IT is a rare menu where starters whet appetites as much as the main course or dessert. But Tim Hornsby assembled just such a Michelin-starred menu to celebrate Independent Venues Week for £5 a ticket.

Toby Burras’s Unfinished Drawings opened the evening with an exquisite mix of guitar loops & double bass allowing his breathy vocal to shine through a set of originals.

Next up was York’s hardest-gigging musician, Boss Caine, whose distinctive petrol-gargling vocals brought three dimensions to every story he told. Dead Man’s Suit and Smoking In My Backyard had the audience smile as one.

It can only be a matter of time until Dan Lucas is a household name. He cannot be ignored for much longer.

Next up, and possibly in the wrong slot, was the real Duke of York – Rick Witter and Joe Johnson.

There is no doubt Rick is a treasure in this city, the same lad who was playing in the Spotted Cow 25 years ago but with a back catalogue of quality songs. When Joe played the first chord of On Standby the room became a 500-piece Witter tribute act.

Chris Helme and Chris Farrell haunted the venue with expert vocals and guitar virtuosity. Helme squeezes emotion from every lyric with effortless ease – a true one-off in this city.

Mark Morris’s setlist was torn up to please the audience with him venturing into Madonna’s Angel as well as Bluetones classics like Marblehead Johnson and Slight Return.

This was a night where great songs were stripped back to just wood and wire, where charisma was front and centre with all musicians delivering perfect performances.

York needs nights like these. The world needs nights like these. Support your local venues and great musicians will want to play them and nights like these will be commonplace.