Building up to Halloween fun at the Navy!    Words: Dave Whiteman,  Pictures: Matt Thomas

I enjoyed a brilliant evening of live music this week with a visit to Oakengates Theatre to see tribute band The Illegal Eagles. I saw them once before, a few years ago, so knew what to expect…..amazing vocal ability and terrific musicianship. Having also seen the original Eagles perform I can honestly say that this band is just as good. In some ways it’s not really surprising….the Eagles formed in 1971 and split up some nine years later, and even though they reformed and toured intermittently since 1994, they are a long way behind their copycats who have been gigging for the last 28 years. Given that our Open Mic has been going for around eleven years I wonder who, out of our regular players will be touring professionally in the years to come?

Eddie Maiden, at 76 years young, may not be a touring musician, but he has been singing semi-professionally for over 50 years and is a pleasure to listen to. I always enjoy accompanying Eddie. You never know what he wants to sing….he has a big repertoire…..but he always knows which KEY he wants, and that makes it easier to play along with. A great opener with Tony Christie’s ‘Las Vegas’ was bettered only by his lively version of ‘Delilah’ which had the crowd joining in enthusiastically.

Lexi Tapley and Alan Lane are a very good combination. Lexi has a super voice, and although she says she gets a little nervous before going on stage, it never seems to show. One of my favourite Fleetwood Mac songs, ‘Landslide’ was stripped down with just Alan’s excellent guitar picking and her great voice, and it was a treat. Not many people realise that that Lady Antebellum, writers and performers of 2010 hit ‘Need You Now’ are actually a country band, but the song made the crossover into pop mainstream, charting all over the world. I have never heard anyone sing it at the Navy, but Lexi did a fine job…what about harmony vocals next time Alan?


Perton’s Mike Collins is becoming a bit of a regular, and this time he appeared to bring his own fan club…around half a dozen females cheering every song! I always get the feeling that Mike wants to do a little bit of comedy…his sense of humour and broad Black Country accent lend themselves to it, but he is a serious musician, as songs from Springsteen and Green Day showed.

Only one song this week from regular, Remynie Faith but it was a very good one. Accompanied by her boyfriend Gaz Giles on guitar, the duo gave us a fine version of the Cher hit ‘Bang Bang’…..amazingly a song covered by a huge number of artistes. Written by Cher’s (then) husband Sony Bono, it has been recorded by, amongst others, Nancy Sinatra, her father Frank, Stevie Wonder, 60’s flower people Vanilla Fudge and even our own Paul Weller. Shows what a good song it is!

No Vinyl Tap this week, but Alex Ash, lead vocalist with the band, recruited guitarist Alan Lane for a nice set that featured both Elton John and Ronan Keating songs, before remaining on stage to belt out a terrific version of one of the most popular sing-alongs ever, ‘American Pie’. That must be one of the most difficult songs to remember…even the stripped down version lasts around six minutes!

So even with footie on the telly and atrocious weather outside, it seems that nothing will stop our regulars getting their usual live music fix, as a decent crowd in the Navy proved. Many thanks to all those who stayed behind to dismantle and stow the equipment, your help is invaluable. Please remember that the stuff needs to be brought down from the loft at around 7pm, and often there are only two people to do it. If anyone would like to volunteer a little help earlier in the evening, it would be very much appreciated.

A great Halloween Party Night at the Navy on Friday with rocking blues through till midnight from Old's Cool and mystery guests in the audience and behind the bar!!