LAST Saturday saw the Queen's Hall packed with the 'faithful' - and a few more besides - who had made the pilgrimage to Narberth to see rock legends Wishbone Ash.
The show got off to a perhaps slightly gentler start than had originally been planned with Llanteg- based, Canadian singer-songwriter, Damian Etherington taking the stage for an acoustic set.
Damian had been brought in as a last-minute replacement for Last Chance Heroes who, rumour has it, have lost their bass player.
Mr. Etherington demonstrated what is becoming known as his 'acoustic flair' with a style and confidence that will certainly go down well when he returns to the Queen's Hall as part of the line-up for the first gig of the hall's new 'Acoustic Nights' on October 27.
There must have been close to 300 in the hall when Wishbone Ash took to the stage and kicked off their set with a thundering version of 'Warrior' - a guaranteed crowd pleasing opener - from the 1972 album, Argus. From then on in, the night just got better. It looked like the band were relaxed and enjoying themselves and definitely not 'going through the motions' like some appear to.
The set list included probably all the band's best- known tracks... 'King Will Come', 'Ancient Remedy', 'Leaf and Stream', 'Persephone' and of course 'Phoenix' to name a few.
After nearly two hours, the band left the stage, returning to play, as it turned out, four encores, including a powerful version of 'Ballad of the Beacons', which Andy Powell said was written in Wales and the equally good 'Jail Bait'.
Not having seen Wishbone Ash for over 30 years, distant memories were stirred and familiar songs revisited. The band, though perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, are definitely worth seeing and full marks to them for making the effort to come down to Pembrokeshire.
As one member of the audience said, 'you can see where bands like AC/DC and Status Quo are coming from' - perhaps that was a compliment!