2nd October 2012

Musical youth at the Navy!       Words by Dave Whiteman, pictures by Laurence Gale

A couple of years ago, one of the things we used to do at the Open Mic was to throw down a musical challenge to our talented bunch of local musos. 

Basically, if someone liked to play a lot of, say blues or rock, they would be given a tune to learn for the following week which would take them out of their comfort bubble…perhaps a country and western classic. This provided much amusement, hearing a heavy rock interpretation of ‘Stand by Your Man’ or a folkie remix of ‘Paranoid.’

I thought of that this week as summer officially came to a close with many parts of the country flooded and the Met Office declaring September the wettest on record.   What about ‘Why does it always rain on me?’ maybe ‘Raining in my Heart’ or even ‘Stormy Weather?’   Certainly ‘Raining in my Heart’ and ‘It might as well rain until September’ would make the list!  Whatever the weather, though, you are always guaranteed a warm welcome at the Newport Open Mic, held every Tues at the Navy in Bellmans Yard.

Scratchouse band this week had Roger Clark, Keith Johnson, Dave Whiteman and first timer, Louis Coupe on keyboards, with a small warm up set featuring songs from Eric Clapton and Elton John.

Last week Ashleigh Husselbee and Robbie Pilgrim, just 15 & 14 respectively, wowed the crowd on their first appearance and they were back to show it wasn’t a fluke. Adele’s ‘Someone like you’ reworked for Robbie’s guitar was the highlight of a super set.

Next up, newcomer Louis Coupe, another visitor from Shifnal’s Open Mic, Jaspers. Louis is only 16  but his fantastic keyboard and vocal skills belied his tender years. ‘Lady Madonna’ and Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’ had the audience demanding more and they got it with a fantastic boogie woogie piece from Hugh Laurie, ‘Swannee River.’ Great stuff from this talented young man.

Another youngster, Mellissa Severn, 14, up next, and I realised that the combined ages of the first four performers was still less than mine! Self penned songs ‘Rear view mirror’ and ‘White Lie’ were musical poems and her expressions gave you the feeling that you were watching a musical. Surely a career in the performing arts beckons for this young lady?

Open Mic regulars Vinyl Tap lifted the tempo straight away with ‘Town called Malice’, The Jam classic and then Alex showed his great vocal talent with a strong rendition of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’. A very solid performance from this much improved five piece.

Dave Whiteman followed and had the audience singing along to ‘Sunny Afternoon’ and the Four Non Blonde’s anthem ‘What’s Up?’ before Remynie-Kiah Faith, at 15, reduced the average age once again. A lovely guitar/vocal set featured songs from Rihanna and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus…no I’ve not heard of them either!

Rich Evans always brings something interesting to the table and this week it was an electronic loop. A funky ‘Word Up’ was followed by ‘We are young’ from Fun, but he saved the best till last….Sting’s ‘Englishman in New York’ was simply superb.

Martyn Templeton is another excellent vocalist and his varied set had songs from Eddie Cochran and Johnny Cash but it was an Emili Sande song, ‘Read all about it’ that quietened the room.

Time for a bit of rock and Pippin Henderson, Andy Conway and Rob McDonald, this week showed that you don’t have to raise the volume too much, to raise the tempo. A tuneful guitar instrumental segued first into ‘Voodoo Child’ and then ‘Whole Lotta Love’ with Pippin’s vocals clear and superb.

The reputation of the Open Mic seems to be spreading, because we had yet another couple of newcomers to close the show. Sharn Hodgkinson and Steve Edwards, on vocals and guitar, were joined by Vinyl Tap’s Alan Lane for a lovely balanced set with songs from Gabrielle Cimi and Fairground Attraction before an outstanding ‘This is the Life’ from Amy Macdonald. 

Ten acts featuring more than twenty local musicians, all playing live. If karaoke is your thing, head for the pubs on a Friday night……but if you want to hear real live music, the Navy Club on a Tues is the place to be.

‘Forever 15’ is a concert to celebrate the life of Lewis Smith and will feature four great acts, The Making, Dylan Evans, Running Wild and Arcade Parade.  Doors open 7pm on Sat 13^th Oct at the Royal British Legion and proceeds go to CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young).  Please give it your support.

Finally two more Open Mics to tell you about, Thursdays at The Lion in Edgmond and the new one at the Royal Victoria Hotel in St Marys Street on Fri evenings….go and have a listen!

Here is a picture of two sadly missed friends of the open mic. John Allen and Roy Hodges. Two better friends it would be hard to find. Who are now jamming with Hendrix.

Oh and here is one from the archives from one of the fantastic Open Mic Xmas parties.

 

See you all next week.