I seem to start all of the posts about NFC monthly sessions by making excuses and saying that the dice were loaded against us,the odds were stacked,etc etc etc. And then going on to enthuse about what a good night we had. (Well those that attended,anyway. Can't speak for the stay-aways). But once again,that's exactly how it was.
Illness reared up and clouted several of us over the head beforehand,added to which there were some genuine logistical changes we had to make. All in all we started late and ran over a little bit, but I feel I speak for most when I say we had once heck of a time.
Mags had been sidelined with a back injury and was unable to help me set up the room beforehand and run the raffle during the interval and afterwards. No Flossy,the shining star of Nunc who makes all the blokes in the room go all soppy whenever she sings. NO JBS to provide us with the usual array of excellent photographs. But although we missed you all terribly (and your absence was noted),we made a damn good fist of things anyway. Come back soon-and Ian Bourne, too who would have been there if he could. Ian, we send good wishes for a swift recovery.
Volunteers rallied round and joined forces to fill in the gaps. Gill Gilsenan,Barbara Wyatt and Anne Beeson helped with the raffle. Andy Jones and Ray Buckler (as you can see,here and elsewhere) provided a fine photographic record. Having all three North Warwickshire Folk Clubs there and playing added a real family flavour to the evening. As did the innovative nature of some of the acts. And,it being John Kearney's 57th birthday,some revellers had responded positively to a call to bring in cans of baked beans as surprise gifts for the Human Jukebox. We made a gift of them to Nuneaton Foodbank afterwards.
Atherstone Folk Club's Resident House Band Finger in The Jar followed. They chose a trio of songs reflecting the D Day 75th Anniversary the following day,including the autobiographical tale of a serviceman of the time, and culminating in a version of "Oo'er The Hills and Far Away." This came complete with an additional verse cleverly fitted in to reflect the situation. It got everyone singing as besides its poignancy,it's a great chorus song.
Next up we had a totally new and unique experience for NFC audience members, indeed (unless someone knows different), for any English Folk Club audience. Cor Cymraeg were a quintet who sang each song only in Welsh. Andy Jones, well known to NFC audiences,introduced the songs. Sospan Fach of course being a song beloved of Welsh Rugby fans was familiar to many of the audience. Having said that,in the days when Bedworth,Coventry and Nuneaton were dotted with collieries there would have been hundreds of welsh speaking miners living locally. Diolch yn Fawr,Cor Cymraeg.
Anyone walking in at this point might have been excused for wondering if they had been transported from Nuneaton to Llangollen and had blundered by mistake into the 2019 Eisteddfford. Another nice touch was to invite their Hungarian choir member forward to give us a solo traditional folk song from her home country. Hungarian songs,in an English Folk Club, performed by a Welsh choir. Wow!
Malc and Gill followed. NFC regulars,they are Bedworth Folk Club's Residents and they too added a D Day slant to the occasion,including a version of "Where Have All The Flowers Gone." Our audience sang along with it very movingly. BFC have now moved permanently to what was previously their temporary accommodation at Trent Valley Working Mens Club. Like our venue,it has a raised stage a bar in the room and as an added bonus the car parking is free and extensive. Next Wednesday's Guests are Will Finn and Rosie Calvert. It's a friendly club,a ten minute step up the road from where we are based,and free admission with a raffle,like ours. Give it your support.
We had been trying for ages to fit in Tyburn to do us a turn.Hedley Stone,Dave Cook and Jan Richardson. I'd seen them at a few local clubs previously. Jan is no stranger to NFC but to get the trio playing at NFC was a challenge. Dave bless him, is not at all well and could not make the steep steps onto our stage. So the lads miked him up from the floor,and fed his guitar through the P.A. You can see though the photo below that,although not ideal, this worked o.k. We were able to see and hear Dave's fine guitar playing. As someone wrote elsewhere, "Tyburn did, hands down, the best version of "Killing The Blues" I've ever heard, Jan's voice gets better and better, and the interplay between the guitars and fiddle was spellbinding." Their arrangements certainly showed great thought.
So having supped already at the table of excellence,what better way to follow Tyburn than our first Guests of a double bill, the unaccompanied vocal harmony trio Thrup'nny Bits.The Bits treated us to a selection of material from their extensive repertoire of published recordings.This Including their latest,featuring songs about the Peterloo Massacre.Initially they tried to carry off Des's remarkable track record of impersonating Billy Gibbons with his trademark shades.
Amidst their catalogue of traditional (and venerable) material they also added the cleverly rude "Bold Sir John," and finished with "Breaking Wind Suddenly," A song which includes the classic line "I blamed the dog...but they knew it was me."
Time for the interval and the all important Raffle then,as Gill and Barbara weaved among the throng tempting gamblers by inviting them to win a most impressive array of priizes, generously brought along by performers and audience members. As Gill and Ann Beeson were still feverishly folding tickets,Nunc got the second half under way with audience friendly versions of "Knocking On Heavens Door" and "Irish Rover." Both featuring audience-only verses.
The draw produced some interesting results. Tyburn had a clean sweep,picking up several prizes.The bottle of Port did not last long:the Malteesers and Dairy Box went early,as did the Prosecco and other bottles of Fizz. Soon all that was left was the classic Nunc style Shirt Of Many Colours donated by John Kearney who has a wardrobe full of them (Me too!) A gasp rippled round the hall as the last winning ticket was revealed as belonging to....(drum roll) John Kearney.
Rob supports many local good causes and charities. He does an awful lot to support local music. He is an honest and decent man who writes powerful songs of great strength. With a few covers sprinkled in, his set was an energetic,pulsating wall of sound. He engages the audience and works them like another instrument. Those few who had not seen him before were most impressed. No wonder,as he rose to several encores,he had lost that jacket and was down to his shirtsleeves. A cracking way to finish another excellent nightup int The Queen's Hall.
So despite the challenges, we surmounted all the logistical problems and continued our record of putting on innovative and eclectic music which crosses many boundaries and covers many genres. Can we raise the bar any further? Well yes we can. July sees us premiering Celtic Folk Rock,with the debut at NFC of Joe O'Donnell's Shykayla. This is a prestigious coup for us. It is something we have never tried before,and we'll need all and every one of our 340 Facebook Friends to come along and support such an adventurous project that night. See you there?
Well the audience by now were shattered. Exhausted but pumped up. What better moment to bring on the excellent Rob Halligan to close the evening? Dressed to look the part and with an impressively compact box of tricks at his feet within dabbing distance,he sounded it,too. It's a long time since I've seen a guitar made to work that hard, He must have fingers of steel.
