Christmas cheer at the Navy!   Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Matthew Thomas

It wouldn't surprise many of my friends to find out that my favourite band of all time is The Beatles. Amazingly they were only together for around ten years….which is actually a good bit less than our Open Mic has been running, but in that time they sold more than 600 MILLION albums worldwide and over 1.6 BILLION  singles in the US alone. So when bands talk about world- wide success these days, their sales figures are really only a fraction of the fab four. Fifty years ago this week their double A side of Day Tripper and We Can Work it Out was released and of course went straight to number one with sales of over 1,000,000. It is very rare at any Open Mic to go through the evening without hearing a couple of Beatles covers and this week was no exception.

First on stage Kieran Cahill was making his final appearance at our Open Mic after a successful spell in Combat Stress. Kieran admitted to me that the music and the friends that he has made here has been great therapy for him, and I am sure that we will see him perform again in the future. A lovely melodic  set was capped off with a self-penned song simply called ‘Thank You’ aimed at the club and its members and was sang with real emotion.

It has been a long time since we saw Luke Drew on stage at the Navy. His Mum, Wendy, was a regular for many years and often got up to sing, but we never saw a lot of Luke. His self- penned set was at times reminiscent of Leonard Cohen, with lovely rhythmical finger-picking underpinning his soft haunting voice. ‘Euphony’ was the stand out song from a very nice set.

Nice to see Robbie’s in Rehab back at the Navy. They disbanded a few years ago, but a series of local gigs have enthused them again. Guitarist Roger Clark and bass-man Alan Middleton enlisted the help of soundman Jon Newton to give us a fine selection of covers from Stereophonics, Bryan Adams and of course, The Beatles.

Next up Laurence Gale and great pal, Rob Bryon, trying out a new set of songs. Country number ‘It’s five o’ clock Somewhere’ by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett was a great choice, but singalong ‘Wagon Wheel’ ….a new song for them, stole the show.

A real treat next as Alexandra Jayne gave the best performance of the night, marrying old and new with consummate ease. ‘It ain’t me Babe’ was originally released the same year as Day Tripper, 1965, and has been covered by many artists from The Byrds to Johnny Cash.  AJ’s version was simple, energetic and quite superb. Even better to my ears was listening to another one of my favourite numbers ‘Love the one you’re with’ by Stephen Stills… a brilliant set from a very talented young lady.

One of the best guitarists to ever grace the Navy stage, Steve Hammond from Shrewsbury was itching to play and assembled the only Scratch House Band of the evening, with Al Middleton on bass, Jon Newton on drums and yours truly on rhythm guitar. Steve always chooses slightly different songs, so ‘On the Road Down’ by Robert Cray was certainly an interesting choice, but Steve pulled it off with a terrific guitar solo. Yet another Beatles song, ‘I saw Her Standing There’ closed another excellent set.

Time was getting on as Olly Flavell, back for the Christmas break from University in Manchester, took to the stage for our final act of the evening. Olly almost always plays songs from his vast self- penned repertoire, but tonight it was, unusually, a cover from Maroon 5. Released in 2004, ‘Sunday Morning’ was their fourth single to be released from their debut album, ‘Songs about Jane’ but as he does with any song he covers, he put his own slant on it and made it his own.

So once again, a great night of local live music to bring the Newport Open Mic to a close for 2015.

It has been another superb year for our weekly Open Mic and a huge thank you to the hundreds of performers who have turned up to play, and the enthusiastic audiences who have supported week after week. Look out for a review of 2015 in the next edition of the Advertiser, and don’t forget the Open Mic Christmas Party on Tues 22^nd Dec with terrific local band Lost the Plot…..get there early if you want to be sure of a seat! So to readers and supporters of live music everywhere, have a lovely Christmas and whatever you do in 2016 remember…. keep music live!

"Sir B. McKenzie's Daughter's Lament for the 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat from the Straits of Loch Knombe, in the Year of our Lord 1727, on the Occasion of the Announcement of her Marriage to the Laird of Kinleakie" is the title of a track by Fairport Convention from the album Full House. Somewhat bizarre and doesn't exactly roll of the tongue but it got me thinking of other song titles that make me smile! How about "I Thought I Told You to Wait in the Car" by Sparks, "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" by Frank Zappa, Budgie's "Hot as a Docker's Armpit", "Did I Shave My Legs For This?" by Deanna Carter and of course Morrissey's endearing song "You're the One for Me, Fatty". One of the advantages of instrumental music is that you can call it anything you like and Zappa was a great exponent of this, plucking some magnificant titles from the recesses of his strange mind hence "Dog Breath", "The Voice of Cheese" or "Smell My Beard".

Newport Open Mic at the Royal Naval Association has played host to many of our own talented singer/songwriters: Melissa Severn, Nathan Davis, Malcolm Purvis, Olly Flavell, Dylan Wynford, Heidi Browne, Alex Jayne, Claire Shaw and recently surprise visits from professional musicians Tony McPhee, Toby Walker and Matt Woosey. With the run up to Christmas, Open Mic on Tuesday at the Royal Naval Association in Newport was as busy as ever with well over 60 in attendance.

It has been a few weeks since we last saw John Minor up on stage but always good to welcome him back performing some of his all time favourites by Noel Gallagher and Oasis.

12 year old Jay Harris followed and looking supremely confident for one so young. He invariably has something new added to his vast repertoire and on Tuesday two songs from Catfish and the Bottlemen followed by "Emergency" by Pigeon Detectives pretty much proved the point. Good strong vocals from Jay and it will be very interesting to hear the changes in his voice over the next couple of years. 

Another newcomer to Newport Open Mic was 15 year old Toni-Lee Evans from Telford and a student from Rock Project. I don't thnk she expected quite such a big crowd at an Open Mic session but she certainly overcame her nerves with two outstanding covers, one from Welsh heavy metal band Bullet for my Valentine and the second from the young Australian punk-pop outfit Tonight Alive. Her mentor and vocal coach Remynie Fath who was in the audience was quite rightly very proud of this young lady's performance.

A great start to the evening and something of a party atmosphere in anticipation of special guests and an extended set from Telford band Old's Cool. They are well known and respested on the music circuit but Tuesday night was their first live outing since drummer Kevin Harris was involverd in a serious road accident back in April. Together with Steve Simpkins as lead vocalist, Pete Heywood on bass and vocals, Marc Attwell on rythm guitar and vocals and the amazing Dave "The Fingers" Lowe on lead guitar they brought their own brand of classic blues rock to Newport and raised the roof with what was for me their best performance ever. Classics from Warren Haynes and the Allman Brothers, Thin Lizzy, Gary Moore, Free and Queen showed the band at their very best with spine tingling lead breaks from Dave Lowe. What a treat for us all bringing the loudest applause and cheers I have ever heard at the Navy Club. Welcome back Old's Cool.







It took a brave man to follow that and none braver than Kieran Cahill paying his fourth visit to Open Mic in Newport and his third to our Open Mic stage. Keiran is on a short stay at Combat Stress and is the first to say what great therapy music has been for him. The majority amongst us would certainly agree with that sentiment. A delightful acoustic set included Sting's "Fields of Gold", "Hero of War" by Rise Against and "Somewhere Only we Know",  the John Lewis Christmas advert.

Open Mic is a place where anything goes and next up on stage was Jolene Modd who has lived in Newport for 3 years and who hushed the room with her poetry, much of which she has written about Newport and the countryside. Some delightful poems included "As Much as I Like Birds" and "My Dream of a Perfect Valentine Night".

And so from poetry to our final act winding up a splendid night of live entertainment and Claire Shaw, singer/songwriter from Telford. A great version of Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" followed by a couple of her own which included a newly recorded song "Something Real" and finally Pink's "The One That Got Away".


Well done to the girls for bringing another evening of live music to a close and thank you for keeping the song and poetry titles simple. Ending the evening and going home on a cold winter's night with "Dropkick Me Jesus Through the Goal Posts of Life" or "Her Teeth Were Stained But Her Heart Was Pure" may make you smile but don't seem conducive to a restful night. Thanks to Bobby Bare nonetheless for those gems!

And then of course there are the lyrics.......... but perhaps I'll keep those for another time.

Until next week KEEP MUSIC LIVE!

Report: Jude Paton

Photographs: Matt Thomas

The past 18 months has seen a massive increase in sales of vinyl records and last Sunday I took myself off to my favourite live music venue (apart from our very own here in Newport at the Royal Naval Association) which is The Robin 2, the Midlands' premiere 700 capacity venue. Not to listen to live music this time however but for a Record and CD Fair. Only a few weeks ago I went to see Glorious Fools supported by blues singer/songwriter Matt Woosey who paid a surprise visit to our Open Mic in Newport recently. At the Robin on that night there were 14 people in the audience. The Record Fair when I arrived at midday on Sunday was PACKED with people still coming in when I left a couple of hours later with a few records to add to my already large vinyl collection. One of the records I picked up was by the 7 piece Birmingham based country/folk/rock band Quill whose bass player Ben Brain died suddenly in 2013. The disc in question dates back to 1986 with Ben sitting centre stage and bearing a passing resemblance to Robert Plant. There was a tap on my shoulder and a voice behind me said, "He was my uncle" pointing to Ben.....one of those wierd but delightful moments of serendipity.

On to Tuesday night in Newport and the regular Open Session at the Royal Naval Association which promised to be a busy night for Jon Newton on the sound desk and photographer Matt Thomas with a full board early doors and a sizable audience of around 50.

Kieran Cahill was paying his third visit to Open Mic as a visitor to Newport and currently on a 6 week stay at Combat Stress and true to his word he had brought along Allan Morgan also on a short stay at Combat Stress but resident of (don't ask me how to promounce it) Yotradgynlais in the Swansea valley and a member of Cor Dathlu Cwmtawe Male Voice Choir.  Allan and Keiron hushed the room with a beautiful rendition of a song I can't say I have ever heard performed at an Open Mic session, the hymn "Abide With Me" which has been sung prior to the kick-off at every Rugby League Challenge Cup final since 1929. A poignant song from Keiran to follow was "Hero of War" by Rise Against and written by a US Marine in Afghanistan. Recruitment from the audience brought up bassist Alan Middleton and lead guitarist Roger Clark and young Lauren Hughes on drums to finish a fine set by Keiran which included a diversity of songs by Guns 'n' Roses, The Clash and Elvis!

 

Mike Collins from Perton is becoming quite a regular performer on the Newport stage and together with his son, Mike, on bass and Lauren once again on drums they performed under the band name "I Don't Mind" as that was the response from the two youngsters when Mike asked them what they should call themselves! Once again a great choice of songs when it comes to contrast with "Teenage Kicks", "I Wanna Be Like You" from Jungle Book and a to finish, especially for the Scots amongst us following St Andrew's Day and Andy Murray clinching the Davis Cup win in the most spectacular style, the Proclaimers "500 Miles"

 

Hard to believe that it was only the second outing for John Reynolds looking like a seasened pro and certainly no apparent nerves together with Andy Clarke on bass and Rich Thomas on drums. A very creditable performance indeed with some great golden oldies from the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and The Mavericks.

It has certainly been a long time since we last heard Nathan Davis at Newport Open Mic. I remember well his very first outing performing alongside his father singer/songwriter Martyn at the age of 9. Martyn tragically passed away when he was only 40 but how proud he would be if he were to hear  young Nathan not quite 10 years on and on Tuesday night following in his father's footsteps with 2 self penned songs "I Don't Want to Hold" and" Four More Chords". Nathan's vocals have matured well beyond his years and have that gravelly Tom Waits edge to them.  "Comin' Home" by the band City and Colour was new to me but a great song nonetheless. Welcome back Nathan!

A night of metamorphosis with Nathan being joined by Andy Clarke, Jon Newton and for the first time on stage Martin Katon on lead guitar playing "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" originally written and performed by Bob Dylan for the 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Well done Martin with some difficult instrumental breaks in that one and I am sure that now he has taken the plunge so to speak we shall hear a lot more from him.

A real seasoned pro up next as well as regular supporter of Open Mic was Rich Thomas bringing his own brand of songs from his vast repertoire which on Tuesday included Abba, Elvis Costello and The Clash. Only Rich could pull off such a mix of songs and as always is very popular with the crowd.

Rob Bryon and Laurence Gale were due on next but with a surprise band sitting at the back of the room they scrubbed their names off the board to make way for what turned out to be the last performance by fantastic local band One Nation. A superb frontman in Roger Clarke, together with drummer Spencer Pollard, Carl Pope-Terry on bass and, the reason for this being their final gig, Jon Davis on lead guitar who is moving to London and pastures new on Thursday. A few opening bars had the dancers up on the floor for the rest of the night. Funk, ska, soul, you name it ........it was all there from Roger and the lads who had everyone in real party mood.

Good luck Jon. We will miss the band but who knows? I am sure we will see them again soon.

All this on a Tuesday night in Newport and more next week with a special extended set from Telford band Old's Cool. Not to be missed.