Stadium time for our young performers.

 Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Laurence Gale

Only a few weeks ago, I was mentioning in this column that a number of our young musicians were moving on to great things; performers such as Melissa Severn who has been playing festivals throughout the summer. I said that, in my opinion, it would only be a matter of time before one of our youngsters would be playing in stadiums……well it looks like that prophecy may come true sooner rather than later. Olly Flavell has been a Newport Open Mic regular since he was 14 years old and now at the tender age of 17, he and his band, The Rivals, won through to the National Battle of the Bands Final held in Birmingham. Not only did they win this prestigious award, but they were also voted the best band on the night by the stage crew…..and with this came the opportunity to play in front of around 1500 people at the LG Arena. As if this wasn’t enough, they now fly to Sao Paulo in Brazil next year to represent the UK in the INTERNATIONAL Battle of the Bands and potentially could be playing in a stadium with an audience of up 50, 000!   Heady stuff indeed!

Rather fewer than that at this week’s Newport Open Mic, but nice to see that both Olly and Melissa were on the board to play. As I said, the latter has been playing festivals all over the place so it was nice to catch up and listen to some of her new material. Melissa’s stage presence has always belied her tender years, but she now looks even more polished in front of the microphone. Highlight of her set, new song ‘Hurricane Mouth’ was quite superb, and I am sure it will only be a matter of time before she is picked up by a record company.

Mike Collins from Perton was making a welcome return, and performed a great acoustic set featuring Big Country and one of my very favourite bands Del Amitri. Mike is becoming something of a regular I am pleased to say, and seemed to enjoy his performance, as did the crowd.

Our youngest performer 11 years old Jay Harris next up, and even a technical problem with his guitar did not faze this confident young man. Mark Owen’s ‘Four Minute Warning was the pick of a very nice set.

Next up, the aforementioned Olly Flavell who delighted the audience with a few new compositions, including his opener, ‘Hannah’. No problem in writing a song like this at the same time as having a girlfriend called Lois, I asked him afterwards?

First band of the evening and good to see Vinyl Tap back on the Navy stage. I have to compliment VT drummer Remynie Faith here. It is quite easy in a room of this size for the power of the drums to ‘overtake’ the band, but she played at just the right intensity and volume to remain underneath the vocals and help to create what was a crystal clear sound. A really good spot from this popular band.

I am always pleased to see Alan Turner in the club with his guitar, because I know I will get a Beatles fix. Like me he is a big fan, but stays away from the more ‘popular’ tunes and always does a great job with a less well known number, in this case ‘Fixing a  Hole’ from Sgt Pepper. The Navy is never a totally quiet place to play, but Alan’s lovely soft vocal and melodic guitar carried above the hum of the crowd.

Time for a reunion of sorts and it was nice for me to get up and play with a reformed Robbie’s in Rehab’ for the first time in many a year. Roger Clark had been booked to provide a band for the Dickensian Market in the town on 12^th December so he contacted old bassist Al Middleton, new drummer Spence, and with the Blues Brothers idea that he was on a mission to reform the band, how could I refuse? I have to say that the years melted away as the band, driven by Roger’s superb guitar riffs, rocked through a great set of covers from Bryan Adams, Stereophonics and Dire Straits amongst others. Catch them outside the Market Hall next Friday around 8pm.

So from busking on the High St to the LG Arena, Olly has shown it can be done….you just have to make a start. That start could be down at the Newport Open Mic held every Tues in the Navy Club, where you will be given all the help and encouragement necessary for you achieve whatever you are capable of…you will never know unless you give it a try!  Till next time, keep it live!