A great start to the New Year at The Navy!    Words and Pictures: Dave Whiteman 

(Pictures to follow, (hopefully)).

They do say that as you get older, time goes quicker….it seems only a couple of weeks ago that we were looking forward to Christmas and the New Year…now here we are in the middle of January and the Newport Open Mic end of year party seems an age ago. Never mind, back to normal at the Navy Club with the first Open Mic of 2015 and with a packed board once again by around 8pm it was time to kick off the live music New Year in style.

It has been many months since we saw Jobe Spencer at the club, and it seems that he has been spending the time practicing. Only one tune from Jobe, a Tommy Emmanuel composition called ‘Windy & Warm’ but what a terrific start to the evening. Mark my words; this young man is good now…but he is going to be a VERY, VERY good guitarist.

Always nice to welcome a new face on stage, and 18yrs old Mitch Brooks from Lilleshall, made his debut in front of a very appreciative audience. A great set featured songs from Artic Monkeys, Stereophonics and a couple of crackers from Ed Sheeran……great guitar style and a very good voice.

Something new this week from one of our youngest Open Mic regulars, Jay Harris. I can’t say I have heard of Catfish & The Bottlemen, a North Wales Indie rock band, but after listening to Jay’s version of ‘Cocoon’ I shall certainly be listening out for them.

Olly Flavell goes from strength to strength, and with a new EP out next month he was keen to try out some of his new material. His three song self-penned set was very nice indeed, easy listening music with a bit of an edge, and his stage presence has improved enormously.

The first band of the evening, Vinyl Tap weighed in with a few crowd pleasers, ‘Town Called Malice’ and the Otis Redding classic, ‘Dock of the Bay’ before finishing with a cleaned up version of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’. It is a good song and very well played, but I have said before and still believe that it would benefit from a slightly lower key.

Our second new face of the evening, James Flanagan from Gnosall was a real breath of fresh air. His voice reminds me a little of Coldplay’s Chris Martin, but there is a slightly rougher side….think James Morrison, and you are getting close. His original set showed a strong song-writing talent as well….’Gouda was a Girl’ and ‘Flying De Lorean’ both original and excellent.

I have always thought ‘Coal Train’ a great name for a band, assuming the link between the great 50’s blues saxophonist John Coltrane and this terrific five piece from Telford is no co-incidence. Their line up may have changed over the years but the vibrancy and very strong vocals make this lot stand out from the crowd. Whichever band I watch or listen to, I sometimes get a little fed up of hearing just the one voice, so Coal Train with three different vocalists always provide plenty of variety. Deborah Higginbotham gives us a brilliant KT Tunstall style, Bryan James acoustic rock and finally Dave Gitten provides the harder blues voice, along with a great range of blues harp. The whole unit gels and I think they will be gigging very regularly before long……don’t forget where we are guys!

We cater for all sorts down at the Navy, but I don’t think we have ever had an opera singer before. Louisa Warburton is a classically trained singer, and she really belted out the Kate Bush classic ‘Wuthering Heights’ a Capella to a delighted audience…….a quite brilliant off the cuff performance.

It was gone 11pm, and clearly the crowd were in no mood for going home, so a bit of vocal encouragement brought Coal Train back to the stage for a final encore. ‘Can’t be Satisfied’ showcased a very tight rhythm section and great harmonica, before rock classics ‘Get it On’ and ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ had the remaining audience up on its feet dancing.

So a super start to the New Year. After low attendances toward the end of 2014 it was nice to see so many people making the live music pilgrimage to the Newport Open Mic, particularly on such a foul night. Many thanks to the 7pm helpers lifting all the kit from the loft and to those at the end who helped put it back. Remember, don’t be embarrassed about offering to help…..it will always be appreciated.

Till next week……keep it live!