Night of Lurgy was a real Night of Lurve

The 3rd Night of Lurve made for a fabulous start to the New Year. The first event of the year went off with such a bang. Thirteen acts took part and it was standing room only right to the end of the evening. There would have been a couple more, but a seasonal lurgy has been laying waste to a significant part of the population. Only a week earlier I'd spent a couple of days under the duvet and while I was ok to act as MC for the evening, singing was right out for me.

Each performer had two songs, the first for the warm-up, to get levels right and second song was the competition entry. Voting was for the best performance on the night and while the votes didn't reflect the quality of entries; very high indeed, they did reflect the difference between the good and the best.

This year's winner, with an unassailable lead was folk musician Mick Bisiker. His warm-up was a self written reflection on marriage called 'Ball and Chain'.
His competition entry was 'The Green Mossy Banks of The Lee'.

He took away a bottle of Champagne, a compilation CD of love songs and a voucher for a meal for two at The George.

After Mick's astonishing lead, there was little between the next performers, and the runner-up position was shared between last year's runner-up Steve Edgar, and old friends of the OMC, John Wright and Hilary Wilson.

Steve's warm-up was The Troggs, 'Love Is All Around' and his entry for the competition was the sad Bobby Goldsborough song 'Honey'.

John and Hilary went back to Robbie Burns and 'A Fond Kiss' for their warm-up. Their entry was the lovely James Taylor, 'Close Your Eyes'.
















Scoring slightly less than Steve, Hilary and John was Harriette and Jason. Their wam-up was Adel's 'Hello', and Harriette's delivery of the Amy Winehouse classic 'Love Is A Loosing Game' was a superb entry.





Second up was 'Dangerous' Derick Mayer, starting with 'Misty' and 'Amazed'. His entry was slightly tweaked to make it more personal as it is his and Tracy's wedding song. The old romantic was put off mid song when he caught his wife's eye at a particularly soppy bit.


Andy Wenham lost his way in the warm-up with 'The Hiring Fair'. We've heard him play it many times at The Oak, but his mind went blank and that was the end of the song for Andy. We've all been there. But he was back on form with his competition entry, the Willie Nelson classic, 'Always On My Mind'



The last time we saw Mark he had his daughter with hm, playing violin. Tonight he was on his own and he warmed-up with a jazzy and amusing 'Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You'. His entry was the beautiful Fleetwood Mac 'Songbird' from the 'Rumours' album, later covered by Eva Cassidy. s he commented, it's a song that does seem to lend itself to the female voice, but Mark made it his own, and it sounded lovely.

Winner of the First Night of Lurve, Gordon warmed-up with , 'Cry For Me' and then his entry for the evening was 'Autumn Days', both songs written by him.



Should Be Banned were out in full this evenng with Sue on bass, Paul and Torgul on guitars and Paul and Sandi sharing vocals.
There was ony going to be one winner of the 'Special Relationship' spot prize that celebrated the great romance that is Theresa May and Donald Trump. Their entry for the competition didn't fair quite so well, it was 'All Over Now'


Jason was hedging his bets by playing both with Harriette and Rachael. Their warm-up was one we've heard them play many times, Carole King's 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' their entry was much more surprising, taking on Kate Bush's 'Man With A Child In His Eyes'. This was the first time I think that they'd performed it in public and I hope it isn't the last, but gets added to their regular repertoire.


Pete Nash, who runs an open mic at The Bull, Clifton, paid us a visit and his warm-up was an untitled, self-penned teenage composotion. His entry was the wonderful George Harrison 'Something'. If there was a prize for audience participation, this one would have won it. (note to self for next year)

No Strings Attached, AKA Ken and Roland, had love songs in mind this evening as a distinct change from their folky songs and ragtime instrumentals. Warming-up with 'Careless Love' and 'Then I Kissed Her'.

Last act on the night was MDF. Sadly we were without Grandad Banjo who had the lurgy. Mark left his accordion in favour of his electric guitar, very effective on the warm-up 'Boys Of Summer' and the final entry of the night was 'Girl Crush'.

The photo was MDF with a bit of help from their friends singing 500 miles while the votes were counted..

Next month is a regular Open Music Night.