Sutton man’s living room gig

Huw Lynd-Evans, centre, at his home in Sutton with up and coming band Rita Payne who put on a concert in his front room.

But that was indeed the case for one Sutton man this week when a Doncaster-based band popped in to perform an intimate gig at his house.

Huw Lynd-Evans responded to a tweet put out on social media website Twitter by acoustic duo Rita Payne, asking if anybody wanted to host a little concert in their home.

And because he was the first to reply, the two-piece came down to Sutton on Monday and performed to a roomful of Huw’s family and friends.

“It was fantastic,” said Huw (46), of The Shires.

“I put food and drink on and it was very casual.

“They played for about 30 to 40 minutes, took a break and then did another 40 to 50 minutes or so.

“We are all massive music fans and every single person was blown away by them.”

Huw first saw Rita Payne when they were supporting former Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson and The Blockheads bassist Norman Watt-Roy in Sheffield and was so impressed that he started following them on Twitter.

Rita Payne is made up of Rhiannon Scutt and Pete Sowerby - the name is an anagram of their first names - and they describe their musical style as a mix between Blues and folk with maybe a little bit of a country influence too.

They have done a few house concerts before, all of which have been really successful, but said that the gig at Huw’s house was the most intimate yet, with an audience of only around 15.

Said Rhiannon: “It was fun! It was probably the smallest one we have done in terms of the number of people but it was totally different - you get an opportunity to speak to people so it’s more interactive.”

Huw said that everybody enjoyed the gig, with one friend remarking it was the first he had been able to go to in his slippers!

“Everybody was incredibly impressed. It was a beautiful atmosphere and their performance was astonishingly good,” he added.

To see a video of Rita Payne’s gig at Huw’s house visit www.chad.co.uk.