Royal Celebration at The Navy    Words: Dave Whiteman   Pictures: Matthew Thomas

As if the summer scorcher and the sporting successes were not enough, the nation is cheering once again, this time for the arrival of William and Kate’s new son, who will be third in line to the throne. A committed Monarchist, I feel a certain affinity towards the House of Windsor. I myself was born in the  year the Queen came to the throne, our daughter was born in Silver Jubilee year, 1977, and to cap it all her son, our first grandson, was born just a couple of weeks ago….spooky eh?

We certainly enjoyed wetting our new-born’s head and should the couple decide to do the same I know the perfect venue. The Royal family have a massive connection to the Senior Service; with many of them having served in uniform…..perhaps an evening down at the Royal Naval Association would be just the ticket? I am sure Jess, the steward would make them feel very welcome! Apparently, they are both big live music fans, so maybe we should extend an invitation from the Newport Open Mic?

They would certainly have enjoyed this week’s show, with seventeen years old Kim Smith, from Telford first on stage. She has not been to the club for a while but she soon had the audience in her pocket with the Norah Jones favourite ‘Don’t Know Why’ Very nice also to hear a female singer covering a Police number… a really excellent version of ‘Roxanne’……a new slant on a brilliant song. ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ by Wheatus closed a short but polished set.

Alan Lane played last time with Megan, but returned this week with his usual musical partner, and Megan’s Mum, Sharn Hodgkinson.  The Corrs classic, ‘What can I do?’ was perfectly suited to Sharn’s strong clear vocal, and her follow up, Nancy Sinatra’s ‘These Boots are Made For Walking’ had the audience clapping and tapping their feet, before Train’s ‘Soul Sister’  closed the set.

Most people know that unrehearsed musical collaborations are my favourite. Nathan Davies normally sings his own compositions on stage but this week he assembled Brendan Bambro and Jobe Spencer to attempt the tricky Jason Mraz number ‘I’m Yours’ and didn’t do a bad job at all. An equally challenging song, ‘Someone Like You’ by Adele followed, and showed just how much confidence these talented teenagers brought to the stage. This was their first ever public performance from these youngsters, all aged just 15, and I think it is something they should do more often….. I am confident that we will see more of them.

Coaltrain last appeared at the club about four weeks ago and returned to give us another dose of their blues rock. A slightly different line up had Matt Allen on vocals this time and ten year old……..yes that is ten years old Conor Ross on blistering lead guitar.  Born to be Wild and Get it On soon had the crowd rocking but ‘Sunshine of your Love’ had the jaws dropping……a budding Eric Clapton with twenty years to spare! His Dad, Steve Ross also plays guitar with Coaltrain, so it is clear where he gets his inspiration from. Conor later joined a bunch of musicians on stage, looked calmly at me and just said “what key?”……… a quite amazing young talent.

The first Scratchouse band followed this great set from Coaltrain.   Alex Ash is lead vocalist with Vinyl Tap but tonight he led a five piece that had Roger Clark on bass, Alan Lane on lead, Dave Whiteman on rhythm and Paul Vince, the in demand drummer, to rock through Walking in Memphis and Creep before Chasing Cars, the anthem by Snow Patrol…..an excellent busking set from these experienced musicians.

Conor Ross then returned to the stage to show that he is equally adept at electric or acoustic guitar, before our final band of a very busy evening. The small stage of the Navy was filled to capacity, with a couple of singers, a blues harp player, two lead guitarists, rhythm and bass and fortunately, just one drummer….the brilliant Paul Vince who had backed everyone all evening. A mixed set of songs from The Killers, Bryan Adams, and The Stereophonics sent the crowd home happy.

It feels great to be involved in music in Newport these days. Apart from our own outstanding Open Mic, Olly Flavell, one of our regulars, has started another at the Bridge Inn on alternate Thursdays; next one will be on 2nd August. Don’t forget that The Navigation in Gnosall hold an excellent Open Mic every week, also on Thursday. 

There were great reports about the Live Music held in the Market Hall on Saturday a few weeks ago, so there is a strong possibility of that happening again. Keep it live!