Terrific new duo at The Navy. Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Matt Thomas and Laurence Gale

Some regulars may have noticed the absence over the last few weeks of our organiser/ticket seller/bass player and general dogsbody, Jude Paton. Well, Jude has taken a holiday…and not just any old holiday. She is on the other side of the world in Colombia, South America visiting an ex-Newport musical mate, John Heath. Last I heard she was heading off for a four day trip in the mountains to seek new influences……I expect her back wearing a poncho and clutching her pan pipes within the next week or so!

I am pretty sure she would have enjoyed this week’s offering at the Newport Open Mic, held at the Navy club in Bellman’s Yard every Tuesday at 8pm. The truly awful weather was not enough to deter some sixty or so diehard live music fans, and with around ten acts it was a busy, busy evening.

With a full board of performers by just after eight, Rich Evans was unable to find a playing slot before 11pm. He was nevertheless persuaded to open the show early with his usual great humour and professionalism, and his tribute to the late Pete Seeger, ‘Pay Me My Money Down’ was a lively start to the evening.

Two youngsters who have made massive improvements this year are Robbie Pilgrim and Jobe Spencer, both aged just 15. It seems just a few months ago, they were gazing at their shoes whilst tentatively strumming their guitars. They are now far more structured and the balance between the two quite different styles, one gentle picking and strumming, the other, haunting solos, was quite superb. Sandwiched between a couple of instrumental jams was an excellent version of Tom Petty’s ‘Freefallin’……great stuff.

Gaz & the Tones have been regulars at the club for some time now and their original compositions never fail to please. They always manage to slip in a new number amongst their well-established and better known songs, which shows that whilst perfecting the act, they are not neglecting their song writing.

Dave Blue assembled the first Scratch House band of the evening, recruiting first, Rich Evans on vocals and the Collister brothers from Gaz & the Tones on bass and drums. A typical blues set had all the right ingredients, Clapton, Hendrix and JJ Cale, but when multi-instrumentalist Ben Garrott joined them on stage with his brand new, lightweight, sparkling white alto sax, the sparks really did fly. Brilliant stuff from these seasoned musicians.

Steve Hammond, a talented guitarist from Shrewsbury first came to the club a few weeks ago, looking to join or form a band. Retaining the services of Andy on bass and brother Tony on drums, he showcased his talent once again. A lively ‘Mustang Sally’ was followed by a song I have never heard busked before….Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’….I am quite sure Steve will not be waiting for a band for very long.

Jobe Spencer made his second appearance of the evening, this time adding thoughtful guitar solos to Nathan Davis’s set.  A couple of Levellers numbers, including ‘Maid of The River’ preceded a fine rendition of ‘Cannonball’ by Damian Rice.

Their bass player Jude may well be in South America, but a quick trawl had bluesman Dave Sandford swapping six strings for four to join Vinyl Tap, on stage for a great set of covers. Closing song ‘Town Called Malice’ was a perfect choice, judging by the number of dancers on the floor.

Nice to see Claire Shaw from Telford, back at the club. She has a lovely voice and a nice economical guitar style but she is not averse to taking a musical risk, evidenced by songs from Katy Perry and electronic dance music trio, Swedish House Mafia.  A self-penned song ‘Heavy Heart’ closed a super set.

‘You Went and Saved the Best Till Last’ is regarded as Vanessa Williams’s signature tune, but the title was really fitting for our penultimate act of the evening. Wolverhampton based Jade & JP had waited patiently all evening and when they started their acoustic/rock/soul/disco medley everyone in the room sat up and took notice. Jade Duncombe on vocals was superbly backed by JP Haslam who managed to make his guitar sound like three instruments. Switching seamlessly from Dolly Parton, through Wild Cherry and finishing with Jackson Five….all on one acoustic guitar, it was quite clear they are seasoned performers. Hope we see you guys back again before too long.

 
Just time for late arrival Pete Nihill to send everyone on their way with his gruff gravelly voice, like a cross between Tom Waits and Lois Armstrong. Pete’s old open tuned 12 string sounded superb and brought a brilliant evening of live music to a close. 


Till next week….keep it live!