2015! What a year for The Kilsby Open Music Collective.

The Kilsby Open Music Collective, 2015

February

Our Valentines night turned into a real night of lurve, with the best love song of the evening winning champagne and chocolates.

 The winner, by a fair margin, was Napton interloper Gordon (not seen since).

 Not as we hold any grudges. It would be lovely to see him again.
Perhaps February 16 when we have our next Valentines night.

Plain Joe Smith visited us again, adding a splash of colour, with bassist Phil, or is it Bill? Sorry

 

 MDF's Love Letters In The Sand put a whole new perspective on the seaside.

 'Dance with me tonight' has been my favourite song of the year. Mostly because I sang it at my daughter's wedding as their first dance.

Tony brings an international flavour to the evening. His whistle playing is Irish and his singing is French, and they all seem to be about drinking.

For most of us, March and April were all about elections. Kilsby was a Politics Free Zone, that so wasn't.

Steve and
Martin

Ken with and without strings

MDF celebrating the benefits of union membership.

Photo Free May I forgot to bring my camera. Alright, I couldn't find my camera. Be asured, we had a good night. In June, because I was away in Spain, there was a 'singing in the round' evening, also known as a free for all. As I wasn't there, there are no photos for that either. While we were away, Maggie got busy with the paintbrush. When we reconvened in July the accoustics and appearance were very different, but how would the atmosphere be affected.

July New decor, old faces

The shiney tables and absence of drapes really changed the acoustics of the venue.

Not only could the treble carry to the back of the room, the performers could hear every murmer, scrape and coffee being made. A PA was required to boost

the bass and add a bit of volume to some of the vocals.

Judy drops in for a little moral support, and some lovely vocals.

August

 Introducing the new PA. With the room accoustics so changed, the PA helped to add the bass and deepen the sound for most of the performers. The operator has got a bit of tweaking to do and only one mic meant that we missed out on the full effect of the stunning

harmonies from Hannah and Alixe. Their 'Matty Groves' stopped the pub, and has to be considered as one of the top performances of the year.

Mike is stuck in the middle of  a Ross free MDF while John and Mike are 'Stuck in the middle with you'.

George's Birthday Bash

The birthday boy......
MDF lead the obligatory singing.

Paul and Steve

A good crowd with a mix of performing and non-performing audience.Roland was on his own tonight. Time for some blues.

October...
was one of those nights when there were only a few performers. The great thing about those nights is you really get to stretch your repertoir.The backing curtain is back, though it is a bit on the short side.

November
2nd Bangers and Mash Night

Newcomers Torgul, Paul and Sue rocked the mic. A strong heavy bass has been a bit rare at KOMC nights. I wonder if I can persuade her to accompany a few others.

No strings nicely mic'ed sounded great. It has taken a couple of months and two additional mics, but we're getting there. Just a monitor required so that they can hear each other.


Another first timer at The George was Steve, who treated us to some oldies and goldies.

And yours truely, sporting a 'Steve Jobs' look got to perform solo and as part of Kilsby favourites MDF.

 

 Apparently I was so like Ross that the band forgot that it was me. Good job they didn't pick any Jordy tunes, my cover would have been proper bluewen.

Ross pointed out that the beer was in the wrong hand, and there wasn't enough in the glass. Next time Ross, next time.



 Highlight of the night, if not the year,

our very own Paddy Wex bewails the state of the nation's education policy to a familiar tune. Click the link to see a video of the performance.
I am the very model........





The Warm Up for The Christmas Party - December 2015, our last night of the year.

Probably the busiest night of the year with eleven acts and a few non-playing audience members.

Ken checking his state of tune as we wait for other performers to arrive.  Added to the PA are some lights. They only arrived on the Wednesday before, so they've not been properly deployed, but they added a little colour to the evening's performances.

Regular KOMC performers: Opening were No Strings Attached.

Paddy sings of Good King Whatsislad and the overcooked sprouts.
MDF with Ross back on his feet. (After my performance last month he had to make an appearance, if only to rescue the reputation of the band.)

There were a few first time performers, with a diverse range of musical genre.

 Friend of the collective, Tony Wilding, suggested to Tony Collins that he might enjoy our evening. We certainly enjoyed his performance and hope to see and hear more of him in 2016.

 Jason had been to Kilsby before, but not for a few years. He and Rachael sang Run and Baby it's cold outside, Dream a little Dream, Please come home for Christmas.

 Matt Powell and Benson Fox came along as the extended 'Original Members'. Real rock and blues with Copperhead Road as their finale. I don't think I will ever get tired of that song.

Dave Pepper lives just up the road only recently heard about our night from a mutual friend. Great to hear him, and really enjoyed the flamenco; not something we've had a lot of.



Thank you to all of the performers that have helped to make 2015 a wonderful year. I 'm sure that 2016 is going to be even better.