a very warm welcome for members of Pembroke and District Male Voice Choir and its musical team from the expectant audience. Their reputation preceded them and much was expected; Martyn Evans's words, not this writer. No pressure then! Not a large audience, it must be admitted, but with the choir needing a fair proportion of spare seats, a larger audience may have been an inconvenience in such a compact chapel! There's a close connection between Gilead, Maidenwells, and Rehobeth - Martyn Evans (Rtd) was a past minister at both chapels. Margaret Brown, an elder in Gilead, was present in the audience again, not satisfied with hearing the choir only last week. Phil Lloyd, choir secretary, was at Bush School with Martyn, Francis Owen, Rehobeth elder, has been a choir VP for ever, and so the relationships continue. The dreaded 'lurgy' had struck Chris Lloyd (conductor) during the week, no voice to speak of (no pun intended!), but her personality is more than enough to keep the choir on its toes; Martyn made comment of it later. A downside was the absence of a Chris Lloyd/Joan Lewis duet, similar to the one enjoyed in Gilead recently, but there were other compensations. For instance, Henry Johnston (former chorister and tenor soloist) paid a visit to the area and joined his former choir for the concert. He would be the first to admit he was improperly dressed to stage (no choir jacket), but he received the blessing of the choir for this one time only and he sang a very fine 'Holy City' in lieu of suffering the usual heavy fine for such transgressions! Owen Jones was his usual powerful self in his solo of 'Go Down Moses', Joan Lewis sang a tender and intensive 'On My Own'. Alyson Griffiths turned to a sweet Welsh song for her very nice flute solo 'Ai Am Fod Haul yn Machlud', while David (Sam) Thomas performed 'The Lost Chord', his first effort with that song in public. All soloists received warm appreciation from the listeners for their fine performances. And were the choir outshone by the soloists? Not from audience reaction seemingly. Chris Lloyd had provided an entertaining and varied programme to enable them to impress and they went to work with a will under her firm direction. Dylan Thomas was paid tribute to, two items related to the centenary of the 1st World War (no celebration this of course, but tributes to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice). There were lighter items to raise the spirits, Welsh item,s too, plenty for everyone and all tastes. Martyn Evans was much impressed with the performance of both conductor and choir and spent some time in his address praising the efforts of the musical team who bear the responsibility for the choir's standards. Jenny Griffiths, despite other draining commitments during the day, supported her mother's leadership with accompaniment of expert authority. Martyn was most kind in his praise and appreciation of the work the choir does raising funds for good causes, as other choirs do in the area of course, and quietly wondered where that support money would come from without commitment of such kind. Chapel ladies were generous enough to provide a wide variety of refreshments following concert's end; Tony Ward (chairman) expressed the choir's gratitude to them. An excellent concert and audience; a satisfactory night for all.