11th December 2012

Arctic winds but red hot atmosphere in The Navy!

Words & pictures by Dave Whiteman.

Christmas is just around the corner, there’s snow on the way and we haven't finished shopping for presents yet, .. but don't worry, help is at hand.

The nights may be getting colder but you will always be assured of a very warm welcome at the Royal Naval Association in Bellman's Yard, Newport Shropshire.

Although freezing outside, the packed house didn't need to huddle together at last Friday's monthly live music evening, when local rockers Bang to Rights played a two hour set to a full house, that left everyone with a nice warm glow! Songs from The Eagles, Beatles, John Mayall and many many others made sure everyone got a pretty good live music fix at the start of the weekend.

Business as usual at the Open Mic on Tuesday evening, and first up this week Robbie Pilgrim and Ashleigh Husselbee had only one song, but what a cracker it was. 

Dylan wrote ‘To make you feel my love’ to be played in very simple way, without fuss or drama, and that’s just how these two did it…with lovely vocals backed by soft guitar. Olly Flavell then joined Robbie to busk through ‘Sweet child o’ mine’, a great start to the evening.

Good to see Roger Clarke back, and the first band of the night saw Rog joined by Keith Johnson and Dave Blu as a rhythm section and Dave Whiteman on vocals for a couple of lively openers, including a rocking version of ‘Gimme one reason to stay here’ by Tracy Chapman.

Dave Blu then swapped bass for his trusted Gibson to play a small blues set, backed by Keith Johnson and Andy Clarke on drums and bass, which delighted the eighty or so audience.

One of the founder members of the Open Mic, Dave "Diddy" Evans, who is now a member of local new supergroup “Touch Too Much” brought the new band to the club for the first time, and what a brilliant set they played. 

Songs from Pink and Christina Aguilara were only bettered by Skunk Anansie’s ‘Weak as I am’, with terrific vocals from Jody Claydon, made for a dynamic and excellent debut live performance. Come back anytime you like folks!

John Pullen and Martyn Templeton are always guaranteed to please and they shared both stage and guitar this time, delighting the enthusiastic crowd with ‘Come undone’ an early Duran Duran song before Martyn’s spot on version of ‘Pebbles on the Beach’ by Paul Weller.

There is always variety on a Tues evening and next up, Tony Barrett from Wheaton Aston provided it this week. ‘Rollin’ from Randy Newman and a self penned ‘Light at the end of the Tunnel’ showed off a superb guitar style, but the sing along crowd pleaser ‘Ghost Chickens in the Sky’ showed he can sing a bit as well!

Remynie Faith & Ben Garrott brought the house down last time and they gave us more of the same this week, with songs from Shakira and Katy Perry, before a brilliant ‘Hallelujah’ quietened the audience once again.

Brad Taylor up next and, although his songs about death from Body in a Box and Slipknot didn’t exactly get the audience dancing, great vocals and guitar from this talented young man. He then proved he wasn’t all doom and gloom by assembling a scratch band to play us out for the evening, with Remynie and Dan on drums & keys and Nathaniel Lewis on bass. An authentic ‘Sweet child ‘o mine’ was a lively end to another brilliant evening, but there was just time for Dave Blu to join them on stage for a great blues jam before the lights came on.



So that is just about it for this year, a brilliant 2012 for live music in Newport. Weekly Open Mics at the Navy every Tuesday and at The Lion in Edgmond on Thursday, massive festivals at The Phez and the Rugby Club, and pubs packing crowds in with bands throughout the town. What a brilliantly talented place this is!

Final dates for your diary before the Christmas break, Vinyl Tap are playing The New Inn tomorrow (Sat) starting at 9pm, support is Remynie Faith and entrance is free.

Don't forget the Open Mic Christmas Party next Tues, 18th Dec, when Amber Lizard will be taking to the stage for the end of the year bash, so get there early as it is always popular.

The Open Mic will then take a short break until after the festive season, returning in early Jan. I would like to thank everyone who has supported the Newport music scene throughout the year, particularly Jude Paton whose tireless work promoting live music and organising the Open Mic has kept Newport firmly on the map.

Thank you for all your kind comments, Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for 2013. Keep it live!!

Oh What a Night

Oh what a night….Another full house at The Navy  

 Words & pictures by Dave Whiteman and Laurence Gale

Sometimes you just know. The Open Mic on a Tues is always good, but sometimes….you just know it’s going to be more than that, something very special. 

From the moment that blues veteran Dave Blu assembled the Scratchouse band with Andy Clarke on bass, Stephen Black on drums and young Olly Flavell on guitar, and the first notes of a high voltage ‘Crossroads’ started, the atmosphere was already electric and everyone understood that we were in for a great night.

Malcolm Purvis from Leeds always pops in when he is in the area and his sweet (autobiographical?) urban poems put to music, set the stall for a brilliant evening. 

The performer’s board was already full by 8pm and it was going to be a challenge to give everyone playing time. Telford based Jimmy Bremner, just 70 years young, followed and ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ was a perfect tune to get the crowd excited, before Dave Whiteman kept the audience involved with an energetic crowd pleaser from Simon & Garfunkel, ‘Mrs Robinson’

Our second band of the night had Ed Young joining Dave Blu and Stephen Black on stage to raise the roof with rockers from Hendrix, Free and Bad Company. Dave’s brilliant guitar work meshing perfectly with a great rhythm section….difficult to believe it was the first time they had played together.

Remynie Faith is known as one of the club’s great young talents, and this week, joined by another multi instrumentalist Ben Garrott, it is fair to say they brought the house down. They surprised the audience with a ukulele driven ‘Sweet child of mine’, but the next song sent a tingle down every spine. A gorgeous version of ‘Hallelujah’ had Remynie’s haunting vocals backed by Ben’s superb piano and it quite rightly brought the house down.

Always difficult to follow something like that, but next up Vinyl Tap rose to the challenge playing one of their tightest and best performances to date. ‘Town called Malice’ set the mood, Kraftwork’s ‘The Model’ was quite brilliant and Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ had the audience joining in once again.

Olly & Jake are Navy regulars now and a typically solid set once again showcased excellent guitar work with very strong vocals.

We don’t see enough of Richard Thomas these days due to his work commitments, but he always brings something different to the table. ‘Driving with my High Heels On’ was followed by a reworked Who classic, before he delighted the crowd by singing the first Christmas song of the evening ‘Oh Tannenbaum’ ….. of course in German! Nikki Millar then joined Rich for a song about ‘Searching for Alice in Wonderland’ which had more than a hint of ‘Living next door to Alice’. As I said, always original!

I’ve heard Sharn Hodgkinson sing Gabrilella Cilmi before, and, accompanied by Alan Lane on guitar she gave us a great version of ‘Sweet about Me’ before yet another showstopper, this time the blues classic ‘Summertime.’ 

Our fourth band of the evening was Telford three piece The Dead Vespers and as on their previous visit, they did not disappoint. ‘All Rise’ ‘When the Moon bleeds Gold’ and the heart wrenching ‘Sweet Heart Lullabies’ match a confident stage performance with exceptional song writing…..I am sure we will hear more from these young guys.

Ed Young and Ade Morris played together for the first time in a long time last week and it was nice to see them back on stage to play purely acoustic versions of great tunes from Crowded House and Bad Company. Ade’s typically strong vocals and sympathetic guitar work from Ed, was all that was needed to quieten the crowd once again.

Wow, what a night!  With more than a dozen live acts, it was quite difficult at times to make sure everyone got stage time, and we would certainly have liked to have heard a lot more from some, but as the clock crept towards midnight, another superb evening of live music came to an end. 

Word seems to be getting around; Tues night at The Navy is the place to be if you are a music fan, and all for less than the cost of a cup of tea! 

Local rockers Bang to Rights are live in The Navy tonight (Fri) supported by the excellent Jack Green. Doors open at 8pm and entrance is only £3 so why not come along and get a flavour of the superb local music scene in Newport? 

Other dates for your diary: Vinyl Tap are at The New Inn on Stafford Road on 15^th Dec and don’t forget the Open Mic Christmas Party at the Navy on Tues 18^th Dec. See you there!