Back In The Day 6th October 2016

          Finally! I had been invited AT LAST to participate in a Warwick Festival where an audience had paid in advance to see us perform. A ticketed event with online advertising and its own website. ( No no that one-although I have sneaked incognito into Fringe venues there too and warbled a few tunes. I'm still awaiting a formal invitation to that one, and thirty years down the line I'm definitely not holding my breath!).

         No, this was the far more select Warwick Words History Festival. A considerably more aesthetic annual event which takes place over a whole week in the town each Autumn. I was flattered to be invited to be part of it-an evening of Folk Music based around the central theme of “Back In The Day.” I am indebted to Festival Committee members Jan and Campbell Perry for this honour. It turned out to be a highly entertaining evening-both for the performers and a large audience. If it wasn't a sell-out I would be very surprised, as it was standing room only throughout. Originally billed as a solo spot, I had persuaded John Kearney to come along,to help me out with vocals, provide a suitable key and to accompany me with his usual gusto. After only one rehearsal he had mastered all the songs, including a couple he had not heard before. The man oozes sheer talent.

        The event was staged in the excellent Wild Boar Brew Pub,in Warwick. This was my first visit to this hostellry and I have to say I was quite impressed. Friendly staff, a busy atmosphere and visible brewing going on in mash tubs behind glass. Besides all the quaint half timbered buildings and a magnificent castle, Warwick has whole districts full of narrow streets crammed with artisans houses. Double yellow lines abounded and so parking proved a little notional initially. I had misread the directions and led Mr.Kearney on a wild goose chase before having to be escorted to the official car park a few streets away.

       The pub has a cheerful decent-sized Function room,and despite it being less than ambient outside, it was already rammed when we arrived. Consequently the room was already like an oven. John and I had our traditionally loud Hawaiian Beach shirts on-and though people looked a little bemused by that when we first arrived, way before the interval they were casting envious looks at us. Once the concert was under way we had to open some external doors to let the hot air and sweat come out. John and I, by contrast, remained fragrant and cool (in every sense) throughout.

            It was a mixed audience, with very few “Folkies” present. Nor could I discern anyone I recognised in a sea of expectant faces, despite having played Warwick Folk Club several times. They seemed quite shy to begin with, evidently not sure exactly what kind of evening they were in for. Initially it put me a little in mind of John Lennon's classic remark at a Royal Variety Performance where he once invited one section to clap and another to “rattle their jewellery.”

        But each guest had done their preparation wisely. They all warmed to their theme and our audience visibly relaxed as we took them on a tour of trades, events, forgotten practises and nostalgic memories, from far away and much closer to home. This included plenty of home-written songs about real places in the wonderful County of Warwickshire and beyond.

      Jan and Campbell opened proceedings. They encouraged a few polite murmurings of choruses and a few smiles from a still slightly hesitant audience. They took us up to the Firth and they took us overseas. (Jan and Campbell-not the audience. They stayed sat down).We went to "Canada Hill" (one of their own). We enjoyed "Home lad Home" and the deliciously layered "Billie Sings The Blues"-another Perry original. 

      Colin Squire came up next and aired a thoughtful selection of carefully chosen songs. Each performed,with his easy,calming singing voice and deceptively relaxed (but very good) guitar playing. This settled the audience further.
    . John and I were next up.Perched on the stage (a pair of pallets with an old carpet on) we ran breathlessly through a diverse set of traditional and local material. With it being essentially a Festival of Words, I resurrected the long-silent “Wag Of Shop Fourteen,” an old Black Parrot Seaside song,delivering it as a recitation. I could see by the reaction on a few faces that some people were familiar with the erm, “working practices” once employed in the long-defunct Giant Factories and Assembly Lines. “Wag” is a fond  reminiscence of some of the characters who once  inhabited the Hangar-sized Assembly Shops in big factories. Voluminous places where forging,welding,pressing,hammering (and eventually) assembly of cars,planes and buses took place. I felt it best not to include the infamous Ryton Spanner Dance or any Lathe Shanties in this version.

       Dave Goulder's “Requiem for Steam” followed: a lovely song passionately lamenting the final passing of steam locomotives in the U.K. In 1968. With a bit of lonesome whistle tootin' on the harmonica at from me at the end. “ Albert Balls” well and truly broke the ice and got a few people giggling out loud as they enthusiastically indulged in the (only very slightly) naughty choruses.

          Ewan McColl's gritty celebration of a trade long gone-“ Shoals of Herring” also got a warm welcome before another song about Coventry's Industrial heritage followed. The public debut of “Daimler Deasley.” I wrote this song over a decade ago and it is one which, without JK's expert help, would never have been liberated. It caused quite a bit of interest: In the bar afterwards someone knowledgeable of  the automotive industry asked me about the background to it. I sang “ The Poacher's Lament” unaccompanied-a song describing how people used to be shot just for the crime of being hungry. We concluded with two more jolly singalongs “The Odeon,” and “Di Di The Ice Cream Man.” By this time the beer and wine was flowing, the memories were flooding out and the audience were warmed up in every sense. It was time for the Interval.

          After the Interval came a new and refreshing act I'd not seen before. Exiled Kentishman Allan Richardson delivered a highly absorbing set of his own songs. Cleverly constructed and punchily delivered. All of them-even the more recent ones-tinged with a faint hint of irony and nostalgia for things lost. “The Clerical Worker's Song” “Hatfield” “Games In London,” the epic “Moving On” and the witty “ Air Shanty” were highlights. All with easy choruses and some funny one-liners. I was so impressed, I bought three of his albums!

        Plenty to sing along with too,as Katherine Fear followed. She was billed as solo but she'd had a horrible day at work and had recruited the rest of Daisybell to join her. A real bonus for the audience, who were really enjoying themselves now. The Ladies were excellent as usual. Anya and Ginny's meticulously orchestrated harmonies complimented Katherine's clever songwriting perfectly-“Miners Winter ” and “Foxes” were the highlight in a fine set of songs,for me.

         Up came Thrup'nny Bits to carry forward the momentum. In fine voice as ever,and with a new festive CD timed (hopefully?) for release in December. (But where was Spangle?). They carried on the theme admirably,with their usual élan and finely-wrought three-part harmonies. And with the interesting addition of Gareth and Des covering the Bee Gee's “New York Mining Disaster.”

          It was left to our hosts Campbell and Jan to close what had been a very successful and enjoyable  evening,with the whole Cast joining  with them on a final song,"The Golden Vanity." Nice..