Acoustic Night

Well, we managed to start almost on time after we swept up all the hair that Boydon and Wills tore out getting the plasma screen set up. Andi Langford-Woods opened the show with her first new piece for nine months. She described ‘QUEST’ as a rant about ‘right-on’ festival organisers and levels of consciousness. Next up was Matthew Macauley-Lowe who offered to chill Andi out and did so wonderfully with two reflective songs about love, and life. Andi declared Matthews spot as “a really sweet sound”. Surely a future candidate for the Best of CD.

The next spot was Pauline Leewards, a familiar face from King Charles days with two ‘romantic’ poems about Stokes Croft. The Transition Zone focussed on areas overrun by graffiti and twilight characters and ‘Here’ which recalled “forgotten meadows” hidden under the area. Her words were well received by all those who know it well.

Our second musician, Paul McCool, sang an original piece about time spent on a past relationship and followed with a Richard Thompson number ‘Vincent Black Lightning1952 a tough piece of finger picking he carried off well.

Paul McCool
Roisin, another face from the last few years, gave us ‘Generation Gap’ about being too old to rap and then her well crafted response to the question “ why don’t you read us some of your poems mum?” was “ because they are all about sex…”

Hal ‘Badgertrap’ Camplin hit us with two original songs from forthcoming E.P Pity the Fool,

the first one ‘Sex in Nebraska’ a tearful lament on opportunities missed ( well they would be if she is 13 and your sister no?) and then ‘Now Granny’s dead’. Truly poignant, profound and distinctly perverse!!

Perhaps the deepest voice in local poetry comes from Tony Lewis-Jones who followed with two short succinct pieces and expressed his delight at the presence of an old familiar face lurking at the back of the room. Yes it was the Hardhat ‘imself (more later).

The Great Admirers, swelled to a quartet by the addition of Hal Camplin, new vocalist Liz and serial knitter Catharine Stott (how many talents does this woman have???) gave us
‘Torpedo’ the search for a hero for the modern world and ‘Keynsham’ name-checking the chocolate factory, the Thekla and Vivian Stanshall. Pat Reid is a consummate performer who likes to test the feedback levels of any PA and the durability of mic stands everywhere…down boy!!!

The Great Admirers

So we come to the final part of the first half with a poetry relay from three of the core group. Kicked off by Hazel Hammond with ‘My Heart On Tour’ likening her heart to a pop group and the highs and lows of touring, followed by ‘The Label Gun’ an astute observation on the readiness to categorise people. We don’t hear from Hazel enough but that is gonna change. She handed over the baton to Ian Sills who completed his two laps of the stage with ‘Top of the Pops?’ a subtle rage about quality control in popular music broadcasting then ‘Apology to Eminem‘, wherein he considers the probability that the rapper would be surprised by the breadth of his audience (no allusions to waist size Ian.. xxx)

The third leg (careful!) of the relay was completed by Julian Ramsey-Wade a top performer and new dad with ‘Front Room’ where “every bad vibe …is doomed

(kapowww!!)” and he finished the set with a Harvey Andrews song about life on the breadline.

Here be the interval.

Julian took over the starting gun for the second half of the night and brought back Andi Langford-Woods to take the baton in the second relay of core group members. She started with ‘Five Words’, a slam poem built around five words given to writers to compose a piece from. Andi then verbalised the thoughts of many Acoustic Night fans with her appreciation of the “warmth, support and inclusivity encountered” and introduced her second piece ‘I Know You’ as an observational piece on her encounters with closed minds and bureaucracy on her journey through life.

Serial knitter Catharine followed with two kicking poems, the first, ‘Egg Slicer’ recalling the inheritance of family heirlooms and their importance. Then she delivered a treatise on the joys of al fresco defecation (apparently bears do it regularly) which delighted the young minds at the back of the room….and the juvenile ones at the front table.

Boydon Goodman, our esteemed webmeister, gave us two of his most memorable poems with ‘The New Me’ a skit on personal ads (foul-mouth f***er at best) and the popular ‘Vehicle’ dark insights into the twilight world of hostels, addiction and isolation. Still rocks dude!

It’s not every gig that is blessed with someone that works hard to present new tunes every time they appear but we have all noted how Phil Baber constantly brings fresh material and sings it in French, Spanish or Klingon. Tonight he gave us ‘L’amoureuse’ with lyrics by a dead French surrealist poet and then a cover of a Klezmatics song ‘I’m Not Afraid’ a protest song about the global misuse of religion as an excuse for violence.

And it’s not every event that is capable of boasting generations of talent and we think we have one of the best examples in the Wade stable of literary thoroughbreds, enter
G Daddy (now G. Grandaddy Wade) shared finely crafted words and motifs on life. Always a delight to hear him perform and he finished with ‘Angels’ a piece on listening.
G Daddy
We were then treated to accapella songs from Jim McNeil who could have been from the cast of Pirates of Penzance. Cheekily he slipped in four songs but we didn’t mind as he is quality and worth every penny we didn’t pay him. ‘Masquerade’ (a George Benson cover) preceeded a song about ASBOs and prostitution (how social can you get?) and then two garnering audience participation, everyone becoming spot–rivetting guns and finally ‘Anne Frank’ which had all joining in on the chorus. Ah takes you back to the boozer and gathered round the Joanna.

Dean McCaffrey succeeded in the difficult task of following all that with a couple of youthful, vibrant pieces that will benefit from regular airing and a little breath control. A fairly new addition to the programmes, who promises well and has a lot of support.

It was fitting that one of the earliest producers of Acoustic Night was present to share this special night and Jasper Hardhat Tarot Atmosphere (that’s this week’s name) blew us back many years with a dedication to Lhina Robson (another originator of Acoustic Night philosophy) followed by an affectionate tribute to her.

Jasper Hardhat Tarot Atmosphere
Julian then brought on Deirdre (an Acoustic Night virgin) who performed a poem about a dream the night before, then one apologising for her previous opinions in men which she blamed on her father. We hope to see her again soon.

Guy Herbert manages to fit several wry and astute but nonetheless cheeky pieces into his time and has amused us many times now. The one about Soap is quite surreal and the one about being kidnapped by Paul Daniels would slot well into the National Enquirer. Nice one Guy.

Dean came back on for one song but in the late alcoholic phase of the evening our diarist was absent for the introduction and we think it was a Clash cover!!

Rounding the penultimate bend Pete Eldridge took the mic and gave us ‘Everybody is Somebody’ with which we all agree and then his wicked poem ‘A Game of Chance’. Pete gets better every time and is working with Bonobo Hobos a live and electric collaboration we might see at Halo in the not too distant future.

With the finishing line in sight Phil Baber came back and hit us with ‘La Guitarra’ a Spanish love song to his guitar. Innit great that our artists bring their friends and family with them? It really unites the room and bodes well for the future. Sets the yoof up with all sorts of possibilities, Acoustic Night Dating Agency??

And finally Jasper hit us with a three word improv before we breasted the tape and called it a bloody good night. Yet again thanks to Halo management and staff for their support and enthusiasm. See y’all Sept 11^th. Try not to come by plane.

.