Inadequate Superlatives Abound

I had been looking forward to this open music night for months. In the summer, Shirley and I had visited the acoustic stage at Coventry's Godiva Festival to see The Danny Ansell Band perform. They were good, and well worth the effort. But, before they came on, we saw someone else that blew us away with the quality of her voice and the liveliness of her performance. I suggested to Shirley that she would make a cracking Open Music Night Guest if we could persuade her to come and play for us before the inevitable stardom catches up with her, and we did. For a variety of reasons it had to be November or nothing.

We were a bit late getting our open mic performers through. There was a late addition to the list and then some technical issues with Brian's guitar meant that  we were half an hour late in inviting Taylor Louise to the perfromance area. As we expected, she did not disappoint, from the moment she kicked off with a cover of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy, and her own songs such as '23', she was a delight, and I know that she will be talked about at The Arnold Arms, Barby, for some time to come.

I wasn't going to play this evening, but with only six acts plus the guest, I thought it might be a bit quick, (wrong!) so I started with the closest thing I have to a Halloween song, 'Under The Patio', followed by 'Running With Scissors'. The whistling got off to a shaky start, being more blowing than whistling, but is was beginning to come together by the end of the song.

Dave Fisher was all by himself, and short of electric effects pedals this evening; perhaps that's why he had the blues. His first was Jimmy Reed's 'Baby What You Want Me To Do'. His second was something like 'Got Those Early Morning Blues'. I should have noted some of the lyrics as there are so many early morning blues songs, some more cheerful than others. So I can't advise on who wrote or performed it originally.

Steve Edgar was back in the house offering some new and popular tunes. His first was Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight, which since the tv advert I will never hear in the same light. Unfortunately the Dangerous Animals Act prevented Steve from bringing his drummer with him. His second song of the night was from The Beatles' Rubber Soul album of 1965, 'Norwegian Wood'.

Greg sings about Hope

There have been a few new faces to The Open Music Collective's Open Music Nights since the move to The Arnold Arms in May this year, and the first of tonight's newcomers was Greg, who gave us an angsty and emotional rendition of 'Hope' from the movie, Ground Hog Day. Here's a version by Tim Minchin 'Hope'. I didn't remember this song, so it wasn't familiar to me and I hadn't got anything to compare Greg's performance to. Now I have, I appreciate even more what a fabulous performance he gave.

A rare moment captured for posterity.

MDF have been a bit adventurous lately, adding a few new songs to their repertoire. Last most we had Little Red Rooster, possibly as never heard before, and this month there was an Old Crow Medicine Show number,'O Cumberland River' followed by 'Squeeze Box' by The Who.
The bass amp wasn't working properly, possibly as a result of being bumped down the two flights of stairs a couple of times a month, so #1 Roadie took the DI output and fed plenty back through the monitor speakers. I felt a bit bad, as I had offered it to Dave, L& Sparge, to save him bringing one. It might be back in service for December if I get a chance to look at it. Doing without it makes setting up for the next MDF gig easier. The reason that the band are all smiling, a rare sight indeed, will remain a closely guarded secret.
MDF are playing at The General Elliott, Main Street, Willoughby Waterleys, on Saturday 16th November. I think it is probably going to start around 7.30 or 8pm. I'm sure they would be delighted to see you there.

Lauter and Sparge were another new turn for The Open Music Collective. I think I'm right in suggesting that this was the first band to perform with us that had a brass section!(even if it was only one trumpet). They began with Fairport Convention's 'If I Had A Ribbon Bow', and then Renaissance's 'Northern Lights'.

We didn't get to the bottom of what was the matter with Brian's guitar, because he borrowed someone else's, but I do hope they have it sorted for next time.

I'm not sure we were entirely ready for John's Auto harp, but it fitted well with Kristy and John's performance of Amazing Grace, It's a Quarter After 1, I'm All Alone and I need You now

Dangerous Derrick Meyer was also without his arsenal of techno-wizardry and it was nice to hear him in his natural voice. It is easy to assume that he sounds as good as he does because of the effects available to him, so tonight he reminded us that he can sing and play. Two crowd pleasers guaranteed, first
Peter Sarstedt's wonderful 'Where Do You Go To My Lovely' from  1969 and then a much more recent George Ezra Riding Shotgun from 2018.
It's worth mentioning that The Midnight Brothers are back at The Arnold on Friday 22nd November.



Taylor Louise has some new fans.
She is releasing her latest EP 'Blackheart' at Leamingtom in just a couple of weeks.

At the time of publishing there were still some tickes available. Taylor Louise 'Black Heart' EP Launch, Friday 22nd November taking place at St Patricks Irish Club, Leamington Spa.