Youthful night at The Navy. Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Matthew Thomas

 This week saw the birthday of entertainers Tom Jones and Tina Turner, who are both, incredibly, 75 years old. And, if he hadn’t been murdered in 1980, John Lennon would also have reached that milestone later this year. All of these artists started their career in the 1960’s so how did they, with the exception of Lennon, manage such longevity in the music world?  Perhaps reinvention is the key? Tina Turner went on to appear in films, most notably Mad Max and our own Tom Jones is still on our TV screens each week hosting The Voice, so both recognised that just having a good voice wasn’t perhaps enough? I won’t be around to write about it but I wonder if any of our talented young performers at the Newport Open Mic will still be playing and singing in another 50 or 60 years……I certainly hope they are.

 Sound check time and under the watchful eyes and ears of resident soundman Jon Newton, Dave Blu,  AKA  Dave Sanford and Olly Flavell gave us an unscripted 10 minute blues medley in order to fix the sound levels. A completely full board by 8.30pm meant a sharpish turnaround, so without further ado, first up Richard Heywood was ushered on stage. Richard has only been playing live for a few weeks but even now it is easy to see the improvements in his sound and his stage presence.

John Minor followed with a collection from his favourite writer, Noel Gallagher, and it is very clear to see how much enjoyment he  gets out of performing, whether guitar or keyboard….a loyal supporter of Newport Open Mic.

Olly Flavell gave us just one song this week, before being joined onstage by bluesman Dave Sandford. I love these little collaborations, and a polished performance showed just how good these two are together.

Newcomer Sam Pauling, who has been in the audience for the last few weeks was finally persuaded to take the plunge by his step Dad, musician Roger Clark and a fine debut it was. Looking resplendent in Fedora hat and bow tie T-shirt, he gave us a great rendition of One Republic’s ‘Counting Stars’ on ukulele….no easy task.

We have seen ace guitarist Tom Boddison a number of times at the club, but he has now recruited fellow Adams Grammar School friends Callum Shaw and  Luke Owen-Bowden, all 17 years old, to form Blue Season, fronted by 16 years old Adam Clark-Hills on vocals. These young lads have only been together for a very short while, but the potential is there for all to see. Despite a few stage nerves, they pulled off a fine performance, highlight of which was Hendrix’s ‘Voodoo Child’ complete with Star Spangled Banner ending from Tom……a very good first outing.

Still plenty more music on offer, this time from local band, Vinyl Tap who had the audience clapping along with their lively set which included the Queen classic ‘I want to Break free’…..good stuff from these Navy regulars.

Some years ago I predicted a bright future for next up Melissa Severn, who seems to have been around for ages, yet is still only 17 years old. Tonight (Friday) sees the launch of her debut CD, ‘Punch in the Gut’ at the Navy club, recognising that this was where she first started to perform around three years ago. Why not come down and have a listen….I promise you will not be disappointed.

Speaking of incredible young talent, next up Remynie Faith, multi- instrumentalist and drummer with Vinyl Tap performed solo with just an acoustic guitar for company. Despite a small show of nerves before she went on, she delivered a faultless example of lovely vocal and economic guitar playing…..her finale James Blunt’s ‘Goodbye my Lover’ was sensational.

I said we had a full board and The James Cousins had waited all evening to play and brought proceedings to a close with a very lively set. Starting with a Beatles song is always a god idea in my book, but covers from George Ezra, Amy Winehouse and finally The Everly Brothers, showed what a versatile vocal harmony duo they are.

Phew, what a night! Around twelve live acts all for a quid including the raffle…can you get better than that? We don’t think so!

 Only just over a week to go to the premier live music event of the year in Newport, NEWFEST, on the 20th June at the Rugby Club. It should be a fantastic feast of entertainment with around 12 hours of live music headlined by top AC/DC tribute band ‘Hell’s Bells’.  

Tickets are still on sale at a number of outlets around town at just £10 adult and £5 children…….hopefully see you there. Till then, keep it live!