The Dark House
Final time visitors
You are back in the study. Instinctively, you start rummaging around for more clues relating to the mysteries concerning the identity of the owner of that diary (which is kept in the cellar) and the identity of the owner of The Dark House. You are not disappointed as within minutes you have your hands on what appears to be a very old newspaper. Your trusty torch is at hand.
You notice the newspaper is dated 14th July 1833. Turning the page you find a small article which refers to a wealthy English landowner having been found dead at his manor house, having sustained a single gunshot wound to the head. A note was found beside his body. No other persons were being looked for in connection with his death. His name was Nathaniel Raven. Was that the man which Isobel wrote to? (you saw the letter when you were in the cellar) you thought to yourself.
Just then an orange piece of paper falls out of the newspaper. You pick it up.
It appears to be a ticket to an All About Eve gig on 30th July 2000 at the Lucky Break, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. On the back there is writing - you recognise it immediately as the same writing which is in the diary. It reads:
For this acoustic delivery, there were only 3 members of the band in attendance - Julianne Regan (vocals), Marty Willson-Piper (semi-acoustic guitars) and Andy Cousin (semi-acoustic guitar/electric bass guitar).
The atmosphere was relaxed, evidenced by the reaction which Marty Willson-Piper received to the numerous quips he made throughout the evening. Julianne also joined in the joviality by making her own jokes (quite a change from the time when she appeared with the band at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, in the 1980s, when she stormed off stage during 'Martha's Harbour' because the audience was making too much noise).
Julianne's voice had not lost the harmonious quality it had back in the heyday of AAE. Generally, the acoustic set up worked really well with her voice, especially on 'What Kind of Fool', 'In the Clouds', 'Never Promise (Anyone Forever)', 'Shelter from the Rain' and 'Martha's Harbour' (the latter being originally composed and recorded as an acoustic track in any event).
However not all tracks adapt well to acoustic conversions: 'Wild Hearted Woman' and 'Every Angel' cried out for a drum beat and hard-hitting electric guitars, in order to provide rhythm, punch and to 'fill the gaps' left by the empty silences in between the acoustic guitar strums and Julianne's voice. That's not to say that Marty Willson-Piper didn't give it all he had got when frantically plucking his guitar strings during his solo slots: he showed great skill and dexterity in manipulating the strings at rapid speed. The problem was his guitars were, well, just not noisy enough.
The set included some non-AAE songs: the only one which I can now recall is 'Miss World', which apparently appeared on Julianne's 'Mice' album. I remember some reference in the lyrics to 'working for charity': the lyrics, like many AAE lyrics (earlier AAE tracks refer to flowers e.g. 'Flowers in Our Hair' and 'Wild Flowers'), are based on romanticisms and no self-respecting macho man can maintain a cool image if he proceeds to sing along.
When the band left the stage I knew they would return for an encore because they hadn't at that stage performed 'Every Angel'. Sure enough, the band did return (much to the delight of the audience) and it wasn't long before the intro to 'Every Angel' could be detected.
Overall this gig was very enjoyable, but it would have been even more so if the band had selected only low tempo tracks for the set: upbeat tracks such as 'Every Angel' should not be performed unless the full complement of the band is in the house and the guitars are of the electric variety.
Rating: ***
You also find 2 photographs. Unfortunately, these are of poor quality.
Turning the photographs over, you notice that written on the back are the words All About Eve in action, University of East Anglia, some time in the 1980s.
You feel you are moments away from finding out the truth and getting all the answers to those unsolved mysteries. Can you handle the truth? If not, you should leave the house now. If you need to be reminded of the previous clues, go back, which will bring you back to The Dark House entrance. From there use the 'regular visitors' entrance. If you are ready for the truth, proceed to the final part of the story (the author takes no responsibility for persons who may be disturbed by what follows: faint-hearted visitors should go home now).
Last updated: 02.08.00
Photography: David Bennett
©2000 Dors Productions
