Bands are getting  even younger at The Navy!     Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Laurence Gale

Dedicate….. what does it that word really mean? I was thinking this on Tuesday evening whilst packing up after another great night of live music at the Newport Open Mic. Obviously we know the dictionary definition don’t we? At least I thought I did until I resolved to look it up and check. Dedicate (verb) ‘to devote time and energy to a particular cause’, to commit, to pledge, to give to sacrifice….. and it occurred to me that all these people who help to set up, play themselves, collect raffle money and break down the kit at the end of the night are all ‘dedicated’ to our particular cause….bringing live music to the town. And don’t forget the audience. They MUST be dedicated to leave a nice warm house on a very wet and windy January evening to support the Open Mic with such amazing regularity!

Around sixty did just that on Tuesday evening and as usual, the performers didn’t disappoint. All the way from Leeds, Malcolm Purvis brings his self penned songs of love and angst to the Navy every time he is working in the area. A new song, ‘Chance’ reminded me very much of Al Stewart and was quite superb.

Start ‘em young we say, and the next act, Newport band The Revenue are one of the youngest we have seen. This five piece had a combined age of about 60 years, but don’t let their youth fool you. ‘I Bet She Looks Good on the Dance Floor’ and the Oasis classic ‘Don’t look Back in Anger’ rocked the house….very hard to believe this was their very first live performance.

At 16 years old Nathan Davis who followed, is almost a veteran! Revolution Song is one of his favourites, but you could hear a pin drop when he played ‘Cannonball’ by Damian Rice…great stuff.

Steve Hammond from Shrewsbury had heard about the Newport Open Mic on the music grapevine and turned up with his guitar looking for collaborators. “I don’t sing or play acoustic guitar” he told me; he was looking for a few musicians to join him on stage to rock though a bit of classic rock. Step forward Richie Evans (unusually on bass) Olly Flavell on guitar, yours truly on vocals and Pete Barton on drums, to form the first Scratch House band of the evening. Steve proved to be no slouch, with great solos throughout a short tight set. On top of that he won a bottle of wine in the raffle, making his journey doubly worthwhile!

I am running out of superlatives for next act, Gaz & the Tones. Looking around the room I saw experienced musicians nodding their heads to the solid tight beat, and all agreed that they have improved enormously over the last few months. New songs ‘Resigned’ and ‘Maybe it’s Me?’ sandwiched more familiar numbers….surely a recording contract beckons for these likeable young lads?

I have been involved in the Open Mic for many years and can truthfully say that the one performer who has surprised the most over that time is Richard Thomas. Years ago, he would get the audience on board with ‘Living Next Door to Alice’ but he is much more adventurous now……Petula Clark’s ‘Downtown’ anyone….sung entirely in German?!!  He never fails to bring something interesting to the table, nice one Rich.

Olly Flavell had already enjoyed his time on stage with the Scratch House Band, so didn’t expect to play again. He has been busy writing new material and after a little arm twisting he showcased one of his new songs, ‘By Your Side’. More familiar covers from Ronan Keating and LMFAO completed a super set for this very talented young man.

Another Rich, this time Rich Evans, was last act on stage to bring proceedings to a close. A melancholy start, Paul Weller’s ‘You do Something to Me’ was faultlessly delivered, but his next song ‘Is This the Way to Amarillo’ complete with bar staff contribution, ignited the room with everyone joining in the chorus and handclaps.

So there we are….dedicated. No one gets paid and it can be quite challenging at times, but we can truly say that we have a ‘dedicated’ bunch of talented performers …..not forgetting our amazing regular audience.

Back the same time next Tues for more local live music, and please note that the last Tuesday of this  month, the 28^th will once again be an acoustic evening. This doesn’t mean bands are not allowed, just that  there will be no drum kit or electric guitars, so try an unplugged evening for a very nice change! Once again, many thanks to all the volunteers who make the whole thing possible.  Until next time……..keep it live!