How refreshing (and unusual nowadays) to go to a new music venue and come away laden only with positives! And as a performer, not to be canonised, but just made welcome,and treated with equal respect, regardless of any perceived "status."
This club is probably my nearest,and yet for various reasons,it is one we've often intended to visit but never got round to it. One reason probably is guilt. The club base is just a few doors up from what used to be the finest Transport Books emporium in the country. When it closed it held a clearance sale, Arnold and I filled our cars up with stuff. I even went back again for a second load. My shelves are groaning with cut-price bargains from Watling Drive!
Certainly one of the more interesting venues from the outside. Inside,very professionally run. A well-heated building with a big concert room upstairs. With nice seating and conveniently sited drinks tables,a good, well-lit stage, and a super P.A. system, lovingly and effectively monitored by a sound engineer who knows exactly what they are doing. A separate tuning-up room,and a separate room serving refreshments,and a "merchandising table." Brilliant. No Septic Monkey here!
It helped of course, to find our old partner in Parrothood, Bill Bates in charge of proceedings. Probably the first time in ages I've seen Bill without his trademark trail of chocolate bars- which he sometimes uses to woo an audience. No cliques or cronyism with Bill compering and everyone gets a fair crack of the whip. A further bonus-two old BPS friends from the past are also appearing-Steve Adams and Rob Armstrong.
Steve is one of those hallowed individuals-someone who once recorded the Parrot. An exclusive brethren including both Zama and Spindrift Records, Chris King, Pathway Studios,(London), Monty Bird Studios (Warwick), Dave Blundy's Legendary "Woodlands Tapes" and a studio session somewhere off the Ring Road in Coventry. Which was interrupted by an odd phone call from someone saying a flying saucer was landing in their back garden. I kid you not. The majority of these archives have been wiped, erased or made into flowerpots. Our efforts long ago in Steve's delightful canalside cottage all these years ago seem also to have suffered that fate. Judging by his sheepish grin when I reminded him of them!
Floor sets booked in advance, options given on whereabouts one would like to appear on the bill, attentive adjustments to mikes and pick-ups for each individual performer-these are all touches that make an artiste feel welcome. I also strongly believe that such attention ensures a better performance, reduces nerves and enhances confidence. So everyone attending is immediately a winner.
Bill performed several familiar songs, one of which has become a bit of an earworm for me, due to its percussive guitar backing and repetitive, plaintive chorus. In which a very reluctant miner pleads with his father, begging not to be sent back down the Pit again. Bill is a deceptive performer. He projects an image of affable absent-mindedness, but beneath that lurks a fine guitarist, an excellent songwriter and an all round good egg. His comedy is excellent, but like us, he throws in the occasional serious song, just for balance, and to show that life is not always a mere bundle of laughs.
Though I've been corresponding with Steve through social networks recently, I'd not seen him perform " live " since he used to do spots for us at the Folk Club we ran in Brinklow. It was reassuring to see and hear that though we've both changed physically (!!), he's lost none of that edge which he always possessed. A talented musician, and a rasping, barbed vocal delivery which only serves to accentuate an almost Lehrer-like humour. New songs or old-all delivered with that waspish wit. Excellent.
Rob Armstrong and his legendary guitars we've all admired for years. Partnering Roddy in the Grunt Band, he first inspired us to develop a comedic side. He was on great form last night,pounding out solid tunes and good songs effortlessly on one of his own machines. Dennis added a differnt angle, with a collection of his and others songs. I'd not seen him before. I enjoyed his rendition of a Dylan cover, and his complex guitar picking.
We performed "Over The Hills"-I checked first-no-one else was doing it-(!!!) The Odeon,Courting is a Pleasure, and What a Folking Liberty. We finished with a rousing version of Albert Balls. The audience totally got all the humour, and listened politely to the serious stuff. What more can one ask for?
