Acoustic Night

MC Julian Ramsey-Wade opened proceedings with a piece of his own (“we are two universes enjoying this”) before introducing John Terry. As he is currently working with the literary legacy left by the recently deceased and sadly missed performance poet and shellfish campaigner Joe Solomon, John was moved to perform two pieces about the loss of a loved one. “Diminished” was a short piece noting that although there is loss, “what’s left will heal”, while “Triumph” described a widower who remained in denial at the loss of his motorcycling soulmate (“he took to living upstairs … knocked out the wall between lounge and garage”) so that in his mind “she still rode pillion to the rallies” as long as he never looked round. Touching, and original as ever.

JOHN TERRY

Gary Death (appropriately!) followed with two old poems new to us: “The Cupboard” was written in 1992 about a flat he once occupied in Newcastle next door to a prostitute, who he could hear working when the cupboard was open; while his second, untitled poem was set in a Republic of Ireland town which “invites you” to its “beaches…reaches of golden escapes”). A notable contrast in tones from Gary.

GARY DEATH

Claudio popped in from next door to sing his tale of doomed relationships (“Snip snip snip”) and then to revise “If” for the 21^st century (it does no harm to aim high!) (“If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew / to never feel you’ve done just one thing wrong”). If Kipling were alive, he might admire it – the poem, but maybe not the song (but we loved it).

CLAUDIO

Dru Marland ventured two haikus: one on a daughter’s first day at big school and the other dispensing seasonal optimism from the Mendips. Typical Japanese fare – always leaves one wanting more!

Rosemary came forward next and sustained the vernal feel with a poem written on the previous Friday in glorious weather (“soaking up the glistening sunshine” “picnic rugs on the beach”). Her second piece was unique – a song sung a cappella with the tune being fed into her ear from a mobile phone. “All of Me” (?) was as ambitious a song as her previous cover versions and utterly memorable.

ROSEMARY

Monty then made a long-awaited return and performed two new songs: the first (“The Elephant is in the Room”) stomped in and demanded everyone’s attention (“Can’t hide it no more / falling through the floor”) while the second (“Strangers Again”) was softer and more plaintive (“I’m out of focus in your eyes”). It’s good to have him back!

MONTY

Helen Gregory was welcomed up next and used her “bitter singleton” poem to prepare us for more recently written fare. “This is not a love poem” was extremely clear as to what sort of poem it wasn’t – “coy couples won’t flatter flirtatiously” – before explaining that “this poem just wants to be friends”. The new piece was “a partial exorcism” but also a thoroughly modern account of the trend towards recounting every minute of one’s life to a supposedly rapt e audience. “Helen has been given a virtual goldfish without a virtual bowl”, “Helen is starting to think in Facebook updates”. This tale was a humourous and accurate portrayal of a modern phenomenon, although it is sadly doomed to date rapidly.

HELEN GREGORY

We then welcomed Mireille Mathlener and Richard Craine to the stage to perform one song apiece before the break. Richard went first: “Mistrust, Mistreatment and Misunderstanding” was a wry tale in Jake Thackray-esque style of “three women” who make the singer’s life hell. Big Fish, Small Town was Mireille’s contribution to the anticipation – guitars and strong vocals told their clear tale (“would you believe you’d be in with a chance?”).   BREAK

Julian performed another piece to speed the jug around and then reintroduced Mireille and Richard. The latter sang three more songs from new album “The Essence of my Life” – “Jekyll and Hyde” was a midtempo song with jangly guitar and self-critical lyrics (“baby I’m sorry for the things I can’t rationalise”); “The River Stroll” and “The Memory River” were slower and slightly closer to folk music with lyrics depicting nature in physical flow (“the water sang as the sun went down”) and in metaphorical flow (“regret is a stream of the memory river”). Mireille then treated us to a trio of songs from her new album “So much for Superman”. “Robin Hood (A Second Look)” was about “the benefit of the doubt” and rocked along backed by two swift guitars (“The poor will be repaid / So they say”); “Night Sets In” was a slightly country-style song about a possible relationship and “Stealing Horses” rocked along with guitar picking from Richard and an assertive tone (“I’m not joining forces just to carry this torch”). That was a varied and enjoyable set by two people who Acoustic Night is pleased to consider friends (but not on Facebook!) as well as friendly open mic rivals.

MIREILLE & RICHARD

In the dubious position of following the guest spot, poetry performer and promoter Trevor Carter firstly filled the latter role by announcing the event at the Lansdown  on Thursday 2 April alongside Ash Dickinson, before performing “Caveat Emptor”, “a lost love lament” with sad yet credible takes on unsuccessful romance (“Love lies bleeding on the floor” “the land of love’s a harsh terrain”), followed by “Target Practice” (inspired by an edition of Question Time) which took aim at targets as a cure-all (“Targets for drinking – hike up the price” “We’ve got our targets to keep our sights low”). Yet again, two contrasting pieces to leave a rounded impression.

TREVOR CARTER

Skiver and Ben then brought beatboxing to the Acoustic Night, with their skill and dexterity presenting a light touch and some stylish lyrics in a different way to the poets and musicians on show.

SKIVER & BEN

Rembrandt Clarke returned after last week’s debut and in his first piece echoed Gary Death’s first piece earlier. “Don’t Fix the Creak in your Floorboards, How Else Will I Know it’s a Wednesday” is one of the longest and best titles I have ever had to write down; the poem itself was a humourous take on hearing certain activities taking place upstairs. “Tomorrowland” was described as “about moving on” and made the personal future seem quite scary (“Uncomfortable, scary, hungover nights”). More contrast, more talent.

REMBRANDT CLARKE

CPS then made a debut appearance with covers of “All along the Watchtower” (more like the Dylan than the Hendrix version) and “The Streets of Laredo”. (Note to performers: no-one minds covers, just photocopies!)

CPS

Andi Langford-Woods brought a poem up from 1992 – “Loving” was a slow, loping blues which evoked a period in history (1992! History! Oh God!) and in her own personal (memory loss!! – ed.) history (“A world full of dark and devious acts”).

Ian Sills then performed dated material in 1) “Fagin’s Credit Crunch II” (with added Sir Fred Goodwin) and 2) “Earwax” – a faux folk song inspired by a Benny Hill b side and namechecking “The Lakes” and “Two Fat Ladies” (also bizarrely rhyming “dusk” with “rusk” in a very contrived way and having no consistent tune).

IAN SILLS

Hazel Hammond then completed a trio of Acoustic Night organisers with “Life on Life’s Terms”: derived from an interview for her current tattoo project which relates a life story very accurately (“may the tears of prison heal me” “I can fly out beyond the present pain”). Wonderful.

ACOUSTIC NIGHT STATS

PERFORMERS     18

AUDIENCE         37

VIRGINS             3

Our MC for the night Julian Ramsey-Wade opens with the Harvey Andrews song of protest (“Beguiled again” “from Jarrow and from Clyde they’ll come”) and then introduced the night’s first poet and first Acoustic Night Virgin. Rembrandt Clarke  (V) started with a very short, light poem and followed it with “Britannia”; a deep and loathing-filled rant on the state of the nation and his place within it which used dark imagery (“like a gulp of tea with ambitions of cyanide”) and pleas for release (“lobotomise these memories, please”). Certainly one to leave an immediate impression!

Simon the Magician came forward next: this week’s mix of tricks incorporated ropes, a large golf ball and a die and blades; his final trick was to give the shirt off his back in triple quick time - as usual he was master of the unexpected.

MAGIC SIMON

John Terry returned to the fold with two poems from his growing collection based on his time in the aerospace industry in the mid-Eighties. “Drink draughting” recounted the experience of returning to the drawing office after a “liquid lunch” to find that certain tasks were suddenly more difficult (“although I wasn’t drunk” “I puzzled…how to hold the pencil”), while “Netting” described the use of safety nets for a purpose other than their original one (“the artiste’s final bound lands him on a girder”). I can’t wait to hear more from this collection.

Dario Gerchi then sang two Italian songs: the first was accompanied by his stylish guitar playing while the second was “O Sole Mio” which has since been “dumbed down” into an Elvis hit (“It’s Now or Never”) and an ice-cream advert (“Just One Cornetto”). Dario sang it a cappella which returned a light classic feel to the song.

DARIO GERCHI

Two new (to Acoustic Night) Bath Spa poets stepped up next: firstly Jake Tupman read “Sweettooth” which ranted good-humouredly about packs of all yellow wine gums and the renaming of Opal Fruits as Starburst. Then Kelsie-Jean Schaeffer (I think) gave us her “beat inspired poem” telling us (“constellations continue to curdle”) and (“planet Earth…kicks back to Kerouac”). Two contrasting poems from two more of the apparently endless supply of Bath Spa talent.

  JAKE TUPMAN

KELSIE-JEAN SCHAEFFER

The Sodburys were next to perform (I think that Julian enjoys introducing them almost as much as we all enjoy their music (which is a lot)). “Fly Away” describes the value of a teenager’s gap year (“Don’t you come back till you’ve seen the whole of the world”), while “Sweet Children” – about fathers who lose touch with their kids – was written in collaboration with wordsmith and occasional singer David C. Johnson. The latter had a folky rhythm and upbeat feel (“tell me the wonderful things that you’ve seen”) and ended a cappella. Their collaborator then stepped up himself to bemoan his accent and style of speech (“people judge me by the way I speak” “my voice is a cover that hides a book” “a thriller will do just fine”). To the point, as ever.

THE SODBURYS

Julian then sang a Dick Geoghan (?) song while the jug was taken around and then BREAK.

JULIAN RAMSEY-WADE

On our return Julian introduced our special guest, Lucy English. Her first piece, “Spring Fever” could have been written days, not years ago, covering as it did the need for change in society (“Things have got to change for women at night who don’t want to be courageous”). Next came “The Company of Poets”, a celebration of all that is good (and not so good) about having friends who write everything down (“Poets say (at four in the morning) ‘Life’s a banana’” “and they can’t sing / but they try to”). There followed a newer piece which took the form of a report on an experiment conducted to see if a couple could watch the same TV all night without falling out (“Oh look! Kirsten Dunst in her knickers!” “I can’t believe you ate all the Doritos”) before reaching the inevitable, negative conclusion. Then came the rapid development and disappearance of a somewhat one-way relationship (from “You are the one for me …I could be your mother” through “Isis is my goddess / or is it Kali” to “come back…YOU BASTARD!”). Finally Lucy returned to the subject of poetry with (“That’s why the lady is a poet” “She doesn’t look like Barbie, but you don’t look like Ken”). Refreshing and most amusing, skilfully written and beautifully performed, it was wonderful to see her perform again.

LUCY ENGLISH

Dave Bosankoe interjected a couple of lively instrumentals on his Jew’s Harp to break up the block of poets in the second half (a writers’ block, perhaps) before Hazel Hammond contribute 2 poems with stories attached. Firstly, for International Women’s Day and for her mother’s imminent 92^nd birthday, “Stocking Up” explained the curious collection of foodstuffs which had been accumulated (“my shelves are lined with delicacies”). Secondly, while involved in a project to collect tattoed people and their experiences, the question “Why no tattoes?” was answered with “No tattoes” (“Like locks or bridges”) (“But what would I mark my body with?”). Good question!

DAVID BOSANKOE

HAZEL HAMMOND

The Sodburys then returned with a song James wrote (“Sodbury Fair”) for a fictional woman whose “father just didn’t like me” and who is moving away. (“Mary, you’re all of my world”). They then performed old favourite (but we’ve only known them for four months!) “You can’t just leave it like that” about mending fences in time (although am I the only one who remembers the end of the story in each Basil Brush show finishing with the same sentence?).

Andi Langford-Woods was our next performer: she provided one old (“Five Words”) which related that “analysis and doubt underpin each conversation” and one new (“a bit of a rant”) written after the recent heavy snowfall (“bury myself under five duvets till spring breaks” “like a crocus on ketamine”). (Like a what? Bizarre!)

ANDI LANGFORD-WOODS

Ian Sills then performed two new pieces – the first (“Our Fathers”) involved reciting the Lord’s Prayer in Welsh (!) while telling the tale of impressing a good looking woman in the early hours in central Bristol, while the second (“B.A.P.S.”) examined the difficulty of finding exactly the right compliment when commenting on a lady’s appearance (Beautiful? Attractive? Pretty? Sexy?) & a cheap gag about the acronym!

Dario Gerchi returned with two more songs in two different languages – Nights in White Satin was translated into Italian, while La Malaguena (The Girl from Malaga) was a Spanish ballad. He was followed by the final two poets and performers of the evening.

First Colin welcomed us “to the Masquerade” (“Hear the conversation linger like a flatulent wave”); then Mon reminisced about (“the first thing I can remember”) which included (“learning to crawl on the tiled kitchen floor”). Wonderful finish.

COLIN

ACOUSTIC NIGHT STATS

PERFORMERS    16

AUDIENCE        43

VIRGINS            1

This was the second Acoustic Night fundraiser in the wake of the successful if slightly squashed pre-Christmas Acoustic Night on December 15 (see blogs passim). 3 musical acts were again interwoven between 3 poets, with each of the 6 entirely original and distinct from the others. A positive, appreciative audience enjoyed a top class night & the organisers didn’t even have to work the next day (except poor Julian!).

Jamie Harrison was the first guest performer and opened with a sharp and skilled instrumental guitar piece that even impressed the local magazine reviewer (of whom more later.) The remaining pieces provided more opportunities for Jamie to display his guitar skills (and for the audience to appreciate them) while also showcasing his unique vocals and lyrics. The second song was a perfect example of this: the picking and sliding of the guitar combined with artfully chosen words which leaped on stage in a Northern accent and made one laugh and think, sometimes both at once. Song 3 was based around one low string and a homeless person: it somehow moved from that start to a chorus of  “Um Bongo, Um Bongo, they drink it in the Congo” which brought back beautiful memories to those of a certain age. Two more original songs followed, with one starting fast and finishing slow (“Plenty of things hurt worse”?) and the other using the guitar like a washboard and mentioning “a ton of polystyrene … murmuring”. To finish, Jamie covered Leonard Cohen’s second most famous song, Suzanne, in almost unrecognisable style and took his deserved applause. Entertaining!

JAMIE HARRISON

Pete Hunter followed Jamie and embarked on a multimedia presentation far removed from the one poet plus lectern image widely assumed throughout the “real world”. First there was dramatic orchestral music then a deep, resounding cinema trailer voice broke in with “Imagine a world ruled by chaos”. Life presented as a film, with this trailer to introduce it. There followed more conventional poetry themed on love gone wrong (“they tumbled into storm-cursed seas” and “I can’t remember when I last had sex…exactly!”) before Pete introduced “a film I made” “The Altogether” is an anti Modern Art poem based on modern art – a DVD ran showing Pete reciting to camera around an Art Gallery and simultaneously creating the “art” he was discussing (“shoot a video and slow it down to 20 frames an hour” “switch a light on…and off”). This was so professional and acute that it could have been on the Culture Show – maybe it soon will. Then followed two more poems: the one about abusive poetry from Professor Bastard which strikes home to any regular poetry observer; and the one which starts (conversationally) “I usually perform this with a band” and tonight worked especially well at the adapted line “But tonight, because it’s a fundraiser, we couldn’t do that.” Pete’s writing has always been marvellous but his performance style is expanding and diversifying, knowing he has the eyebrows to fall back on!

PETE HUNTER

Boy are four female vocalists who sing a cappella songs in a truly individual way. Comparisons to other a cappella acts are unhelpful – the songs themselves vary from conventional tales of late drunken nights and hangovers (“Puzzle Pieces”) to curiosities inspired by advertising pictures seen abroad (“Coca de Patata”) or Doc Marten boots (“Boots that I wear”) and a post-apocalyptic world in which one man tries to save birds, time and the world itself (“Clockmaker”). But the arrangements were so clever that most of the time the listener/watcher was sucked into the story and the song and allowed the sound itself to ripple and sweep, to swoop and dive around the room. The occasional tricks – beatboxing, finger clicks, bell ringing etc – simply reinforced the sound produced, simple and elemental from the outside but technically difficult to get right. And when the quartet risked the terrifying wrath of the sound engineer by forsaking the microphones and heading to the centre of the room for the final piece, the relatively conventional and straightforward musical theatre style song was given its own extra zing. To be so different is good: to be also brilliant is better!

BOY

After a break came Rosy Carrick – long time friend of the Bristol performance poetry scene even at her tender age. After a reliably light hearted opener – (“Stamping on a pigeon’s head” with the inevitable “gleaming cream of pulverised brain”) and a more personal but still dark second piece (“Diet Tips for Girls”), Rosy introduced the next piece with the ominous words “This lasts ten minutes” and “I rarely perform it”. Despite this reduction of expectations, “Thickening Water” turned out to be a kitchen sink drama of a poem: a tale of a criminal going to prison and the woman waiting for him despite herself. In a relatively short time the audience was immersed in the story and captivated by the characters and their dark lives. Images flourished amongst the emotions (“Goose flesh spreading through spasming limbs” “I’m cracking my shell wide open”) with the spell cast over the listener for the whole piece. That was it – but don’t be surprised by a return visit from this highly talented writer and performer.

ROSY CARRICK

Byron Vincent made up for his unavailability at the Christmas fundraiser and after starting with a haiku shared his “recent spiritual journey” (“I declared myself a Muslim / I ate a pig / they kicked me out”). Words flew all over the place, so if the trepanning of Paris Hilton was not there, it must be my imagination. Ditto the text message for “I have bowel cancer” or the emotion for existential anguish. No, I’m certain these sprang from Byron’s unique imagination. The next piece surfed the internet to bring forth “a clockwork Fonzie”, “Inflatable lederhosen” and “a psychic wasp” in a surreal Generation Game conveyor belt sort of way. Byron’s “only love poem” was dedicated to a Loris (an animal from Labyrinth) and claimed “those epic eyes ain’t evil”; next came a request which (bizarrely) quoted Billy Ray Cyrus and then a straightforward tale of stalking Bob Holness going wrong (“and I bequeath you BOB … soiling your sock drawer BOB” “sorry mate, I thought this was Bob’s house”). Finally Byron portrayed his fifteen year old self at the point where he discovered poetry as a diversion from the dead end he had previously seen himself going down. Full of bile and fury (“you pedagoguish fake!”), yet stylishly written and intensely performed, this was a set worth waiting for. Thanks be to Byron, Preston’s finest.

BYRON VINCENT

Our sixth and final act then arrived on stage. Ten Ton Tongue featured the amazing Emma Harper on vocals, although her bright champagne ballgown (yes ballgown!) was probably louder than she was until balanced by the remarkable technical team. Starting with just an acoustic guitar accompaniment to a soft Tom Waits cover, the bass and drums were then added from the second song. This contrasted Emma’s warm singing voice and some folk-tinged lyrics (“Gently on the earth, gently, gently”) with a heavier, rockier (though still measured and well balanced) sound. Third song “Rumblings” (“About being f**king real with yourself”) used 2 drummers for a slightly African rhythm and political lyrics (“To observe and participate at the same time”) and then “Firewood” reverted to the guitar/bass/drums format as the tale started (“we play out eternal escape”) before bursting into an upbeat Afro/Jamaican rhythm with heavy bassline contrasting with light and airy vocals and lyrics and then a dramatic drummed coda. “This place” (about Bristol) was a celebration of the pleasure of being in the place at the time, while “Fernando’s Beautiful Whore” is a period drama of a folk song in which (“there are no subtleties here” ) and the song races to a busy and entertaining conclusion. Happily impossible to pigeonhole, Ten Ton Tongue have a strong and unique vocalist and a varied and complex style which makes each song memorable and different. A fitting end to a very successful night.

TEN TON TONGUE

ACOUSTIC NIGHT STATS

AUDIENCE:    FULL HOUSE!

PERFORMERS:    12

OVERWHELMING SENSE OF SATISFACTION:   IMMEASURABLE!

Ian, our genial MC, resident heckler and Acoustic Night Organiser welcomed us all to Acoustic Night 77 and reminded us that the fundraiser was coming up soon on March 6^th, unusually a Friday with a magnificent line up…

GARRY DEATH

A good friend of Acoustic night Gary Death led off with how he had been attached, (or was that addicted?) to the TV? By wittily name checking some soaps moving on to a poem of two halves and those macho Sly Sports! (sic).

DRIFT SNOWBARGER

Drift Snowbarger had a go at rehabilitating the seventies by showering us with memories, through the sounds of Abba to when the test card was shown and when PC meant policeman.

JULIE BOSTON

Julie Boston gave us a poem which offered women’s support, suppressed rage and bans as Julie said after that smiling is voluntary and followed this with a plug for the International Women’s Day Poetry event on the 8^th of March (at Halo).

MOLLY AND JAN

Molly and Jan the first of the nights’ Bath spa poets gave us some urban legends.. Molly with her explicitly swallowed adventures where her parents were present and Jan with her ’eulogy’ to Swindon - the town that morals forgot and the drugged sons of Braintree.

JAN

The next Bath Spa pets were two sorts of Jake (I and II) as well as Sam Drew.

JAKE I.

Jake I offered a villanelle on Isolation with the memorable line ‘with a private universal lethargy’.

SAM DREW

Sam Drew also commented on the urban scene with his Doorbell Thief, a rhymed complaint which mysteriously featured vegetables in a state of excitement!

JAKE II.

Jake II gave us some praise for his clan - the Tubmans we had some close description of their domestic life.

JULIAN

Julian Ramsay Wade also an Acoustic night stalwart, often our MC, allowed the jug to go round during his polished and heart warming rendition of his own ‘What is Poetry for? (Hey, wish I could name check the generous donor of £20 but thanks so much).

Dr. ZOO

Our Special Guest Dr. Zoo closed the first half with a song which generated the heat of its African inspiration. Now I and all those who joined in know how to say Hello in three different African languages - Salaamgaane all our readers!

After the break Dr. Zoo, originally from Newfoundland in Canada, told us about his interest and knowledge of animals hence the his name ( Phd Dr – and Zoology geddit ?) while handing out percussion to the audience. This warmed us all up to join him in his travel to Zimbabwe the rhythms of this powerful song coming from audience and performer alike.

Dr. Zoo followed this with a reminder of the many countries and languages of Africa. He sang us a Zulu walking song. Immediately one could hear the striding pace it supported, (in the same way that a sailors’ shanty fits the work rhythms of sailing). His set continued with a story song ‘The Soldiers Tale’ reminding me of famous first world war poets lines… the music much more subdued and folky in style. A chance to join in with some of the Safari fun and be Lion looking at the Zebra’ in great sing-along chorus. He reminded us of the reactions of expatriates to Africa and the laid back attitude producing C’est Lafrikaaaaa a stomping high energy song that acted as a heart-warming finale.

ANNA FREEMAN

Anna Freeman gave us a new poem which we can all empathise with about meeting and remembering a stranger you only met once.

JACK

Another Bath Spa poet Jack recalled the tensions of playground life where there were fight, nose bleeds and things getting settled after ‘a letter to Roberts mum’. He reminded us we wanted to be Powerangers too.

POOKA

Pooka, new to Acoustic Night, was pierced by Cupid and also told us how ‘a crate of sophistry directors took the freedom you forgot you had’.

Dan presented a complex and puzzling portrait of a vulnerable actress who he also called a whore, part of the legitimate theatre and more.

DUNCAN

The Bard of Bath felt the idiots are winning partially recited and partially sung.
Where we were part of those brainwashed by an obsolete ideal.

MOLLY

Molly (from Bath Spa) returned to gives us a poem starting with a confrontational first line ‘I am Jew and not you’, but I found for me there was a resonance here and the remembrances of the Holocaust set into a contemporary context.

MIKE BILLING

Mike Billing told his hairy tale of reincarnation… the sort of past life scenario that its very difficult to get poetry out of.

CATHY KEAL

We finished the night with Cathy Keal who gave us a poem of childhood memories of the river each image appearing briefly like the bubbles in the stream when the water is disturbed so the rapid flow of the river was mirrored both in the pace and image.