New acoustic session at the Navy.        Words: Dave Whiteman       Pictures: Jude Paton

Well it could perhaps have been worse than it was, as the biggest storm to hit the UK since 1987, when Michael Fish reassured a viewer that there wasn't going to be a hurricane, blew in this week.  Michael was dragged out of retirement to give his opinion on the weather forecast and as usual, we seemed to be slow in recognising the seriousness of the situation.  Hundreds of properties damaged many thousands without power and, sadly a number of people losing their lives made this one of the worst storms ever experienced. And as Shropshire battened down the hatches in preparation, what happened? It pretty much passed through our county almost without incident.

The weather would have to be pretty bad, however, for the Navy to cancel the Open Mic, and this week saw a change to the normal programme. For ten years or more, the main stage has seen a variety of live music acts from individuals to seven piece bands, but for the first time the smaller back room was the venue for a purely acoustic evening.

Ian Simpkin from Eccleshall gave us the perfect start with an old favourite, Don McLean’s ‘Vincent’ and a little heard classic from Dire Straits, ‘Why Worry?’ before Navy regular Carol Cartwright took to the floor. Carol can normally be heard playing with a band at the Unicorn Folk Club, but she is pretty accomplished as a solo artiste. Great finger-picking of Paul Simon’s ‘Scarborough Fair’ is always a highlight.

Nice to see Mike Collins back at the club. Mike, from Perton always brings something different to the table and this week it was a ‘Black Country Folk Song’……. ’Cum on Feel The Noise’ by Slade, those well-known Wolverhampton folkies!

About six months ago a quiet, softly spoken young man came to the Navy and stunned the audience into silence with his melodic guitar and superb voice. I predicted then that we would be seeing an awful lot more of Zak Christie and I am delighted to say that he has become a bit of a fixture in the town. His version of ‘Romeo & Juliet’ was brilliant as was a self-penned composition, ‘Tales of Before’ but his rendition of ‘English Rose’ was, in my opinion, better that the original….and I am a big Paul Weller fan.

No bands tonight, just a plethora of singer guitarists and the soft acoustics of the back room seemed perfect for next guest, Graham Dabbs. Gray has developed a lovely gentle sound that sometimes can get a little lost on a big stage, but tonight every word and every string could be heard perfectly. ‘It Ain’t me Babe’ was originally written by Bob Dylan and covered by everyone from The Byrds to Joan Baez but Graham’s version tipped a hat to the Johnny Cash and June Carter version, excellent stuff.

Olly Flavell’s Open Mic is packing them in at The Bridge on alternate Thursdays, but it is nice that he hasn't forgotten his roots! A couple of new compositions from him, ‘I don’t Know Why’ and ‘By Your Side’ left the audience wanting more.

One of the club’s most talented young musicians, Ben Garrott is usually found playing keyboard or tenor saxophone, but having purchased his first guitar just a few weeks ago, he is already accomplished enough to accompany himself on stage. I particularly liked ‘Anarchy in The UK’ sung in a slow blues style very reminiscent of Tom Waits but I have never before heard ‘Lord Mr Ford’…. a protest song about cars written by Dick Feller….complete with very authentic Southern States Drawl.

Next up Richard Thomas does like a challenge, so following Ben we heard an old pop song by Suzi Quatro no less, done in the snarling punk voice that only Rich can get away with! Keeping with middle of the road pop theme he then covered Racey’s ‘Some Girls Do’ before amusing the audience with a rewritten ‘The Boxer’ entitled ‘The Sadist’s Song’…hope no-one was too offended with the near the knuckle lyrics!

It was left to Helen Brown from Priorslee to bring the evening to a close, getting the audience to join in with ‘Streets of London’ the Ralph McTell classic, before a lovely version of ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ written by Carole King but more often associated with James Taylor.

So an excellent, and quite different, evening from our usual Open Mic. Did it work? Give us feedback and let us know. Certainly the more intimate surroundings suited the low key style of many of our performers, every note and word heard clearly but it is your opinion that really matters. Back to normal next week on the main stage, see you there and keep it live!