There were counter attractions on in the town last night. So it is probably best to be philosophical about the turnout in the Queen's Hall. It was by no means empty: there was still a respectable audience there which many Folk Clubs would envy. But with Live music on across Town at The Anker and a Sudden Impulse production of Blackadder opening at the nearby Abbey Theatre, all three venues were potentially competing for the same kind of audience. ( I'd certainly made enquiries beforehand about the other two, and until I realised they clashed with the night I'd be compering, I'd thought about going along to either/both).
On the plus side we had new faces in the audience there last night and some old ones returning after a long, long absence. (For perfectly understandable reasons). Polly Button's Great Great Great (etc) granddaughter was there again and so was my Cousin, John Hobson. We also had people travelling in from as far afield as Derby, Birmingham and Tamworth. Just imagine what we could achieve if a few more Nuneaton residents also supported their home town Folk Club!
And what a line-up! another quality array of talent on home turf. Headlined by the Legend that is Kevin Dempsey. At NFC we are at last gradually getting through a long queue of advertised Guests whom Coronavirus had prevented us from staging. The long closure had thwarted us fulfilling their booked performances creating a backlog of cancelled and then rearranged gigs. Our original attempts to host Kevin's visit to NFC in 2021 failed but finally we put on his Covid-cancelled gig last night.
We also pulled off a bit of a coup by inviting Harry Thorpe and Sean Morrison to join us for an extended 30 minute floor spot. They have a new album out next week and have been earning rave reviews from public performances locally. Prodigiously talented and disgustingly young, we'll be seeing them again soon. Details of their new album will be available here soon.
And to complete a stellar first half Steve and Julie Wigley accompanied by bassist Phil filled the final first half spot. They too have been prolific during various Lockdowns cumulating in the release of a seventh album "At the Passing of The Storm." I was able to blag a copy from them last night. I'll be playing tracks from it, and from Thorpe and Morrison on a future Anker Folk show. Anyone wishing to buy this or previous albums can get in touch with Steve and Julie by email or via Facebook.
Nunc opened proceedings, as usual. Still alas in a truncated form, with only myself, Paul and Jon available, we continue to explore our Blues roots. After singing "Happy Birthday To You " to Paul we had to check he was fully recovered before proceeding. Seventy is a vulnerable age but he seemed in full voice and good spirits as he sang "Sitting On Top of The World," and his own composition "Mr Moonshine." That Muddy Waters standard "Standing Round Crying" was sandwiched in between. Jon Harpo Harrington blew hard on a dazzling array of instruments throughout including a couple of solos. No-one booed or threw anything so we were quite pleased with that.
Steve and Julie we'd seen before, but Phil their bass player was a Nuneaton virgin and goodness knows there aren't many of them around nowadays. They treated us half an hour of mostly new material. This included Billy Ruffian (wordplay on HMS Bellerophon) and "At The Passing of The Storm," the hopeful title track of the same CD. Their albums are always beautifully presented and packaged with informative sleeve notes. Highly recommended.
We'd only heard rumours and seen video clips of Harry and Sean but my word they lived up to their reputation. NFC regular Bob Brooker said, "Make a note of the names - THORPE & MORRISON - because they are going to be the headliners at clubs and festival across Britain, Europe and may be the States for many. many years to come,' when he caught them at The Wurzel Bush recently. That is praise indeed from such a talented musician. Sean is a product of Birmingham Conservatoire and had Joe Broughton as a mentor so no wonder he conjured such pyrotechnics from his fiddle. (Violin?) Harry coaxed similar magic from his Gibson.Together they were at times breathtakingly good.
You'd have to pretty outstanding to top that or even the high standard already achieved-but we are talking about Kevin Dempsey. Besides all the solo stuff he's done, his work with Dando Shaft, Whippersnapper and latterly Joe Broughton and Jacqui McShee means he is Folk Royalty in my book. Not just me, either. He got a relatively subdued audience hollering, clapping, thumping the tables and singing. (And that was before he'd started). Nahh...just joking.
In his first half set he did two of my personal Dempsey favourites "All For You" and "Handsome Molly." I love watching people in an audience who have not seen him before react when he goes into the instrumental section of "All For You." The way he uses his palm or thumb on the guitar body as an additional instrument to beef out what is already a breath taking romp up and down the frets never fails to make mouths drop open.
Nunc opened the second half with Vigilante Man and a Jimmy Reed song "Shame Shame Shame. " Then it was time to hand the evening back to Kevin. Resurrection Jack and Lord Franklin were highlights. My good lady's favourite "Love is Just Around The Corner," is Kevin at his most tender and mellow.
The end-of-show encores did not have to be stage managed: the cries for them were genuine and enthusiastic. Kevin's first was an eye opener for some: his iconic arrangement of the Postman Pat Theme always takes some newbies by surprise. Boy did we all enjoy singing along to that!
Once again our thanks to Ross for the sound, Aaron for his sterling work behind the bar and Jenna for additional work setting up. Also to Mags for organising the collection. And to Rich Burlingham for loaning us the room and continuing to support local provenance by supplying Church End Ale on hand pulls.
All photos here are by Ray Buckler. Paul Monks took some too. I guess they are all up on the NFC Facebook Group page?
