Acoustic talent on show at the Navy Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Laurence Gale
‘Where have all the Flowers Gone?’ was a protest song very popular during the hippy era, and I was thinking of borrowing it and changing the lyrics slightly. ‘Where Have all the Bands Gone?’ would be a great title. Seems like just a short while ago, you could throw a drumstick into the Navy club audience and chances are you would hit a musician…guitarist, drummer, bass-man etc. These days the fantastic drum kit sits at the back , virtually unused, the electric guitars are sat gathering dust in the rack and the play list is somewhat dominated with acoustic singer songwriters. Bang to Rights, Don’t Lick Larry, Robbie’s in Rehab, Airbag……..where are you all? Don’t get me wrong, the acoustic evenings are fantastic, but don’t you just sometimes wanna rock??!!
Enough ranting and back to the open Mic. Great to see first act of the evening Graham Dabbs on stage again. A quirky song about fishing opened his set, and songs from Cat Stevens and Hal Ketchum showed everyone that he hasn't lost his touch. Good to have you back Gray!
I always like to hear a good vocalist and Martyn Templeton is one of those singers who can make it seem effortless. He hadn't planned to play but after a little persuasion from yours truly, he enlisted Rich Evans and gave us a brilliant short set that managed to include two of my musical idols....Tom Petty and Johnny Cash. I really think you two should team up more often.
The Levellers were the favourite band of Martyn Davies, and his son Nathan clearly holds them in the same esteem. A fine version of 'Does anybody Know what Happens to Love' was followed by one of his own songs, 'I Won't look Down', before finishing his set with one of his Dad's, 'Another Protest Song' great stuff from this impressive 15 year old.
Claire Shaw from Telford was making her second appearance at the The Navy and she will soon become a firm favourite with this kind of performance. Starting with a good old fashioned singalong is always a great idea, and the crowd joining in noisily with The Lumineers 'Ho, Hey' proved the point. A bit of Country & Western from the Dixie Chicks followed, but her final song, a self penned 'Not my Place' left the audience wanting more.
It's true to say you never know what is coming from Richard Thomas. This Open Mic veteran has been surprising us for years, and he made us smile again with his opener.....Karma Chameleon from Culture Club....Johnny Rotten meets Boy George! More Country & Western followed, maybe inspired by the previous act, with crowd pleaser 'Gypsy Woman' the pick of the bunch, before singing an impromptu 'Happy Birthday' to Jude Paton.
I don't think I have heard Ben Garrott sing before. He is a very talented all round musician, with saxophone and keyboards his usual instruments of choice, but he came on stage with just a ukulele for a rousing 'Take me Out' by Franz Ferdinand and yet another superb crowd singalong 'Daydream' by The Lovin Spoonful, complete with whistling solo......not too easy to do on stage!
More singalongs followed from Darcy Crawford. Obviously recognising that the crowd were in the mood, 'Last Request' by Paulo Nutini was very well received but The Proclaimers '500 miles' brought flashbacks of Auchturmuchty Working Men’s Club on a Saturday night!
At last a scratch house band to finish the evening. I was beginning to think that it would be a totally acoustic evening when Neil Willday assembled Olly Flavell and Andy Clarke on Guitar and bass, with drummer Brad Taylor completing the line up to rock through a series of classics. 'All Right Now' set the tempo, 'Sweet Child of Mine' kept up the pace before the Elvis standard 'All Shook Up' sent everyone home happy.
So another quite brilliant evening of live music at the Navy. For all you absent musicians out there, dust off your drumsticks, grab your Gibson and get back down to the best Open Mic in the area. Doesn’t matter if you are too tired to hump your amp along…remember we have drums, PA, mikes, lights, lots of guitars and a wonderfully enthusiastic audience…..what are you waiting for???
See you next time.
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