All Aboard the AllStyles, All Smiles Ferry

Yes, the smiles came thick and fast on our fun-filled virtual trip across the Mersey, to the Albert Dock, past the Beatles Statue, and onward to Matthew Street.

The scene was set in the intro with a video of the Mersey Ferry (courtesy of North Wales YouTuber Michael R Gentry) to the accompaniment of Gerry Marsden’s “Ferry Across the Mersey” sung by our favourite ex-pat scouser, Joe Lyon.

The Liverpool Sound was very much in evidence throughout the evening with some cracking songs, thirty-eight in all, and I loved the way that those which were not even related to Merseyside were given a sometimes rather tenuous connection by their performers.

With kind permission from another YouTuber, Paul Frost, we were able to present most of the show aboard the Royal Iris on a Mersey Ferry Cruise from Woodside to the Pierhead, with some stunning views of the Liverpool seafront.

Wirral’s country duo, Sarah-Lou and Jimmy Rae, aka Tennessee Waltz, were the last guest night performers at The Feathers before we went into lock-down.

So it was fitting that they should sing Jimmy’s wonderful anthem “Under the Mersey Moon”, for our finale spot, hilariously accompanied by Sarah’s cat, Jazzy, on tambourine.