How do you follow last month's glorious NFC session, where young Kim Lowings
and Company tore the house down? Easy. Bring in Danny Pedler and
Rosie Butler Hall for the last session of 2015. They arrived BY TRAIN, bless them, all excited and bubbly,with that disgustingly undisguised enthusiasm only being at Uni cannot hide!
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| Danny Pedler & Rosie Butler Hall |
We had not one but TWO counter attractions within seven miles of our doors
last night, so it was gratifying once again, to see standing room only
upstairs at a newly-renovated Crown for their visit. Plus we had so many visiting musicians, we could have done with an extra stage to accommodate them all!
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| House full? |
With
hindsight, it was an ambitious programme we had assembled as support
for them, with not one but TWO bands, soloists trios and duos all coming
and going. The Logistics Fairy screamed “No!” But with our
fabulous Sound Man Tom Veasey back at the helm, the and
all our guests keeping to time, we got through what could have been a
very challenging evening.
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| The Maestro at his desk |
Nunc
started events off at 8pm sharp with “ Cold Haily Windy Night “
and the atmospheric seasonal carol, “Gaudete” -which was taken up
enthusiastically by the audience.
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| Nunc |
Bob Brooker followed, with a cameo
including two songs from his excellent “Fully Restored”
CD. They were all requests,which shows you how popular Bob is becoming! By this
stage, the audience were still coming up the stairs and finding all
the seats had gone!
Ian
Bourne, a busy man on the Open Mic scene,dropped by to give us three
of his extended repertoire. Ian, Nuneaton-based, was new to the venue
and was artiste number 55 to debut there.
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| Ian Bourne |
Fray'd Knot then took to
the stage, and ran through some splendidly traditional material.
There were lots of them, and Tom was hard pressed to keep everything
going!
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| Fray'd Knot |
John
Kearney sang his immortal song about wanting to be Bob Dylan and then
very kindly did one of mine-“Tiny Lights.” It's
become a bit of a family anthem that one, referring as it does,
to battling through a year scarred by tragedies. You could have
heard a pin drop whilst he was doing it. Another hallmark of a great
club is when an audience listens to a ballad or a quiet song and you
can hear a pin drop. Finishing with “ We Shall Overcome.” you
wouldn't have heard an RSJ drop. Who would have thought this song
would still be so potent? But it was so apt, as simultaneously, down
the M1, politicians were debating how best to kill more people most
effectively.
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| John Kearney |
The
Thrup'nny Bits were evidently feeling very festive and frisky. They gave us
three typically well-arranged, well-delivered, impeccably sung
numbers. To a very enthusiastic reception. A fitting warm up for the
first set by Danny and Rosie.
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| The Bits are in full swing |
These
two are, like Kim Lowings and The Greenwood, infectiously
enthusiastic. They are musically hugely talented and yet gloriously
grounded, with not a trace of the Diva about them. Everything that
is new and fresh and dynamic about Folk Music, they easily held a
large room entranced,throughout. Folky, Funky, Funny and
Fogey-free, they are refreshingly young and full of enviable energy.
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| Coo! This is a bit arty! |
A
quick Interval and then another large ensemble, Comharsa, literally
filled the stage, to get us under way again with “Home Boys
Home” and “Cunia”.
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| Comharsa |
Nunc
followed up with our own arrangement of “ Fairytale in
New York,” which went down
really well. The raffle followed and thanks to the generosity of
guests and performers, it took a while to hand over all those lovely
prizes.
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| Cake donated by The Tilting Kettle. They take orders, you know! |
Having
negotiated a few extra minutes with the Guv'nor, we concluded an
outstanding evening with a second set from Danny and Rosie. I think
they could have gone on all night, fiddling, stamping out the timing,
pumping that accordion and including that lovely hurdy gurdy. The audience loved it-and genuinely just didn't want to go home! Quality, sheer quality,the whole evening!. The photos incidentally, are by Max Wright,John Kearney and the Old Mac Awe himself.
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| View from Tom's desk. |
