The expectant buzz abroad in the streets of Bury last Sunday  (Bank Holiday) evening was liken to , for those old enough to remember, a crowd scene from a  ‘Mad Max’ movie.  Shameless and My Gypsy Wedding merging as one as tarts and farts thronged and jostled  through the streets  spilling noisily in and out of every club and bar. Suddenly and thankfully I was off the street  and through the portals of the packed  ‘Automatic ‘ a restaurant associated with Bury’s  MET Theatre  then a quick dive to my left and I was up into the bar area, I had arrived at the Malt Bar.

This tiny area is the venue for Charlotte Henson’s ‘Once More with Meaning !’ a poetry evening  intended to make inroads into Bury’s cultural scene which to date, so I am reliably informed by Charlotte, has lacked a literary and poetic edge.  Although small in number we all sat comfortably awaiting the evening’s event to commence whilst the bar staff busied themselves with drink trays and orders together with a growing number of couples who were awaiting tables to become available in the adjoining restaurant.

The hub bub from the adjoining restaurant was overwhelming, distracting and invasive it was, to put it mildly, downright unpleasant. The introduction of a Mike did little to help the situation which was a great pity because the small and enthusing band of poets  that had gathered  within the Malt Bar wanted to give of their best and were, I felt sure,  worth listening to and appreciating. 

 The guest poets Keke Thompson, Elmi Ali and Reece Williams gave their Headline performances the very best shot against the mounting pollution of interruptus which dulled any pleasure and blurred the subtleties quite rightly deserved by their poetry.

Scott Devon performed as masterly as ever but on this occasion for the greater part due to the continuing throb of background noise, his precious words floated out past the audience on into the masticating cacophony of the restaurant only Scott’s tempo and beat, so typical of much of his performance poetry, remaining.   Cognisant of the situation Benny – Jo Zahl  lifted his performance by a noticeable increase in decibels  to impress  the audience with what I would describe as very much in the style of the Manchester School  of Poetry, in my opinion, a bright young poet with much to offer and ,if we had only been able to effectively , well worth listening to.

Even with the aid of a mike and speaker box compare Charlotte gentled her introductions and poems  into the night as did much of the small gathering of poets one of which, Martin Whatmuff, had come all the way from Leeds for the event, and of course there was Wigan’s ever present and finest brother and sister act Jon boy and Jon girl.

Surely the lesson to be learnt here is that if poets clamour to be heard rather than to be read then  just as surely as God made those little green things  that you put in fruit bowls , a poetry performance   venue must reflect this objective,  sadly for me Once More with Meaning! was rather liken to accepting an invitation to visit an exhibition of paintings in the dark.  By the way If Julian Jordon is reading this and there is any way in which WOL can help in finding a more suitable venue to enable Charlotte to Hear Once More With Clarity , then I have no doubts that  Bury and Charlotte Henson together with all of its associated poets and writers will be the winners.