LAST night’s sell-out concert by highly-popular duo Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott was a magical affair.

The special guest was Billy Bragg, the singer-songwriter and political activist whose music blends elements of folk, punk rock and protest songs with lyrics mostly spanning political or romantic themes.

As befits his political credentials, his music is heavily centred on bringing about change and involving the younger generation in activist causes.

The 60-year-old expounded between songs on such fashionable issues as reducing the use of plastic, fracking, and the Tory Government’s recent treatment of the Windrush immigrants.

I’m not a Billy Bragg fan – he’s far too left wing for my taste – so I largely ignored the political lectures during his pared-down hour-long set and enjoyed my picnic in the park at Westonbirt.

In fact, the only song I recognised was A New England, which later became a top ten hit single for Kirsty McColl in the mid-1980s.

However, we have Billy to thank for being instrumental in persuading his record label to sign Paul Heaton’s first band The Housemartins back in 1985, a move warmly acknowledged by Paul during his set.

After Bragg departed, Heaton and Abbott slipped quietly on stage to warm acclaim and soon Westonbirt was rocking along to The Housemartins old indie pop hits, Happy Hour, Think For A Minute, their No.1 acapella Isley Brothers’ cover Caravan of Love, Five Get Over Excited and Me and The Farmer.

These were interspersed with songs from Heaton’s next group venture, The Beautiful South, with which he released ten hugely successful albums from 1988 onwards.

Jacqui Abbott was lead vocalist with the band from 1994 to 2000, and she sang many of their signature hits, so we were treated to lovely versions of Rotterdam, Perfect 10, Dream A Little Dream and a solo Don’t Marry Her.

You Keep It All In, my own particular favourite I’ll Sail This Ship Alone, nice renditions of A Little Time, 36D, Good As Gold and Song For Whoever, were all sung and played beautifully.

The new songs from Heaton and Abbott’s joint albums, include DIY, Moulding of a Fool, When It Was Ours, including those from their third album together, Crooked Calypso, more than hold their own against the sing-along classics.

The Lord is a White Con, People Like Us, I Gotta Praise, and She Got The Garden were artfully thrown into the mix and enjoyed immensely by the audience.

Like Bragg, Heaton uses the stage between songs to muse about life, politics and the universe. I prefer to think it’s easier to let the music do the talking.

The concert was part of the Forestry Commission’s Forest Live series, and Westonbirt is becoming very slick at managing these type of picnic in the park music events.

It was easy to get in and just as quick to get out and you can’t fault the atmospheric setting. Coupled with the music, all those trees made for a relaxed and magical evening.