What a place! A huge asylum converted into a hundred or so flats, with beautiful grounds, trees, a stunning view, the air fresh and the welcoming Malcolm and Gina so in the Unlit vibe!

The first thing they did was to unveil a plate of local cheese (we like cheese), heat up some incredible mushroom soup and boil the kettle. Then they showed us the huge room we were going to use for Unlit. After the first two being literally in a small front room and a dining room, it was nice to have a bit of a change and have quite a big space to do it in.

Malc and Gina totally got the Unlit thing...

”Well we’ve invited quite a lot of people we don’t really know... neighbours in the building, various people about town we pass but don’t really normally talk to... I guess we’ll see who turns up... but that’s the point isn’t it? That it’s open to anyone?”

ABSOLUTELY! Just when I was thinking the hosts attitude couldn’t get any better they got out some marker pens and said, “We were thinking we could draw a frame on the wall that says “My space, your space, our space” and people could write stuff on the walls.”

"OH MY GOD I love these people!" I thought. They were even up for me writing Unlit on the wall behind the stage in insulating tape.

I was beginning to get really excited. They had asked me to sort the bands out for the night so I asked two bands from London to come down: one called The Wireless (who wouldn’t normally do anything approaching an acoustic set but who had said they would give it a go) and two members of the band Semaphore, again, normally a rocking outfit but happy to just let Louis, the singer, do his thing acoustically tonight.

They were going to play alongside The Grumpy Bush Hill Band aka Jackie and Peter, who were friends of Gina’s Dad and purveyed their own take on Appalachian folk, to an audience of friends and unknowns who had taken the leap of faith to walk through Malc and Gina’s door, into the old asylum and see what the racket was all about.

Well, needless to say the night was a raging success, but not without a little tension beforehand. The Wireless were worried there were no 'young people' in the audience, Jackie and Peter were worried no one was going to like their music, lots of the people arriving didn’t really know why they were there, or what was going to happen... or even if they were going to like it and so they were carrying the associated wariness with them.

Then I was running around talking to them trying to make sure everyone had a drink and introducing opposing camps to each other. The music as usual worked its magic, Sharon opened her mouth and any lingering doubts stopped.

I won’t even tell you what happened next... you’ll see it soon enough (it will be Episode 3 of The Road We’re On)... all that needs to be said is that this Unlit really showed us what we could do and has got me seriously in the mood for the ones coming up.