Bringing on back the good times at the Navy! 

 Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Laurence Gale

 

Just last month, the weekly Open Mic at the Navigation Inn,  Gnosall, finished, as the landlord and landlady Steve and Carol left for pastures new. It was a real shame, as the evening was one of the best around, but the open mic was expected to continue. Sadly, this didn’t prove to be the case and to everyone’s disappointment it stuttered to a halt. Step forward the Royal Oak, also in Gnosall and no stranger to live music. So once again, Thursday nights are Open Mic nights…and excellent they are too. I have been there for the last few weeks and the variety of acts, the quality of the music and the support of the staff have all been superb… the King is dead…long live the King.

At the Newport Open Mic, our USP, unique selling point, don’t you know, is the fact that unlike a lot of other places, our venue can cater for live bands. A full drum kit, bass amp, guitar amps, monitors, lights and even a sound man, mean that musicians can turn up, sometimes without any equipment at all, and perform in front of a sizeable and appreciative live audience.. Given that this week we had around half a dozen bands our crowd of around sixty were treated to a real live ‘bandfest’.

Mitch Brooks was hardly late when he turned up just before 8pm, but he was on the stage immediately given that the early slot was the only one available. A good mix of self- penned songs and covers followed, highlight of which was ‘This Love’ by Maroon Five…perfectly suited to Mitch’s soulful vocal.

Nice to see John Minor back on stage playing a lovely instrumental set from his favourite groups, Oasis and Queen, before our first Scratch House Band of the evening. 

Haven’t heard Dave Blue, AKA Dave Sandford for a while but the little band he put together with Olly Flavell, Jude Paton and soundman John Newton on drums was a corker. ‘Mr Bartender’ my favourite of a gutsy, bluesy set.

76 years young Eddie Maiden has only recently come back from Spain and I reckon he has been getting a bit of practice in! His crowd pleasers from Tom Jones and Neil Diamond had the crowd joining in and set the scene for later sing-alongs.

A couple of new numbers from Open Mic regulars Vinyl Tap, showed that they have been putting in some rehearsal time. Songs from Tom Petty and The Monkees preceded a great eighties anthem, ‘Tainted Love’ by Soft Cell and only encouraged audience participation even more.

Next up, a real change of direction from Perton’s Mike Collins We are used to seeing Mike alone onstage with just his acoustic guitar, but it seems he has done a ‘Dylan’ and gone electric! Recruiting son Mikey, just 14years old and a fine bass player, and slightly older Nigel Tidy on drums, he has really filled up his sound. ‘Teenage Kicks’ was apparently John Peel’s favourite song of all time and this closed a great set.

Somewhat heavier and a LITTLE bit louder nice to see Telford’s Scripted Youth making a return appearance at the club. There is real potential here. So many self-penned songs are soft ballads played in minor keys, but not this lot. Their entire set was original…..and it rocked, as evidenced by the enthusiastic reception they received after their all too short set.

Time was getting on as the busy Jude Paton made her third appearance onstage, joining singer guitarist Gaz Williams and vocalist/drummer Mike Bristow. Clearly, these guys have been around a bit as evidenced by a super set that included Rory Gallagher and Dr Feelgood, and although Jude looked a little worried at first with the unfamiliar songs, she soon found her feet.

‘You went and saved the best till last’ sang Whitney a few years back and if we are talking vocalists here, in my humble opinion, that’s what happened this week. Sam Scott from Church Aston has a remarkable talent and an even more remarkable voice. Forget all the TV wannabees, this lad would have Tom Jones et all spinning their chairs around within seconds. Sadly, with such a full board, it was quite late before he could get on, but those who had to leave missed a real treat.

One of his own songs ‘Seren’ had the remaining audience spellbound, but it then got better. Leaving the stage, he joined together with guitarist Tom Bond and our own Remynie Faith to give us an unplugged and  totally brilliant version of Ed Sheeran’s ‘I see fire’ with delicious three part harmonies….breath-taking.

SO are we back to normal now at the Open Mic? Smaller attendances after Christmas was a cause for concern, but this week saw the return of a large enthusiastic crowd, a board of around a dozen separate acts and all for a quid, including the raffle! 

 Is there really anywhere else to go on a Tuesday evening? Till next time, keep it live!

Last month I went to the Great British Rock and Blues Festival in Skegness and over two and a half days had the opportunity of seeing 54 bands or solo performers. Choices had to be made and I ended up hearing 17 legendary blues and rock performers including Paul Jones of Manfred Mann and now fronting The Blues Band at the age of 72 and looking every bit as young as he did in the 60s. Also Dr Feelgood, Band of Friends - celebrating the music of Rory Gallagher, Steve Gibbons Band, the wonderful Martin Barre from Jethro Tull, Scottish singer/songwriter Jim Diamond, best remembered as the lead singer in PHD and the song “I Won't Let You Down” were all superb but certainly up there in the highlights of the rock and blues weekend was the four piece band Babajack with the beautiful vocals, African drum and cahon from Becky Tate, slide, harmonica and “winebox” guitar from Trevor Steger and on drums our very own Tosh Murase, landlord of the Wheatsheaf in Chetwynd Aston and performing at this prestigious event just 3 days after the birth of his son.

150 miles west of Skegness the atmosphere and talent was every bit as good last Tuesday at the regular Newport Open Mic session at the Royal Naval Association. Great to see Roger Price back after too long an absence with an opening set on keyboards and great vocals transporting us back to the Big Band and jazz standards of the thirties and forties. “How High the Moon”, “Moonlight in Vermont” and “Fly Me to the Moon” being very appropriate with the wonderful full moon we had earlier this month.

Something totally different this week for Rob Brown and Matt Miles performing as an acoustic duo. Matt is usually seen behind his drum kit but was centre stage and lead vocalist alongside Rob playing guitar and vocal harmonies. And what a delight too with songs by Police, Simon and Garfunkel and Ultravox's “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes”, not a song I have ever heard performed at an Open Mic session before. Matt was clearly out of his comfort zone but absolutely no need for nerves as the pair were outstanding.

12 year old Jay Harris always brings something different to the table and this week was no exception with the first outing for his new Gibson Les Paul and “Run to You” by Bryan Adams. A quick change to acoustic guitar with the assistance of his roadie Russ (Dad) saw his set out with songs from Echosmith and the Welsh indie rock band Catfish and the Bottlemen. Jay is really performing with attitude these days....well done young man.

Loyal supporter of Newport Open Mic, John Minor was back this week on guitar and demonstrating his talent on this instrument as well as keyboards, his first instrument of choice. Oasis is one of his favourite bands and their debut single “Supersonic” was performed really well. A good set from John ending with John Lennon's best selling single of his solo career “Imagine”.

5 piece band Khamouflage appeared last year at Open Mic and this week were back for an extended set of high octane rock and blues. Travelling from Crewe, Stoke and Stafford, Helen, Dave, Darren, Geoff and Steve (Blackie) put together a polished and powerful set of classic rock from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gary Moore, T Rex and Stealers Wheel but the outstanding songs in the set delivered by Helen, Little Miss Dynamite, were Alannah Myles' “Black Velvet” and “Radar Love” by the Dutch rock band Golden Earring - superb drumming from Steve Black on this one. Ginger Baker eat you heart out.

A night not only of great diversity but of great talent too with the tempo being brought right down by 24 year old singer/songwriter Sam Scott. Last heard at Newport Open Mic 8 years ago Sam is a young man of exceptional talent. A lovely opening song “Who Says” by John Mayer was followed by 2 self penned songs. “Seren” meaning Star in Welsh was a song he wrote 7 years ago and Sam had the crowd transfixed by his beautiful melodic voice and finger picking style. If you have not seen or heard of Andy McKee before look him up on youtube – you will be amazed and Sam's launch into “For My Father” was ambitious indeed. Terrific stuff from this young man who promises to be back next week.

Cameraman for the evening, Laurence Gale rounded things off nicely with some lovely ballads including “Cat's in the Cradle” by one of his favourite singers, Harry Chapin. 

Once again a wonderful evening of live music and thank you to all those who contributed in whatever way.

Till next week KEEP MUSIC LIVE!

A packed house and plenty of new faces at The Navy. Words and pictures: Dave Whiteman

Yep, it’s cold. We seem to be breaking weather records every year at the moment. Depending on which newspaper you read, last year was the wettest/warmest/driest/coldest since records began (which was when exactly?) and February has started off very cold indeed. One thing you can always be sure about though is the warm welcome you will receive at the Newport Open Mic, held every Tuesday in the Royal Naval Association in Bellman’s Yard. Predicted bad weather didn’t stop debut performers travelling from far and wide, including Stafford, Wellington, Wolverhampton and even Manchester and neither did it prevent a brilliant crowd of fifty or so enjoying themselves.

Alan Lane is one of the best guitarists in town. Last week accompanying an Elvis impersonator ( and he was brilliant) His brief this week was somewhat different playing soft guitar to Lexi Tapley’s wonderful melodic vocal. Lexi’s voice can fill a room and her opener from Paulo Nutini certainly did, but her version of I’m Not the Only One’ by Sam Smith had real emotion. A great start to the evening.

Always nice to welcome new talent, and Alan Critchley, originally from Bury but now living in Wellington, brought his own backing tracks….and a fair percentage of the audience, to entertain us with some nice sing-alongs from Roger Miller and Billy Joel.

Lilleshall’s Mitch Brooks was back again and is proving to be a real favourite. He made his debut a few weeks ago and obviously enjoys playing at the Navy. Tracey Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ is a difficult song, not easy to sing or play, but he did a superb job. A great young talent.

Next up two performers who have contributed an awful lot to local live music over the years, Jon Lloyd and Joe Nunn. Their three song set, all written by Jon was quite beautiful and the audience were quietened within seconds of Joe’s soft violin accompaniment. Special mention here, of Jon’s guitar playing. He makes complex rhythms and awkward chord progressions look very easy, and his lazy drawl vocal, so reminiscent of Leonard Cohen is perfect for their sound.

The audience of around fifty were now warming to the variety of performers, and Melissa Severn didn’t disappoint. It is hard to believe that she is still only sixteen…..she seems to have been around ages. I predicted when I first saw her almost three years ago, that she would have a career in music and it seems I am about to be proved right. 2014 was a blur of festivals and contest finals, performing in front of thousands of people and that has only sharpened her stage craft. Her music, all self-penned, has always been good, but her confidence on stage is now that of a seasoned performer….what next for this brilliant young talent?

If you have visited the Southwater Development in Telford recently, there is a good chance you will have seen members of next act, Sixty Angel Voices busking in the area. First time at the Navy for Matt Allen, Connor Purcell, Gary Conway and Tom Bridge, but the enthusiastic reception they received for their original set will guarantee their return, I am sure. They clearly enjoyed the experience, describing the set up as ‘the best ever’ and their mix of acoustic rock, with guitars and mandolin was very well received by the crowd.

Never judge a book by its cover and another newcomer, Steve Reynolds from Wolverhampton, certainly proved that old adage. He reminded me of rugby player Mike Tindall, but the voice that emerged was definitely not low and rough. He had a beautiful soft vocal and his version of opener ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ silenced the crowd immediately. It can be quite difficult to stand alone on stage with just a guitar for company, but this big man had the audience in the palm of his hand from the instant he started playing….great stuff.

Father and Son Gaz & Daz Nettleton had travelled from Wythenshawe, in order to surprise one of our regulars, Steve Davis who also runs an Open Mic in Manchester. Unfortunately, Steve missed this week, but the lads still thought their three hour round trip, on a working day, well worth the effort. ‘These Boots are made for Walking’ was a good opener which had the crowd singing along, and the response persuaded Gaz to try a quite tricky number, ‘Knights in White Satin’. Definitely not one in the easy category, but his vocal was crystal clear and he hit the high notes with ease. Come back again anytime lads, it was a brilliant first outing.

So around fourteen live performers entertained a great crowd and showed again why Newport Open Mic is regarded as one of the best in the area. 

 

Once again, many thanks to the helpers who were there at 7pm and still there more than four hours later to put the kit back up into the loft. We couldn’t do it without you!

Till next time, keep it live.

Banish the January blues at the Navy! Words and Pictures: Dave Whiteman

It’s official. 

Don’t just take my word for it, but January is the worst month of the year. 

After all the excitement building up to Christmas and then the New Year, the bleakness of January really hits home. Whether it is the rubbish weather, the fact that we spent up during the festive season, or just that the holidays seem a LONG way away, we are all, officially, down this month. One way to beat the blues is to get yourselves down the Royal Naval Association for the weekly Newport Open Mic, where you will always find a warm welcome and a healthy dose of enthusiasm!

I have been shouting from the rooftops lately about the young talent that is Olly Flavell. He has matured over the last couple of years into a prolific songwriter and a superb performer. His set this week was all self- penned and featured a great opener in ‘I want you too’. He looks a lot more confident on stage these days, perhaps due to the number of performances he makes around the area. If you missed him at the Navy, try and get to the Royal Oak in Gnosall, on Thursday evenings…you won’t be disappointed.

Eighteen years old, Mitch Brooks from Lilleshall made his debut at last week’s Open Mic and nice to see him back playing at the Navy again. It was almost as if he was testing the water last time, playing Ed Sheeran with just his acoustic guitar. This week he supplemented that with a loop pedal and the effect was simply superb. ‘You need me, I don’t need you’ was pretty good first time out, but looping different rhythms and riffs took this to a new level. Another very talented young man. 

I was beginning to feel quite old as Penkridge brothers Jack& Jordi James, 17 and 15 respectively came on the stage, making their first appearance at the club. For all you budding songwriters out there, it’s worth pointing out the importance of a couple of covers. You may want to play YOUR music all night, but have to accept that it may not be as memorable as a chart hit. The lads mixed it up well, sandwiching a very nice self- penned song, ‘Leaving’ in between a couple of cracking covers. Leave ‘em with a fast one is a good motto to follow and ‘I bet you look good on the dance floor’ had the audience singing along, tapping their feet and wanting more.

Time to redress the age balance a little bit and when local drumming legend Paul Crewe invited me to play a few numbers with him, how could I refuse? With ‘Grandad’ Dave on guitar and vocals, drummer Paul young (or old) enough to be my son, and bassist Olly Flavell the Grandson, this three generational ‘Scratch House Band’ worked through the Phil Collin’s classic ‘In the Air Tonight’ which featured not only great drumming on just a pair of bongos, but also nice comic timing from Paul. Follow ups from Stereophonics and Crowded House showed that you don’t necessarily need to know the songs to well, to give great accompaniment on bass….well done Olly.

It was almost at the end of the evening as newcomers Jack and Jordi collaborated with Mitch Brooks once again to rock us out for the night and send everyone home happy. All that was needed was a little bit of percussion, so step forward soundman Jonathan Newton……no mean drummer himself, and the second Scratch House Band was complete. I like moments like these…..quite often players have no idea how the audience will react, but rest assured, in the Navy it is always positive. These young lads really seemed to enjoy themselves on stage and I would not be surprised to see them doing something similar again.

So there you are. A cold, wet miserable January evening outside, but inside, a brilliant antidote to those blues at the Newport Open Mic. None of it would be possible however without the volunteers who lift the kit down from the loft every Tuesday around 7pm and set up the stage. 

The helpers seem to be few and far between of late and it is often left to just a couple of people to do the heavy work. Your help is needed and would be greatly appreciated. Please please don’t be to embarrassed to ask….just come down at 7pm and join in!

Till next time, keep it live!