Lowly Macclesfield was inexorably, and irrevocably twinned with mighty New York on Friday night. My musical week(end) started and finished at the performance of Messrs Willie Nile and George Borowski and their two fabulous bands in Snow Goose Live.

I had anticipated that it could be possibly the rock show of the year and after its conclusion I am convinced I was right.

If anything better than that ventures into Macclesfield this year I can only hope I have the good fortune to be in attendance. If not, I am happy in the knowledge that I was in the presence of these two songwriting titans when they went toe to toe in my town.

That allusion is actually too pugilistic to represent what in reality took place. Both these artists were in awe of one another and the respect that they mutually showed for each other’s performance shone through so brightly, which tended to enhance the show and create an atmosphere for the audience that money just cannot buy.

These guys have a combined experience in the rock industry of almost a century, which is in itself a humbling statistic for many of the younger generation of musicians who wisely came to see them. Their careers bear many similarities.

They are both inspirational songwriters with a social conscience which is typical of their generation but unfortunately not as commonplace in younger writers.

They are both consummate performers still passionate about their craft, possessing an enviable ability to connect with their audiences. They both perform like they were 21 years old.

They have both during their careers received critical acclaim from the industry for their extraordinary output of music, which continues undiminished, but neither has achieved the commercial success that they undeniably deserve.

Both have gathered fan bases containing superstars of our time; Willie – Bruce Springsteen, the Who, Bono, Lou Reed; George –Meatloaf, Elbow, Doves, Frank Black (Pixies).

These rock icons are effusive with praise and admiration for these two extraordinary artists, and once you have had the privilege of seeing them playing live it is easy to see why.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Willie for the Thread (Canalside Radio), which they broadcast more than once last week.

It was a totally satisfying experience, with Willie delivering detailed, informative and intelligent responses to every question asked of him, all with humility and the self- effacement not expected from such a monumentally talented man.

He was so intuitive he answered most of my questions before they were put, making me feel like the skilled interviewer I am most definitely not.

Both gentleman drew on their vast back catalogues of songs during their respective sets to take us on an ecstatic musical journey for three hours.

In Willie’s set he drew heavily on his new album American Ride (June release) for which

he had fortunately produced a pre-release tour version as there would have otherwise been many very disappointed people there who wanted a memento of the evening, myself included.

The final words on this event belong to Tim Vinall, the local man who, as a committed fan of Willie’s, had earned a place on stage, through Pledge Music.com, playing guitar on a song (One Guitar) with the band. The time came and Tim took his place with his shiny new amp and guitar and he did his stuff.

To say the man was excited is understating it but with some recent expert tuition from Dewi Chappell (RoughTwist), he pulled it off with aplomb with the biggest grin nailed on his boyishly excited face you are ever likely to see.

Willie kept Tim on stage for the final two songs and was also joined by George with some enthusiastic backing vocals.

So how many of you lucky people were there for this exceptional evening? 300? 200? In fact less than 100, probably 50 per cent of which were from all over the UK, unbelievable and sad that the majority of you remain in the dark about these stunning performers.

The Cabin opens on Thursday this week with the first of a monthly residency for Jim Kirkpatrick’s Heavy Weather, a spectacular, world class band, and Manatees (my own band) follows him there on Friday.