The Spooky Men’s Chorale first appeared back in 2001 and have become a bit of a staple of UK folk festivals across the summer ever since. They are Australia based but have a few extra UK based members that join them for various dates when they are this side of the world. This afternoon they were headlining ‘The Ham’ as part of the Sidmouth Folk Festival.

They took the stage in their trademark totally black outfits, each with a different hat (and an umbrella in one instance too) with the choirmaster sporting a sort of airman type wooly hat, which I would have thought would have been sweltering in this tent, but sometimes people suffer for their art.

They open with ‘We are Not a Men’s Group’ a tongue in cheek description of what they are about, followed by another of their own songs ‘Give it a Go’ whereby they offer to take on any small jobs you may have from air traffic control to wind turbine mechanics, I feel we should note that we cannot guarantee their skill levels at these and you hire them at your own risk.

As well as their own songs they have a repertoire of covers too, some such as ‘Jolene’ it’s not instantly easy to recognise. But the quality of the vocals is outstanding throughout ‘Tee Tee, Tay Tay’ was another highlight which mixed Taylor Swift and Tina Turner, which works a lot better than you’d expect. Should you have been inclined there was the offer to learn this with them as part of a workshop the next day. I didn’t as my singing is possibly the last thing anyone wants to hear.

While a lot of the set is definitely on the slightly ridiculous side, note the self-doubt song when the choir master leaves, there are also some tender moments. The cover of Tom Waits stops you in your tracks. ‘Treaty’ regarding the returning of aboriginal land and a traditional Ukrainian song also give the chance to highlight some important issues amongst the other frivolity.

It's back to absurdly wonderful for the closing numbers of a version of Bohemian Rhapsody that really needs to be heard to be believed and results in their black shirts being removed. I certainly never expected to see around 15 middle aged men in their vests today. Set closer has everyone on their feet for a version of ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’ as a thoroughly entertaining hour or so comes to an end. This is the first act we have seen at this years festival and if this is the quality we can expect, it’s going to be a fantastic week.