When a couple of regular OMC said they wouldn't be able to make June's Open Music Night I thought I was in for a quiet night. Wrong! There were ten performing acts of solo performers, duets and bands, and after a quick headcount it became apparent that they were outnumbered by the audience and it was standing at the back for quite a few.
In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the release of The Beatles' 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', the interval and changeover music was provided by the Fab Four (not in person, obviously).
We started bang on time, just ten minutes late, and I opened with Bob Dylan's 'All Along The Watchtower. It is a lovely, simple song, but it needs to have a harmonica on the go, so maybe for next time, unless I can persuade Ross to step in. My second was my own, 'Hole'. It was lovely to have a few people singing along, though this might suggest I need to rest it for a while. There's only six months to go before I can sing 'Under The Patio' again.
Second up was John and Mike. They gave a very accomplished performance of The Beatles, 'Lady Madonna' and Cat Stevens (I know he's changed his name, but he'll always be Cat to me.) 'Moonshadow'. Mike has a very distinctive voice, and when he picks the right song he can stop the room. Tonight's songs were both on the money.
Their second half contribution was a parody of Knocking on Heaven's Door with the story of a Welshman who wouldn't get out of bed and the many attempts to wake him; 'Knockin' On Evan's Door'.
Pete and Marianne dived into the nineteen seventies with two cracking tunes. Their first, with Pete singing, was ELO's "Telephone Line", which hurtled me back to my school days. This was followed by Richard and Linda Thompson's "I'm Only A Poor Little Beggar Girl", which Marianne appeared authentically angry in. I did struggle with the mic levels to capture Marianne's voice, as she had a tendency to keep the microphone just a little too far away. But for all that, it was a lively and enjoyable performance.
Next up, fresh from his triumphant sell out concerts, (well, it was raining outside so the beer tent was nice and full on the Monday when we saw him,) at The Crick Boat Show was Dangerous Derrick Meyer, along with his magnificent pedal arrangement. AKA The Mother Ship.
Derrick has become increasingly slick in his performances, and even managed to pose and smile for his photo without missing a beat. However, he still has to master turning off the harmoniser before speaking to the audience.😉
His first song of the evening was The Eagles', 'Peaceful Easy Feeling'. For his second song,
Derrick was accompanied by Alex, who lent his voice to some very nice harmonies on The Rolling Stones' 'Last Time' before staying up for one of his own, the second Beatles song of the night, 'Blackbird'. Derrick and Alex were both up for another song in the second half of the evening. Derrick with the X-Ambassador's, 'Renegades' and Alex with Yazoo's 'Only You'.
We've seen Nigel a couple of times on his own recently, and it was good to welcome Darren back to The George, and henceforth, they are to be known as 'Odds and Ends'.
They began with the steady and soulful Bob Dylan's 'Knocking on Heaven's Door'. This was followed by 'Handbags and Glad Rags'. It's hard to believe that this was never a hit for it's writer or for Rod Stewart, and but for 'The Office' probably wouldn't have been a hit for The Sterophonics either. Still, it is a cracking song.
Though it took until the the second verse to shake off the Bob Dylan song as the initial chord sequence was very similar. Nigel was on his own in the second half, beginning with one of his own compositions, 'Day Dreamers' and then the sing along classic anthem, James' 'Sit Down' in which we enthusiastically joined in with at the necessary bits.
Allan brought his bodhran and his guitar with him this evening. His first song, 'Black Leg Miner', on the bodhran, is well rehearsed, and the underlying brooding menace was palpable. It certainly helps that he has the accent for it. His second offering was on the guitar, and that was Christy Moore's classic, 'Ride On'.
Another opportunity for the audience to join in came when Allan sang Rita Macneal's 'Working Man'; a song well known by a few of the regulars. Allan's final song of the evening was Allen Bell's 'Windmills'.
Torgul and Sandi weren't able to make it this evening, so we were without Shud B Band. However, Sue did come, and with her came Paul and Andy. I'm not sure how they felt about being announced as Sooty, Sweep and Sue though.
Everything was 'alright' for them in the first half as they started with The Travelling Wilburys' 'Well It's Alright' and then followed it with Bob Dylan's 'Don't Think Twice, it's Alright'. The second half wasn't quite so optimistic, beginning with 'It's All Over Now'. Still, they ended on a good note with another crowd pleaser, Van the Man's 'Brown Eyed Girl'
The star performer of this year's Love Song competition, Mick Bisiker came to see us again, and brought Nigel Ward with him. We were treated to a host of reels as well as one of Mick's own compositions 'Ball and Chain'. We had more of the same in the second half as Mick and Nigel played us out to the end of the evening, an eye watering 11.40pm
Mick mentioned that the band Rack 'n' Ruin are playing at The Napton Festival on 7th July.
MDF, bringing the first half to a close, were once again light on numbers, without Mark, Tracey or TCB.
It seemed a good idea to open with the song that we open and sound check with given that we have a gig coming up. So off we went with Arlo Guthrie's 'City of New Orleans' or as Ross says, "a song about a train". We do miss Brian and his locomotive whistle when he's elsewhere. This was followed by an uncharacteristically slow version of Guy Clarke's MDF favourite 'Wagon Wheel'.
With a few people needing to leave early we had an order shuffle. Our second half contribution was Pete St John's 'Fields of Athenry'.
Sadly, as I prepared this entry to the Kilsby Open Music Collective Blog I learned that folk legend Vin Garbutt has passed away. Many of us had seen him in concert over the years, and the world of folk music will be the poorer for his passing.
We are back for more fun on Friday, July 7th.
Wisely, I picked up a tarpaulin to cover the lighting rig in the event of rain, as it provided a little additional protection to the performers too.
The highlights of the evening for me were a lovely set from John Wright, who we don't often get to hear on his own, and local legend Mick Bisiker's 'Rack and Ruin'.
