It was a short display, but the MFC still managed to set the Udderbelly alight.
As a Company newbie, a friend helpfully described the band to me while we were queuing to get in, “Swampy alternative bluegrass with a dark treacle folk centre”. As descriptions go, this was right on the money, and 24 hrs later, I find myself trawling the net for information and back catalogues. To those already in the know, this Brighton-based fivesome are the new face of urban acoustic roots music – embracing and re-versioning the good bits from all sorts of musical genres.
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Inevitable comparisons arise with the Pogues and The Waterboys, but for my money MFC are truly fit for the 21st century. Apart from being a great guitar picker and songwriter, lead man Gareth McGahan is a warm and droll raconteur. On the issue of the short 35-minute set, he jibed, “If you’d clapped quicker, we could have played more…” Playing on home turf is always an advantage and short of donning dungarees and trying to smuggle moonshine into the intestines of the puffy purple cow, the eclectic crowd were totally up for it. Which begs the question - why have such a ‘foot-stompin’ ‘gold in them there hills’ band on at 5 o’clock in the afternoon? In a venue that doesn’t like people to dance? Baaa and Mooo to the Udderbelly. | 
