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| Ooh Matron! (Malc and Gill chose NOT to dress up). |
It's not very often that the visual effects during a Club night are as spectacular as the performances. Last Night's Bedworth Folk Festival Fund Raiser however, carried some images that will stay embedded in the minds of some of those present for a very long time. It would be criminal not to share this with a wider audience. Or to share some of the photographs. (Negatives are available for a reasonable price).
The evening was billed as a Fancy Dress themed event, with the threat of a fine levied on those who came in plain clothes. As it happened, due to the extravagant dress codes of some regulars,it was at times difficult to discern who had flouted the invitation,earning a fine,and who had not.
It took me a while to work out that the masked,caped Phantom hunched mysteriously in a corner was Dave Fry, for example. Whereas Dave Webb,perched on a stool like some green Punch without his Judy, had obviously gone to some trouble.
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| Webby |
Malc Gurnham and Gill Gilsenan dressed to type really:the undisputed Lord and Lady of Warwickshire Folk, they wore Regal Robes and headdresses throughout. It took me a while to work out that Dave Parr had come dressed as a lumberjack,and Max Wright's Quasimodo was very clever.
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| David Parr |
The visuals did not end with the costumes. Brian Phillips, the Main Guest, wore a small visual display unit which ran strings of messages.in sequence, across a screen attached to his waistcoat. He also had a small revolving Glitterball,projecting pretty images onto the ceiling. Now I've seen Ron Geesin,The Bonzos and Sid Otway live...but this was on a par.
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| Brian and his appliances. Well some of them. |
Brian was on top form. He claimed to have got out of bed to come along to the Rugby Club to perform. When Rod Felton used to say this, you somehow knew he was telling the truth. Difficult to tell with Brian. He qualified the facts later, during his set ,first by claiming that his children had sewn Velcro strips on to his pyjamas and sheets and then by admitting that he had actually been very poorly. It is a measure of how good Brian's Stand Up routine has become, that at times it was difficult to differentiate between fact and fiction as he raged on about God, the walking habits of crabs, a Chinese cast member of Star Wars ,the Life Cycle of A Sperm and other stuff. In between the humour, we had some typically adept guitar playing and some of Brian's lovely repertoire such as " Never Going Back," "FairyTale Lullaby"
The show began with Malc and Gill, replete in all their Court Finery. Malc as a Roman Emperor and Gill as...well as a damsel. Medieval perhaps. ( Only 600 years between them so that was quite authentic). Malc had been poorly, and was still recovering from surgery. Alan Stocks had no excuse.
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| Stocksy in full flow |
Highly Strung were as musically eloquent as ever. Jan looked very attractive in her purple Afro Wig, though I have to say that a matching one for Terry would have enhanced the overall image. Their version of "One Meatball" got the joint really stompin'. Jan and Terry had a DVD for sale. (There's posh for you!).
Sam Stephens, gradually recovering from a serious illness and the loss of Gren Morris played a couple of songs but sadly had to rush off home soon afterwards to deal with a crisis.Then things really took off as The Wright Brothers flew up to the stage to air a few songs. They winged it. Put planely, they may well be tiring of all the Aviation jokes by now, but as Max is the Master of Cyber Punning, when you have Whittled things down it's all in said in jets. ( Count 'em!).
John Kearney and I were introduced as two thirds of Nunc, which is technically true. I almost got into trouble by conjecturing aloud that a third of the letters in Nunc rearranged spelt out a well known word, but John would not let me finish the sentence. I meant of course,.."spells Cuneiform" -which is a well known style of writing. (I've seen John signing autographs-the two styles are very similar). I think a few of the audience thought I was going to spell out the same word I could see Steve Bentley was mouthing at me. (Not so).
John and I opened with "The Odeon." As it was Burns Night we claimed that this was in homage to the 60th Anniversary of the opening of The Tivioli Picture House in Auchtermuchty. I think a few people actually believed us. We then dedicated "Down Where The Drunkards Roll" to many well known topers seated in the audience. We were treated to fine Chorus singing in both songs.
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| John and Geoff. We thought we'd dress down. |
That shy retiring Petunia Des Patalong did two of his own compositions. Something about a Neo Liberal anthem which John's lad Brendan,over on a Flying visit from Cork, applauded warmly. And his "Ironing Shanty," which Des always introduces by saying he only ever intended to do it once, (and The Ironing Shanty), and then he goes on to complete it to thunderous applause.
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| Des performing an Ode to Bungo and Madame Cholet |
Maria Barham, (our featured Guest at Nuneaton Folk Club on February 1st) warbled a couple,including her distinctive arrangement of "Eleanor Rigby." Giving her vocal range a full exercise, she exhorted the audience to join her in some of the higher notes. " Come on," she urged, "Join me in these:I don't get to use them very often." Only Dave Webb could reach the Top C however, and that was because of his tight Elven britches and the way he was sitting on the stool.
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| Webby is sitting tight. |
Steve Bentley is pretty well always in Fancy Dress wherever he goes and he turned up halfway through the first half with Andy his accordion player. Steve Bentley's long introduction paid fulsome tribute to all he has done for Folk and Acoustic music in Nuneaton. We learned for instance,that this year's Ragged Bear Festival will be in October (good!) and that Atherstone Folk Club are partnering him to put on a show featuring Green Man Rising in The Crew soon.( Excellent!). It's about time someone did something to promote Folk Music in the Town,as there is precious little else going on.
Steve thrashed his bongos enthusiastically through a stirring version of "The Bonny Ship The Diamond," having first joined in an instrumental. He said that his playing was a little restricted having had his shoulder muscles stretched by a Lurcher. Or it could have been a Lurker. You just never know with Steve.
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| Steve and Andrew |
Although the Black Sheep ran out and I was forced onto the Sahou, generally the night just got better and better. I won some After Eight Mints in the interval raffle before Brian Phillips got everyone laughing. A generous sum raised for the Best Folk Festival in The Country.
And finally...just for good measure...
