Words by Dave Whiteman, photography Matthew Thomas
What a difference a week makes. May
thankfully disappeared after the worst Spring weather on record and June
bounces into Summer with wall to wall sunshine. It even affected the
sound check as last week’s choice of songs included ‘Raining in my
Heart’, ‘Here comes the Rain Again’ and ‘Why does it always Rain on Me?’
whereas this week’s offering was much brighter………..’Here comes the Sun’
‘Mr Blue Sky’ and ‘I’ll Follow the Sun!’ Whatever the weather though,
it is heartening to see so many die hard live music lovers in our small
town. Rain, hail or snow there is always a brilliant atmosphere at the
Newport Open Mic, held every Tues at the Royal Naval Association in
Bellman’s Yard.
With the ever enthusiastic Adam Brown
on the sound desk, first up this week a blues jam with Olly Flavell on
guitar and vocals, rocking through Sweet Home Chicago, ably accompanied
by Remynie Faith on drums and Andy Clark on bass….a great start to the
evening, and had everyone’s feet tapping.
Jobe Spencer has been coming to the
club for some time now, and he occasionally joins someone on stage for a
little bit of shoe gazing instrumental. What a change this week! First
of all he played an excellent self penned guitar composition, which he
looped through his Roland amplifier so that at times it sounded like
three people playing, before then inviting his mother on stage. Zoe, his
Mum, is an established singer in her own right, and although suffering
from a sore throat, she did an excellent job of Biffy Clyro’s ‘Many of
Honour’ which went down very well with the large crowd.
Steve Davis, no not that one, next in
the cue (sorry) and he took us back to the sixties with songs from The
Small Faces and The Byrds……nice to see a 12 string played so well. A
couple of songs from JJ Cale, ‘Magnolia’ and ‘Clyde’ completed a fine
debut.
Malcolm Purvis from Leeds is something
of a regular now, playing at the club whenever he is working in the
area. He brought a special guest tonight; Carolina Steedman from Brazil,
who provided superb backing vocals to Malcolm’s thought provoking
compositions. He writes and sings all his own ‘musical urban poems’
highlight of which was ‘This is my Prayer’
We don’t see Zoe Pinchin often enough
these days, but it is always a pleasure to hear her pitch perfect
vocals. With yours truly accompanying on guitar, she had the audience in
the palm of her hand with True Colours from Cyndi Lauper, before
putting her own stamp on ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’ and then finishing with a
super ‘To make You Feel my Love’….made famous by Adele.
Another performer we would like to see
more of, Jon Pullen was next up and did a great job of the ELO classic,
‘Sweet Talking Woman’…..no easy task with just an acoustic guitar.
‘Troubled Town’ by Jake Bugg and the Ocean Colour Scene favourite, ‘The
Circle’ completed a fine set.
Nice to see Ian Simpkins returning to
the club after his first visit last week. Melodic guitar and resonant
voice are the tools of his trade and songs from John Lennon and Scottish
duo, Gallagher & Lyle soon caught the audience interest. Once he
had them, he kept them with an old spiritual song ‘Oh Mary don’t you
weep’ which has been recorded by Springsteen and Aretha Franklin,
amongst others….excellent stuff. Ian runs his own Open Mic at the Star
Inn, Copmere End near Eccleshall on the second Sunday of every month.
The night was just about coming to a
close, when the ever reliable Rich Evans borrowed a guitar and treated
us to great singalongs from The Lumineers and then Fun’s ‘We are Young’.
So once again, another superb night of
entertainment at the Newport Open Mic. Around a dozen musicians, a large
appreciative audience and a dry walk home….is summer here at last?!!
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