Special birthday at The Navy! 
Words: Dave Whiteman, pictures: Laurence Gale

So in the end it didn’t really matter…. did it? England creep home with their tail between their legs after another yet another forgettable tournament performance proved that their bark is definitely worse than their bite. And at the risk of mixing my metaphors again, Uruguay’s Luis Suarez proved the exact opposite by showing the both the brilliant and the ugly face of his game. Good luck to all the European teams still in the World Cup, but for me at least it is time to find solace in my other great passion, music.

Tuesdays down at the Navy have been surprisingly well attended, given the diversions on the box, and this week was no exception. It was a little different to usual though as it was a surprise birthday for Newport live music champion, Jude Paton. Whatever is happening in our town whether it is playing, booking live bands or helping to organise Newfest, Jude is involved in everything musical.
But the look on her face was priceless when she realised that the Newport Open Mic had been hijacked this week to provide a wonderful surprise birthday party to say a big thank you to her for all her great work.

With two of her favourite local bands booked and food provided by friends and supporters, the evening was set to be a cracker and that is just how it turned out. 

Dave Blue and Olly Flavell provided the warm up, enlisting Mark Langford on drums with bassman Andy Clark, and the audience reaction to their rock/jazz/blues opener set the stall for a marvellous evening.

Mervyn Williams is one of the founder members of Newport Open Mic and he needed little persuasion to perform with his band Bang to Rights and lift the room temperature with some high octane rock. There is a saying that ‘you cannot please everyone’ but with their energy and enthusiasm as well as a really varied programme, I think they did just that. A great set list included The Eagles and Billy Idol, but it was a brilliant ‘Smoke on the Water’ that really brought the house down and cemented their reputation as a rock solid band.

Just time for the raffle and a quick rendition of Happy Birthday to Jude before top local band, Old’s Cool took to the stage. I have been watching this band for a number of years and they have always been very tight, but I think the relatively new addition of vocalist Steve Simpkins has lifted them to a new level.

Heavily influenced by Thin Lizzy and Gary Moore….their ‘Parisian Walkways’ sends shivers down the spine….they have introduced a harder edge to their blues/rock and it is crowd pleasing stuff. A reworking of an old Zombies hit, ‘She’s not There’ was excellent, but after their version of ‘Hammer to Fall’ by Queen, with Paul Rodgers, the audience simply refused to let them leave the stage. Free’s ‘All Right Now’ had the necessary energy and crowd participation to send everyone home happy.

So a slightly different format to the evening, but judging by the reaction of the 70 or so crowd, the World Cup is already forgotten….until next time!

A big thank you to all who gave their time to make this a most memorable birthday party, the bands, the cake makers, the bar staff and the late night helpers who put away the kit.

Finally a reminder about Newport’s premier music event NEWFEST, which takes place tomorrow at the Rugby Club starting at 11am. Most of the dozen or so entertainers cut their musical teeth at the Newport Open Mic, so come along, give them your support and help raise funds for the chosen charity Green Fields Africa.
 
Till next time, keep it live!