Mookie Brando and the Second Cousins put on a very special show Thursday night. It was special for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the first set dubbed "Arm's Length Heroes." In this set, Mookie played a number of tunes written by friends of his and not often, if ever, covered by others. I think that is about to change. I especially enjoyed "Pure" (Michael Kentish), "Budapest" (Richard Adkin), "Galyatető" (Mester Csaba), "When God Created the Woman" (Gábor Mándy (lyrics)), and "Ice Skates and Stars" (Artemus Ward). As you can see, Mookie also sang a couple in Hungarian, which is special in and of itself. Furthermore, Tony Donnelly set up a live streaming broadcast, that at its height had an additional audience of 40 from around the world.

Mookie also passed the hat for his friend Monika who's mother is in hospital and came back with an amazingly generous 40000 huf for her cause.

The Second Cousins, minus Bence the drummer, took the stage in the second half. It was good to finally hear Chris Parson's electric guitar at work You can tell that the new line up (including Michael Kentish) is still feeling its way through the songs and working on meshing on stage, but it is getting there - and watch out when it does! I especially liked "November" (Mookie Brando), "Mr Cliché" (Mookie Brando), "Want It Back" (Mookie Brando), "Folsom Prison Blues" (Johnny Cash) and "Police on My Back" (Eddy Grant).

One of the reasons I love this town is how wonderful things perculate up from the city's morras either through events at Treehugger Dan's or some of the other English language venues. A case in point is an idea that bubbled up Thursday night from locals Howard Cohen, David Trayford and Tim Child to pool all our resources and throw a massive fundraising concert to benefit the victims of the toxic sludge disaster in Western Hungary. If you want to get involved as a performer (music, comedy...), sponsor, media work, volunteer or other, please contact us.

First Set List:
Travelling Soul - Geordie MacKay
Ain't It Sweet - Bob Trotsky Pike
Pure - Michael Kentish
Grey Sky - Beaux Jaxon
Budapest - Richard Adkin
Now Its Over - Monika Henter
My Dandelion - Gregory Zeigler
Galyatető - Mester Csaba
Traveling Buskers - Sugar Rae Hammond
Today We Are - Jerome Li Thiao Te
When God Created the Woman - Gábor Mándy (lyrics)
Ice Skates and Stars - Artemus Ward
Erdőkben Veled - Gábor Bihari and Tom Bognar

Second Set List:
November
Mr Cliché
Want It Back
Shakin' in the Middle of the Night
Best I Can
Angel Tonight
Missionary Zeal
Monica
Angelina
To Love Somebody (The Bee Gees)
Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash)
Police on My Back (Eddy Grant)