I must admit, I hate March. Normally at this time of the year I am
away on the ski slopes, but due to a knee operation, there will be no
skiing for me this season. Maybe that’s why I’ve felt a little tired and
listless this week. Open Mic on Tues at The Navy; same again at The
Navigation on Thurs and a gig tonight, Friday….I was thinking, am I
getting too old for this Rock & Roll lifestyle? That was until I saw
a programme about BB King, who throughout his seventies still played
around 250 gigs per year, and even now at almost 90 still performs more
than 100 times annually!Rich Evans, who like BB King has a guitar with a female name, in his case Amy WInebox, got the evening off to a great start with a crowd pleasing set which included the C&W hit, ‘Ruby (don’t take your love to town) before Telford based Ricochet came on stage. Everyone agreed that the new softer sound, with Sand Kumar playing electric acoustic was very nice indeed….something to note for the future lads?
Also from Telford, the lovely voice of Claire Shaw never fails to
please. A really nice rework of ‘Believe’ by Cher was followed by a
self-penned ‘Deliverance’ …not from the film of the same name as I
originally thought, but as a tribute (?) to an ex-boyfriend….who she
described with a choice expletive.A couple of songs from a very melancholy Nathan Davis next, including ‘I’ll Always Say’ which he wrote himself and the Bob Dylan classic, ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’ which, by comparison, seemed almost lively.
It does what it says on the tin was a great advert for wood stain,
but the description fits equally well with Gaz & The Tones. Very
hummable favourites, ‘Maybe it’s Me’ and ‘Resign’ sandwiched a new
number, provisionally entitled ‘Just Wanna Make you Smile’ which I am
sure will feature on their crowd pleasing set list.John Minor played keyboard onstage for the first time last week and returned to try out vocals with a heartfelt tribute to his uncle who died recently. Clearly emotional, he had some difficulty getting some of the words out, but this was ignored by the audience who rewarded him with generous applause at the end of his short set. Well done John.
The ever dependable Olly Flavell brought proceedings to a close with his own very recognisable style, part jazz part funk. ‘Sunday Morning’ one of his own songs, is very well crafted and deserves to be recorded….I could certainly imagine hearing it on Radio 6. Olly tells me that he is starting another Open Mic in town, starting next Monday 10th March. It seems unclear whether or not The Bridge, who are under new ownership, wanted to carry on with their alternate Thursdays, so The Shake has stepped in to host Open Mic every other week. Good luck with that!
So too old for Rock & Roll?
Don’t you believe it. Till next time, keep it live!
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