Acoustic Night

Julian Ramsey-Wade, our MC for the evening, began with a poem written for his sister and our special guest, Ali Wade, who celebrates her birthday tomorrow. He also discloses that he is wearing a T shirt she gave him.

JULIAN RAMSEY-WADE
Polly Moyer then performed “Ali - the Lion Heart” for her (“talking to strangers is dangerous – for them”) and, in the absence of an imminent third in the series, “Lionheart 2001” (“we have, in trumps, the gift of serendipity”)

POLLY MOYER
Sarah-Jane and Katie were our first virgins of the night - Katie told us that she has recently arrived from Canada and only met Sarah-Jane tonight: they spent 5 minutes working on Sarah-Jane’s song “Bodmin Moor” which they then played adeptly with sweet harmonies. The song took us on a trek over the moor (“everyday is in the balance / like a rocking stone”) and was followed by Sarah-Jane alone with a song about a former home and relationship (?) (“your house is wild with orchids / and postcards … from the Himalayas”). More please!

SARAH-JANE

James and Agatha stepped up together but read separately – James presented “a new one ‘cos I still like it” in “An Interested Eye” including “a horologist keeping perfect time” and “clouds wrap around the sky like a scarf” (the audience seemed to like it too); Agatha’s piece “Shapeshifter” (“about what it’s like in my head”) declared “some of the skins I wear are abstract” and “I have spread my plumes and shown my colours proudly” to some considerable effect; and James’ “Buried Life” analysed himself humourously with lines like “if I were any more working class, I’d have a job”.

JAMES AND AGATHA
Martin played two tunes on his ukulele: “Hello Gorgeous” (about himself, he claimed) (“You know how much I miss you so”) and a George Formby song “My Granddad’s Flannelette Nightshirt” whose title says it all. The ukulele is a distinctive instrument and Martin played it adeptly and sang with the lightness the music requires.

MARTIN

Pete (not Hunter but our second virgin(?)) played guitar but didn’t sing (“you don’t want to hear me sing”) and gave us one long, skilfully played instrumental piece which flowed seamlessly through several moods and styles like an overture or a film score.

PETE

Gina Briganti namechecked Ali, apologised for her tiredness after a gig last night and gave us “Liminal G”, her autobiographical poem/rap/song (“this rhyme may be easy but I’m not”) and the self-explanatory “Different Ideas of Heaven” (over our imagined dub/reggae sound system) with a nod to Bob Marley.

GINA B
Anna Freeman followed “a full on weekend” with “A rubbish poem” in which the household waste issue spiralled out of control in an absurd but amusing manner (“make a shiny retro jacket out of empty crisp packets”); she then advocated the pigeon (“the chicken of the city”) as the solution to food shortages.

ANNA FREEMAN
Finally before the break, Dan Ashton (who performed several times at Acoustic Nights at The Croft some years ago) played keyboards and sang “Cavaldi – the portrait artist”, a dramatic tale based on a Browning poem with harpsichord-style backing; and “True Love Dance Hall”, a jazzy song of a dance competition reminiscent of The Kinks’ “Come Dancing”.

DAN ASHTON
After the break, Julian performed a short piece and then introduced our special guest – Ali Wade,

To whom the audience sang an enthusiastic if poorly executed “Happy Birthday”. Describing herself as “just a hopeless attention seeker” she opened with the evocative Dory Previn song “The Hollywood Sign” (“I doubt if the Statue of Liberty welcomed more refugees”) in spite of having to abandon the mic halfway through. The Jeanette Winterson poem, “Under the Black Bell” followed (“I am a warrior / I wear my breastplate proudly”) and then she performed a piece about her mum (“a nun without habits”). Ali then informed us that she had rejected an a capella version of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” in favour of “People” by Yevgeny Yevtushenko (a dilemma we are all familiar with!), which she then performed. A poem in memory of Dave Lovegrove was followed by “The Diggers” – a favourite song of both of theirs. She then confessed to murder – of slugs – and read a garden-inspired piece, after which she read a tale of true love in Thomas Hardy’s life: “I Found Her Out There” and finished with “Almost Like a Sister”. A high-quality, varied set well worth waiting 62 Acoustic Nights for.

ALI WADE
Andy attempted to follow our special guest with a couple of jingly-jangly Byrds covers – “All I Really Want To Do” and “Mr Tambourine Man”- which captured the flavour of the originals well.

ANDY

Steve was another performer new to Halo – “I Don’t Want To Go To Heaven” was a poem describing his very religious upbringing and his reaction to it (“I’m a simple guy / I Just want hip hop …and swanky nightclubs”) while “Pick a Pocket” delved into the world of crime (“even governments steal”).

STEVE

Katie (to much amusement heavily pregnant “virgin”) described herself “a long time ago” in “Northern Line” (“survey my little empire”) complete with Jamaican twang and then read out “Love” (Love is a corporate bastard in a cheap suit”).

KATIE

Pete Hunter then produced the fruits of his day as poet in residence in a Frome café, noting that “the ladies … tut their disapproval” and hearing “castanetting dentures”.

pETER hUNTER

The evening then sped on with one piece each from: Tweetie (Agatha’s choice of poem (“Make me like a tree”));

TWEEIE

Terry, who played guitar (left-handed) and sang “Bitch Man” (“If I were rich, man / I’d be a bitch, man” ”Oh kerching, kerching, kerching”);

TERRY

Annie McGann, whose poem “For the Information of the Former City Council Engineer” contained the unforgettable line (“If I light up the world / it’s with the torch I carry for you, babe”);

ANNIE McGANN

The New Root, a two guitar / two voice duo with a sweet and slow song sung by the female half; Rupert Hopkins;

Cathy Keal (with “Passport” for Ali);

CATHY KEAL

and finally Barry Walsh with his song telling the heartbreaking story of the “Eiderdown”. Julian then read a short piece and wound up the show.

Apologies for the delay in getting the fotos up here. Sometimes it takes a little longer than normal! Just hope I got it right!!

ACOUSTIC NIGHT STATS

AUDIENCE: 40
PEFORMERS: 21
VIRGINS: 4
MOOD: Celebratory
WISH YOU WERE HERE: Andi, Hazel, Dave Lovegrove