When I realised (much earlier in the year) that that the first Wednesday in December would also be my 70th birthday,I cannily arranged for Drunk Monkey,the resident NFC House band to feature as Main Spot. I'm delighted to say that many dressed for the occasion both in terms of it now being December and of it being a significant anniversary. Our usual photographers were alas,indisposed. All these excellent pics have been supplied by Paul Monks,Max Wright,Flossy,Malc Gurnham and a few others. As always...many thanks.
Earlier in the week I took what I felt to be some unnecessarily critical and negative flak (via the NFC Facebook Page) about how unfriendly and "cliquey" the club is. At first I was so depressed by this I felt like taking the whole page down. In fact I felt like stepping down completely and seeing if anyone else would be prepared to try running it,voluntarily,unpaid and often out of pocket. On reflection I felt it was important to share with everyone just how some people viewed us. Especially the 200 or so who have requested membership but never EVER come! So I left the dialogue there and as it progressed,that decision increasingly proved justified.
The NFC regulars spoke far more eloquently than I ever could have done. As they did by turning out in large numbers,on a cold night, when with the best will in the world,the headline act was not a big name. I was delighted to see that,far from being deterred there were several people there who were visiting for the first time. They stayed to the end,most of them were singing along throughout and I hope they will come back.
I had also made a point of trying to involve as many local people as possible. Some were simply not available to perform because they were elsewhere and there were others in the audience-Wes Hall,Lesley Wilson,Andy Jones,Jak Lynch,Jan Richards, Paul Monks for example and many more who would have happily stepped in if asked to.
So it was actually Bedworth Folk Club’s Residents Malc Gurnham and Gill Gilsenan and not Nunc who opened proceedings for us on Wednesday. By request they made Shep Woolley's "Down By The Dockyard wall" their opening gambit:a song which got a larger than usual audience singing straightaway. ( Maybe it was the excellent Church End Reinbeer that was newly tapped and on handpulls which helped.The quality of audience singing throughout the evening was truly excellent).
Finger in The Jar followed. They are Atherstone Folk Club’s Resident Band and so immediately a nice friendly aura was forming. Supplemented on this occasion by Pete McParland, they followed Malc and Gill. I had messed them about a bit beforehand but they kept smiling. It's what friends do. Having started with Pete taking the lead vocal on ”It never rains in California” they sang a couple more together and finished with a very distinguished version of the John Richards song " If you can walk you can dance." Which in Peter and Steve's case is only just technically correct.
The entertaining and enterprising Thrup’nny Bits followed,armed with trunks full of CDs to sell and a compliment of seasonal traditional close harmony songs. They got us into a Festive mood. Whilst Gill looked after the ever enthusiastic Spangle who wagged her tail in time. (Dogs in Folk Clubs?Tsk! That's not very friendly!) The TB's finished with one of my favourite TB numbers The Pudding Hunt. (Tally Ho!)
What could be more appropriate for a 70th Birthday celebration than our next guest,Adam Wilson finishing his slot by singing (entirely at my request) Neil Young’s “Old Man?” He wasn't being ironic-I'd asked him to. Another effortless set from Adam including one of his own songs.
And this procession of loveliness finished with the modest,amicably friendly Tom Young. We first came across him at The Anker Blues sessions over in Weddington. A mild unassuming young man who specialises in plucking some of the more obscure Country Blues numbers out of the annals of history and breathing new life in them. Magnificent.
And then it was time for Paul John (no Ringo!),Jon Harp(s) Flossy and Yours Truly to do the first of our two sets. Starting with "All Gotta Die Someday" caused a few laughs given the occasion. Though everyone was dressed appropriately Flossy as usual,went the extra mile and set a few male hearts a-fluttering with her red hair,red shoes and red-blooded Santa outfit.
Her vocals as always did the talking. There was an experimental edge to Drunk Monkey’s first set. We’d never attempted “Landslide” in public before though we’ve been rehearsing it for a few months. Flossy was soon whirling her crimson cloak theatrically,like some Yuletide Stevie Nicks. A beautiful song:we were quite pleased with it as a first effort. I did one of my own,"Di Di The ice Cream man." I was hoping to get that out on a CD myself before Christmas. Not to be, but it's on its way. Any donations towards copies will be recycled straight back into yet another Charity. (Another selfish gesture?)We finished with "Gaudete" unaccompanied. Another one we used to do. It was unrehearsed and a festive offering which we hadn't performed in public for two years. After a false start it went o.k.
Drunk Monkey came back and we got the audience singing again with "Bring It On Home," "Knocking on Heaven's Door "and "Three Little Birds/Irish Rover." We had to leave out a good third of the set because we were running late and a few people were well past their bedtime by the time we got on to encores. Incidentally, being political, Marcus Jones is always telling us everything he does for Nuneaton and I didn't see him. Nor did I see the Labour or LibDem candidates. But Keith Kondakor was there as he usually is, since we opened and Michelle. Come to your own conclusions.
And so back to that unfriendly tag. The Crew is so unfriendly that the Guv'nor Richard Burlingham,lets us have the room for free including heating and lighting. It is his staff running the bar and the Sound desk. He goes out of his way to source and provide locally provenanced Real Ale. Some other clubs I visit have no Real Ale on at all and those that do have only mass-produced. He always tries to pop up and see how we are getting on. There is a hospitality room provided for artistes (few want it-it's a FOLK club!-and reserved parking for Guests Acts at the foot of the stairs leading up from the street to the stage. He sometimes even puts free grub on for us. Hardly hostile.
NFC is so unfriendly that we have annually raised hundreds of pounds for charities and local causes. Either by going it alone or contributing to events elsewhere. The most recent having been Nuneaton Food Bank ,Cancer research,Dementia U.K. and the George Eliot Hospital. It is so unfriendly that we promote artistes who have recently released CDs and/or merchandise to sell and encourage them to display it in the venue. It is so unfriendly that before the doors are open WE put out fliers and leaflets promoting events elsewhere.
We were also accused of being "cliquey." Well admittedly there were a lot of my family there last night.,besides me. Two nieces,my son,my wife, my daughter,and my daughter in law. Isn't that just family life? My niece Sammie donated two cakes she baked herself. One was a raffle prize-the other was one we shared out with the audience. Cliquey? Or just matey?
We try to work co-operatively with othe venues and organisations to avoid duplication so that our respective attendances are not damaged or diminished. (This seems pretty friendly to me). Only one local organisation has turned their back on this-Nuneaton Library. They originally asked us to help them promote events there and we did. We put their fliers out on our tables, we put their posters up in the club and on our website. On one occasion,(free of charge) our house Band even played support to the Main Guest there. Unlike us,their activities are Arts Council subsidised or funded from taxpayer's budgets. They seem to have made a point recently of going it alone. On the night after our December 4th Concert they had a ticketed event featuring Tim Causley, a well known act on the Folk circuit. They seemed only too delighted to go ahead and they have done it a few times this year. We had over a hundred in. (I wonder how they got on?)
We were also accused of being "cliquey." Well admittedly there were a lot of my family there last night.,besides me. Two nieces,my son,my wife, my daughter,and my daughter in law. Isn't that just family life? My niece Sammie donated two cakes she baked herself. One was a raffle prize-the other was one we shared out with the audience. Cliquey? Or just matey?
Several times people have objected to our policy of blocking pasted up adverts for other events and organisations. They think this is hostile. Whilst we are happy to discuss this kind of thing in advance (and often do subsequently work with others in publicising events elsewhere), like many other Folk Clubs we will not accept "flyposting" i.e. people who have no intention of ever visiting the venue making membership requests and then taking advantage of our good nature by trolling or promoting their own events on our platform. And getting the hump when we ask them to stop it.
Thanks once again to the wonderful bar staff and to Harvey who now soldiers on behind the Sound desk on his own. Always smiling:rarely flustered. Nice one,mate.
Thanks once again to the wonderful bar staff and to Harvey who now soldiers on behind the Sound desk on his own. Always smiling:rarely flustered. Nice one,mate.
