Review Centre: Harmonica Players

"My wife and I popped along to see the popular Denis Cook's solo gig. Along with his regular set songs like: "Budapest" by George Ezra, an acoustic version of The Foundations "Baby Now That I’ve Found You", Neil Diamond's "Love On The Rocks" and "Sweet Caroline", even Chas & Dave's "Rabbit" Denis establishes a good rapport with his audience, some of whom are obviously regular fans, so there was plenty of joking, repartee and crowd participation during this gig which was played to a packed house and which saw Denis strumming guitar, ukulele, mandolin and blowing some decent harmonica too. Denis has learnt his craft well and along with his affable manner and fine vocal renditions which made for a very pleasant evening. (For those who may not already know, this talented man is also a well-respected DJ!) In any event, we had intended to stay only a short while but ended up staying put for a full, enjoyable 3 hours and although I didn't count, I'm told Denis played 52 songs in this extended set!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Since l was little I remember my nan taking me to the pub to watch the live bands and enjoying all of it and it's been so long since I've seen anything on the same level so watching at the cross lances on remembrance Sunday 2019 it was like going back in time. This band is amazing friendly and bring out all the originals that I didn't even realise I have missed. So thank you. Stephanie 34 Hounslow."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"What a great afternoon spent with Phil Harmonica Lewinsky, it exceeded my expectation. Loved his wit and humour. It was fantastic singing along with all the old cockney songs & Chas n Dave's. .. such a great atmosphere and fun... so uplifting that it even carried me through Monday too just thinking about it and I couldn't get some of the songs out of my head all day Monday ... Rabbit Rabbit... Been to Margate.. and .. I'm Henry 8th I am... !!! . Will definately be going along to another gig again soon. Nice one Harmonica Lewinsky and lovely friend pub too."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Wow what a night we had with Denis !! So talented and professional, and the history behind songs and the story’s made the night , all our customers had the best night ( felt like a New Year’s Eve party 🤣) Ian smith ( owner), Sunday 31 August 2025"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"I booked Soph and Mat for our wedding to play our pre-ceremony, ceremony, drinks reception and first dance after seeing some of their videos on their website. And by god was that a masterstroke decision as we and all our guests were absolutely blown away by them. The music really sets the tone and atmosphere of the wedding. Our guests were raving about them all day and they sang our chosen songs just how I imagined they would. Fantastic, professional from the start and we didn’t have to worry about a thing on the day as Soph and Mat did their thing. I would book them again in a heartbeat. Thank you so much from Alex and Nik xx"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Brian and Serena are AMAZING! Both great people and from the beginning, communication with Brian was so easy and friendly. He really took onboard our music preferences and created such a great vibe for our wedding aperitivo. Brian and Serena even let us use their microphone for our wedding speeches. They will go above and beyond for their clients. Highly recommend!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"I'm so glad we booked Denis for my mums 80th party, it absolutely made our day. Not only did everyone love the music, Denis had taken the time to think about what age my mum would have been on each song and walked us through her years hitting milestones such as her 18th and 21st etc. It was such a great touch. Gemma, Monday 25 November 2024"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Jeff was perfect for our event. We were looking for an acoustic guitarist to play in the background during our event, and Jeff filled that role exactly as expected. He is very talented, and we couldn't have asked for anything better—especially for his rates!! He could easily charge twice as much for what was provided. He was extremely professional, showed up early for the event, and was already set up when we got there. Thank you, Jeff!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thanks Phil A great evening at Tring Conservative Club the joint was really having a cockney knees up, with everyone enjoying themselves can recommend this act to any venue well done"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Non possiamo che ringraziare Brian & Serena per la loro disponibilità e la loro professionalità: sono stati la colonna sonora perfetta per il nostro matrimonio! Grandi voci, repertorio vastissimo. Hanno anche suonato dal vivo la nostra canzone! Consigliatissimi! We can only thank Brian & Serena for their helpfulness and professionalism-they were the perfect soundtrack for our wedding! Great voices, huge repertoire. They even played our song live! Highly recommended!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Before seeing this show I had heard many rumours about Harmonica Lewinsky, whose background was shrouded in mystery, although I believe he learned his harmonica skills in the Deep South in the deltas of Harrow on the Hill under the tutelage of Blind Les Battersby. But, it was a very different character to the one I expected who performed at the posh Victoria pub in Highgate! Mr Lewinsky, looking like a cross between a rabbi and one-half of Chas 'n Dave (I'm not sure which half) appeared in cloth cap and braces and presented a highly original selection of songs, some of which rarely see the light of day. There were no predictable “Brown Eyed Girls” or “Mustang Sally’s” here: instead - a veritable feast of the unexpected - as we witnessed one man, his guitar and his trusty harps. When was the last time you heard a pub act kick off his set with Chas 'n Dave's “The Sideboard Song” and follow it with the Theme to “Top Cat” and then offerings of cheery, chirpy Cockney ditties including “Waiting At The Church,” “Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner”, “Show Me The Way To Go Home” and Tommy Steele's “What A Mouth”? I’m guessing the answer to that question is ‘rarely’ (if ever) but the fun didn't stop there. Mr Harmonica Man is a really great entertainer and demonstrated, with great finesse, his harmonica technique on - wait for it - the Shadows' “Apache”! It was quite a feat playing the melody on the harp while strumming his guitar. ‘Harmy’, as he is known to his close friends (or 'Self-Harmy‘ to others) also tackled in the first half the theme to "The Flintstones"; Elvis Costello's catchy “Watching The Detectives” and the Cockney knees-up “I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts”. Harmy was back in terrific Pearly King form for the second half starting with “Any Old Iron” followed by a touch of the Formbys with “Leaning On A Lamppost” after which he did a ‘Donegan’ with a riotous version of “My Old Man's A Dustman” complete with enthusiastic audience participation. Mr Lewinsky has a great sense of humour, which he constantly shares with the Victoria regulars. "Here's another Cockney classic sung by a Welsh man", quipped Harmy before diving into “Delilah.” Other gems included the theme tune to ‘Match Of The Day’ (played on two harmonicas); a very funny and risque interpretation of Mike Jerome's “Sling Yer Hook”; a great version of the Small Faces' mod anthem “Lazy Sunday”; and a yahoo rendition of the old country favourite “Riders In The Sky”. After many encores Mr Lewinsky packed away his cap and braces and headed off to the Deep South (of London) for some pie and mash. The Victoria would do well to snap up Harmy for some more gigs before he hop-foots it down the Strand for a residency at the Old Bull and Bush!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Paul plays every month at our venu. Our clientel range from 30s to 60s and every time Paul engages with the customers and plays requests if he knows the songs. He plays a wide range of music/songs to suit everyone. He also has a good following to his gigs. A great choice for events and birthdays . "

Rating: 8 / 10 Share this review:

"Brilliant night at the Brewery Tap. (Long may it survive). And long may Harmonica Lewinsky and his musical colleagues survive. Chas and Dave's Margate had the whole pub rockin' and almost rollin, The mixture of Cockney and Elvis (Costello and Presley) went down a treat. A great night was had by all."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Sehr geehrter Herr Ripatti, Hiermit bestätigen wir Ihnen gerne unsere Absicht, Sie in Zukunft als Musiker für Auftritte in unserem Irish Pub Dubliner in Bayreuth engagieren zu wollen. Nach dem ersten Vorspielen bei uns waren wir begeistert und finden die musikalische Darbietung sehr passend für uns als Irish Pub, so dass wir, je nach terminlicher Vereinbarkeit, Sie in den nächsten Jahren sehr gerne als einen neuen Stammmusiker in die Planung unserer regelmäßigen Veranstaltungen einbinden würden. Mit freundlichen Grüßen Irish Pub Dubliner, Wittelsbacherring 2-4, 95444 Bayreuth Tel. Nr.: 0921-512630 Steuer Nr.: 208/254/40101 Finanzamt Bayreuth IBAN: DE05 7734 0076 0741 8643 00 BIC: COBADEFFXXX (Commerzbank Bayreuth) Inhaber: Ralph Neidhardt"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Walter et ses musiciens ont mis le feu ce mardi a Cotignac, Place de la Mairie. Une ambiance chaleureuse, avec une audience participatif . Quel plaisir de voir ce groupe FrenchConnection. 9n en veut encore!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review: