IT was the turn for fans of old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll spiced with a dash of swing and soul when the Oklahoma native JD McPherson took to the stage with his four-piece band Sold-out signs were posted within hours of the announcement of the gig, hence the atmosphere was electric when JD and the boys stepped out on stage. They didn’t disappoint.

He kicked it away with Dimes For Nickels, soon followed by big favourite Firebug. Those (girls mainly) of an energetic nature were up dancing as Gateshead Library offered free out-of-hours dance lessons.

With covers tossed in alongside his originals, JD rang the changes as he paid tribute to the likes of Fats Domino.

And what a job he did, too, of Tiny Kennedy’s Country Boy.

You just needed to take one look at McPherson to picture him performing off an old flatbed truck back in the 1950s playing parking lots, small town county fairs and the like.

Better still, unlike those days he had a sound system and keyboards, drummer (what touch he had), tenor sax and Jimmy Sutton (upright bass) pump up the ante.

With the place bursting at the seams and an act genuinely hot, I could think of worse ways to begin my season of gigs.

Support came from New York singer-songwriter Sean Rowe.