ACOUSTIC NIGHT 37. JULY 2 2007
July 19th, 2007
Helen Gregory introduced the evening and made reference to the large number of virgins present (in an Acoustic Night sense only, of course!) and then performed a witty and affectionate poem in honour of her brother to get things started,
Misty Blue said she had “just popped in for lunch” – fortunately her music is far better than her timekeeping and blew us away with some gutsy acoustic guitar and a powerful voice. Is it so shameful to admit to visiting Halo specifically for Acoustic Night? She was followed by the “wonderful and captivating” (as described on our flyers for his guest spot on July 30th) John Terry. His contrasting pieces were “Venus in Opposition”: wry, tender and as elegant as we have come to expect; and “Dirty Weekend” (subject matter needs no expansion!) Short but sweet (the poem , not John)
Our first virgin was Alex, who was accompanied by a mystery brunette (later revealed to be Shireea). Alex apologised for his songs being “a bit dark” but this mattered less than the intriguing lyrics and strong, confident performance.
Malusi then shared two poems with us on his Halo debut: “NostalJah” and “Corrupt Bird” were swiftly and confidently performed, containing uncompromising and impassioned words, some of which eluded your correspondent’s ears.
Trevor George was a third virgin, but is already heavily involved in the acoustic scene in Bristol. Not only did he perform two songs – “I’m no expert” (written by Dino Dini, former and hopefully future Acoustic Night performer) and “I can see clearly now” with the skill and confidence to turn down the pace and volume of the evening to a gentle flow – but he took a number of photographs which he has placed onto the internet for anyone to view (see www.open-mic.me.uk).
Talkin Tekla Tha Narrata, a comparative veteran and just past his 40th birthday (or so he told us) provided a rapid, amusing and wholly unnecessary excuse for performing old pieces and the gave us “The Would Be Poet” and “Spanner”, both of which showcase his writing and performance skills. Even though we had heard them before, they were worth hearing!
One poor rendition of Happy Birthday later, and David Johnson closed the first half with “Danny and the Dishwasher”: a poem for which the word Dahlesque has been or should be invented. The final piece of the half – “The Frustration of Campaigners” was an ecology-driven poem including witty references and a canny sense of form.
BREAK
Hazel Hammond took over MC duties for the second half and introduced the guest performer. Ian Sills then unashamedly performed a bunch of older pieces: the often heard “Overhang” and “Ever Fallen…?”; “Exile on Main Street” (particularly apt in the week of the smoking ban); “Back to Front Blues” which got the crowd going and then the introduction of MC Joocee Fruit (Pete Hunter) to join DJ Chee-zee Quava (Ian) for the Sweet Rap which was extremely well-received.
Phil Baber followed, overcoming microphone stand frailties to perform two “covers of his own songs”. The second, “Let’s not fall in love” is likely to become something of a favourite in weeks to come. Pete Hunter then returned to the stage and performed “the School of Embryonic Thought”: a poem full of terrifying imagery; and a piece which wittily explored the parent/child relationship in Franglais. As usual, the evening definitely benefits from his inimitable contribution.
Tanya Rice performed two songs next. Another performer new to Halo, she sang “Rain and Snow” (a traditional song) followed by the self-written “Strange Birds”. She is another distinctive talent who will hopefully return soon.
Polly Moyer, a more familiar face, performed “Familiar”, a slightly older piece but a charming ode to summer (what summer?). “Nothing shadows the moon”, her second piece, is a celebration of friendship,
Jack Bird came to Halo after making contact with Andi at Eldon House – all the way from Glastonbury, he is another newcomer to Halo but no newcomer to performance. King of Blues, his first song, was written on the death of his mother-in-law and thus though (understandably) sad, was beautifully written and skilfully performed. Joined by Tanya for his second song, they transformed into Dylan and Baez for a protest song about the helplessness of people caught up in the Iraq war.
Claudio is another irregular visitor: he gave us a version of “If” which contained words Rudyard Kipling may not have know but took the mickey out of capitalism something rotten. “Life is a soup of sorrows” was about self-improvement and whether worrying about it meant you missed out on life itself.
Vid Warren (another newcomer) gave us “Hedgehog and Butterfly” – the meeting of night and day; the meeting of two minds. He then produced a most unusual conglomeration of beatboxing, mouth organ and recorder playing to produce a unique sort of sea shanty – you really had to be there! See you again, Vid!
To follow that, if possible, Guy Herbert performed “Rubbish Blueprint Written in Pencil” which was laughing at helpful and unhelpful advice as well as itself; and “My Mountain” an entirely different piece in the 18th century style of Coleridge or Shelley.
Cathy Keal then rounded the evening off with a poem about depression and then her tale about her Oxfam Shoes which roams from Mike Leander to Sir Paul McCartney and saunters around the world and the last 40 years in a saga of epic proportions. Why are my shoes never so exciting?
ACOUSTIC NIGHT STATS
VIRGINS 6
AUDIENCE ooh we lost count!!
NICE TO SEE YOU AGAINS CLAUDIO, MISTY BLUE
MISSING YOU ANDI, WILLS, OUR NEW CAMERA!!!!
