The Argus: fringe_2011_logo_red_thumb Climate change, social and economical politics, and the wretched stain of the oil industry on our planet are topics so laden with burden that it’s hard to comprehend that a night borne of these weighty concerns could be fun. Enter Pete The Temp, a solo performer as engaging as he is down to earth, and it’s hard to imagine the most Clarksonian of cynics not cracking a smile.

That’s not to suggest that Pete’s performance trivialised the issues, rather that his honesty and well-crafted poems and songs, punctuated with wry observations, combined with an almost effortless ability to perform. It gave an authenticity, accessibility even, to a controversial subject matter which can be easy to ignore.

The production was informative, funny, bleak at times, and rich. Pete is to be congratulated on his passion for a cleaner, greener world and even more so for his ability to engage a crowd through sheer talent. The man can strum a guitar as well as he can educate. But the real selling point was the honesty with which he executed the production. Never evangelical, Pete didn’t bore you into a guilt-ridden fug. He didn’t necessarily inspire either. But he treated the audience with respect and the show wanted for nothing more than to be heard. What happens next is up to us all.