Having said that, it's his little project and he's doing it his way.

Firstly though a few words about the support act - Ella Edmondson - at the Intake, Mansfield.

As you may have worked out from the name, Ella is related to Ade. His daughter to be precise and she certainly has the look of her mum, Jennifer Saunders, about her. Musically she's calm and mellow with an All About Eve/Cranberrys feel to her material. The line-up consists of Ella on guitar, an acoustic bassist and a drummer which blends perfectly for the celtic style which comes over.

The music certainly isn't mainstream, but given the level of professionalism and backing she has from her family, there's no reason why she shouldn't go on to bigger and better things. Ade is an accomplished musician with a passion for what he's doing which has obviously been passed down to his daughter.

Onto the main event. Five musicians with Edmondson in the middle giving his all on the Mandolin. The other four comprised of violin, acoustic guitar/bass, Uilleann Pipes/flute and Bodhran (irish drum).

All very much of a folk music nature so to hear that the material was to be punk classics done in a folk stylee intrigued no end. To be honest it's not the first time someone has decided to take a genre and turn it on its head.

You have the excellent Hayseed Dixie with their bluegrass renditions of rock and of course Pat Boone who decided to take a few heavy Metal numbers and make them his own with 'In a Metal Mood, No More Mr Nice Guy'. All very strange but very good nevertheless.

Talk to Eddie 'Elizabeth' Hitler about music and The Clash will be most likely mentioned so it was no surprised to hear them open up with 'I Fought The Law' to an appreciative audience. The classic set the tone for renditions of some classic punk era material mixed with a few eyebrow raisers.

Tom Robinsons 'Up Against The Wall' followed by PiLs 'Rise' then into Wreckless Erics 'Wide World' kept the crowd wondering what the next track was going to be. Their version of Kraftworks 'The Model' raised a cheer once the appreciative crowd cottoned on to what it was.

Between the two Edmondson categorically didn't sort of sing a sort of song about and old manager. He made it quite clear that it wasn't about him, had nothing to do with him and Bob, for that is his name, was alright really. Apparently….

Edmondson then reverted back to his comedy roots with a sheep parable in keeping with the strange choice of band name. A return to the covers saw a rather different 'Teenage Kicks' which, very much like most of the others, gave the crowd no clue until the vocals kicked in. Next up was The Stranglers 'No More Heroes' which kept the crowd on a high.
With former Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention member Martin Allcock in the midst Edmondson turned the tables with a somewhat shortened 'All Around My Hat' with a few added naughty words.

The back straight comprised of a return to The Clash with 'London Calling', Talking Heads 'Once In A Lifetime', a rather interesting version of Psalm 23 revolving around alcohol, Squeezes 'Up The Junction' and finally a classic in The Sex Pistols 'God Save The Queen'.

Off they went for a few seconds only to return for the mandatory encore which according to the setlist began with a rather long instrumental entitled 'The Gay Horse Reel'. To finish things off Edmondson and co belted out Sham 69s 'Hurry Up Harry'. An extended version which Edmondson tried to wind up a few times until he announced it was his round and the show came to an end.

On the whole a very entertaining gig given that a lot were wondering what to expect. The Bad Shepherds don't come across as overly serious despite the wealth of experience in the line-up. The comedy aspect had to be in there. If Edmondson hadn't bantered with the crowd then many would have thought something was wrong and disappointed.

An excellent show from an excellent set of musicians at an excellent venue.

— The Hipster