MORE than a dozen of Bermuda's musicians showcased their talents before an appreciative audience at the Bermuda Folk Club.

Chris Broadhurst was the opening artist for the night, rattling off a string of cover tunes before finishing with a Beatles song.

Making his return to the Folk Club was Marty Amick, whose prowess on the violin is second to none. Looks were definitely deceiving, as Marty appeared to be all business, but had a sense of humour that thawed even the frostiest member of the audience.

His opening number, entitled Billy On the Low Ground, was a moderately paced song. This followed up by The Hoop Pick Waltz and an 18th-century dance tune.

Chris Hopkins showed little sign of stage fright as he and Dennis Eldridge gave a stirring rendition of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, which was a fitting dedication to the late Paul Gibbons. Hopkins' performance of the Rolling Stones' Ruby Tuesday wasn't half bad and his return to the Folk Club was greatly appreciated.

The trio of Dennis Eldridge, Mike Keats and Tommy Smith rattled off a string of parody-labelled tunes including one that dealt with riding on the wrong side of the road. Every so often the trio seemed to have lost their place during the performance, but managed to redeem themselves in fine fashion.

The next duo were strangers to the stage, Michael Kilpartrick and Marcel Zettler, who unplugged the set featuring cover tunes from the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac.

The duo were later joined by Ben Nunn (aka Ben Jammin'), who accompanied them in the acoustic version of Sting's cover tune Field of Gold. Many of the musicians limited their set to three songs, as some musicians waited to the side in anticipation of being the next featured performer.

The show went off without any serious technical problems and most of the performers performed an acoustic set including one performer who went by his first name, Darren. Thirteen must have been his lucky number as he opened his set with the Johnny Cash tune entitled Thirteen. He rounded off his set with Pearl Jam's Wish List and Off He Goes before exiting stage left.

The second act, featuring female performers, was the duo of Sharon Murphy and Niamh Gleeson. Those who believe Bermudians are conservative and politely clap at the end of the performance evidently have not ventured to the Folk Club during the open Mic Night!

There was an obvious clique of Murphy and Gleeson fans in the audience as the deafening roar of applause was among the loudest for the night. It was Gleeson's debut performance and both she and Murphy deserved every bit of the applause. It would have been worth it to have an encore performance from these two.

Veteran Ben Jammin' performed a brief three-song set, winding up his performance with One Day At a Time. Perhaps it was a classic case of saving the best for last as Matt Clifford was billed as the closing performer for the evening, much to the delight of the Bermuda Lacrosse Club contingent who were on hand to cheer him on.

Known for his performance of Dave Matthews songs, Clifford delivered the goods with Typical Situation, before launching into Jeff Haynes' A Hero.

One would have thought Clifford was the headliner judging from the thunderous ovation he received as he thrilled the Edwin McCain fans with Life In A Storm. Rather than running down the clock with idle banter, Clifford appeased his fans with an encore before ending his set.

It was without a doubt the fastest three hours of quality entertainment one could hope for on a Saturday night.

One solo performer managed to get in his performance just under the wire with an edgy acoustic performance of Highest Ground. With time against him, he rattled off another tune before calling it a night.