Fathers and Sons at The Navy!    Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures by Matthew Thomas

No doubt about the live music event of this week……it surely had to be Wembley Stadium on Tuesday evening as the England football team played France. Sporting rivalries between the two may well go back to Agincourt and beyond, but on a blustery November evening the two nations united to sing La Marseillaise and I cannot ever remember hearing a more moving or stirring version of a national anthem. The stadium itself was awash with red white and blue as thousands of English fans waved the French tricolour in support of a country devastated by last week’s atrocities. The result? England won 2-0 but does anybody care?

It was a bit of a family affair at the Newport Open Mic this week, with not one but two sets of Father/Son playing together on stage, but more of that a little later.

First up though, a warm welcome back for Jay Harris, one of our youngest and most enthusiastic members of the Open Mic. Jay has been practicing a new discipline, bass guitar, with a young band he is forming with school friends but he was back on stage in familiar guise this week with just his acoustic guitar. Always an interesting set from Jay, with covers from The Shires and Oasis, but his closer was one of Neil Young’s most famous songs, ‘Rocking in the Free World’ ……amazing talent from one so young.

Speaking of talent, next up was a new face to me, Dave Weir, nephew of Navy regular Graham Weir, and what a fantastic performance he gave. His voice is clear and strong, a sort of cross between Damien Rice and James Blunt, but there is also real song writing ability here as evidenced by his self-penned song, ‘Sea beneath the Knife’. The audience certainly let him know what they thought of it with loud shouts for an encore….a great set from Dave.

Guitarist Steve Hammond from Shrewsbury is a regular at Newport Open Mic, but tonight it was his son Miles, making a first appearance as ‘Pubnutz’ with drummer Louis Doran, both aged 19. Steve looked on proudly as the duo overcame first night nerves to give us a rocking selection from Blink 182 and Slaves before a rousing rendition of The Who classic ‘My Generation’ which still sounds as fresh as it did, well, a couple of generations ago! 2-0 to the youngsters.

Father Steve then assembled a Scratch House Band that had both regular soundman Jon Newton on drums and Jude Paton, normally bassist with local band Vinyl Tap, to give us a super set of guitar based rockers from The Eagles, Bill Withers and Marc Cohn. It was now the turn of son Miles to watch a little bit of  guitar wizardry as father Steve pulled one back to make the score 2-1.

Not to be out done, Matt Doran, father of Louis was then persuaded to search for a late equaliser as he picked up the bass and joined both Hammonds and Louis on stage for a completely unrehearsed  ‘Boom Boom’ by John Lee Hooker……in off the post and full time result 2-2 gave us a very creditable draw.

A very busy Jon Newton was once again enticed back to the drum kit as three of Newport’s finest young musicians took to the stage to bring the evening to a close. Ben Garrott and twins Andy & Tony Callister have been very busy writing new material since the split of their band Darcy, and were keen to try it out on the Navy audience. It is difficult enough for a drummer to play along with unfamiliar songs, but when the songs are completely original, there isn’t a reference point….just the timing and style directed by multi-instrumentalist Ben, so a great effort by Jon. Keep an eye out for this band…..their sound is interesting, a bit quirky and certainly original; I think they are going to do rather well. 

So when I walked down through the town wrapped up against the biting wind on Tuesday evening I didn’t expect that we would have many turn out for our weekly Newport Open Mic, but what do I know? Live music has a way of bringing people together and whether it is Wembley Stadium or the Royal Naval Association, audiences found a way to temporarily forget the horrors of last week and unite in a way that perhaps only singing along with others can. 

Once again many thanks to the helpers, who arrived early to help set up the kit and those who stayed late to put it away…….without you few we would not have a club at all, see you all next Tuesday.

Till next time, keep it live!