Posted by Gareth on June 16, 2006, 4:13 pm RIGHT! What else happened? The open mic bit was absolutely classic last night. Dave kicked off in a completely different style to the other 2 times i've seen him - he may be predominantly blues, but he does a lot with it. He started with Behind Blue Eyes then followed with Hey Joe - where he proved how good a guitarist he was. (I should also say that Nick's son, Jack did his "Hound Dog" as the band were packing up too - ending with his "thank you very much" Elvis impression! LOL) Then James was up - I love it when James plays. He started by getting Del up there to sing the lyrics of No Rain with him while Rory played rhythm and he played lead. An impromptu band - it was great! - then he totally wowed me with a great song that is probably his own - hope he plays that again soon. I have to say at this juncture that the second band's crowd had disappeared at this point and there was now a feeling of "regular Barn goers having a party" around the room - a general sense of frivolity - possibly also from the fact that the second band kept making odd mistakes (they were really young bless 'em) and it ended up with the singer saying "we're a comedy band really" - and Nick grabbing the mic and saying "well you are funny!" LOL - that kind of set the tone for the open mic bit. - anyway! - to illustrate this atmosphere is a great example of something you're only likely to see at the Barn. "The Pompey Birds" - Nick can confirm how old these girls are - but basically one of them is his daughter who played guitar a little while ago and her two friends - must be like between 10 and 12 I guess - sorry if that's wrong Nick - and they performed acapella "I wish I was a punk rocker" to a hugely appreciative LOUD crowd (it was brilliant anyway - but it was also the joy of this thing happening out of nowhere - apparently they thought of doing it a few minutes before!) Becky - well Becky had me stunned! - her first song was amazing! - definitely the best I have EVER heard her. Excellent stuff. Nice one! Nick went on for his bit - and as he kept making up the schedule as he went along last night and changing things around as it suited his mood (this added to the party atmosphere) I thought he might do the raffle now. - but he didn't LOL Instead he did Walk, Swiss Roll (of course - ooh my throat hurt by this time - what with singing along to almost every Andy song too LOL) and Sometimes. Matt came along next - haven't seen him before - good stuff but I did think his guitar sound massively tinny! - not sure why, Nick was on it but it looked from Nick's body language that it was beyond his control. His band is called "Made Late" and are probably worth checking out. (haven't yet) Rory, the love god of the Barn, was next. He started with two dancers beside him, twirling their arms around and generally showing us non-dancers how to fill the floor with dance talent. Beautiful. Rory kept his head focussed while the dancers did their bit on either side of him. Then I joined him for Warren Zevon's "Mr Bad Example" - he asked me earlier in the day to duet - which I agreed to even though I hadn't heard how he was gonna do it - and when we started there was a long enough pause before the singing for me to wonder if I was supposed to be singing the verses LOL - so I leaned over and asked him - and that was it we were off! - I loved it! - great song and it was good to duet with Rory. Karaoke John was next - first time for the Barn - and it was quite something having someone with that many years of singing behind him and that much emotional reserve behind him to paly in front of us - usually Karaoke spells heartless bollocks - this was just something else though - absolutely amazing - a stellar performance that had everyone cheering, whooping, banging tables, you name it - John was quite taken bakc and obviously touched. He didn't notice Nick's noose - which may have allowed him avoid the enormous spoonful of irony contained in my description and the audience reaction. If you weren't there, you really REALLY should have been there. (anyone heard of Florence Foster Jenkins??) Then there was the raffle!!!!!!! I GOT MYSELF A SHULMAN!!!!!!!! oh yes! - I now have, thanks to finally winning the first prize offered (out of a whopping 35 prizes!!! LOL) a painting by the Barn's resident drummer and poet - Terry Shulman! - he told me its a Van Gogh (as it's of Van Gogh LOL) The raffle was the usual bundle to the front with Nick shouting numbers at a ridiculous pace. Classic. Cool Banana were next - and the didgeridoo addition (I didn't see the full hour) was brilliant - added the deep register to the guitar/percussion sound - Walk on the Wild Side was my fave (especially as I shouted it as a request) and the didge guy did the "do do do"s with it at the end which was excellent - we all joined in with that one (of course) - Death by Stereo was also good! My nephew George played next! - yay! - his mic wasn't in the right position for him I thought but it was another great performance - the first song he did I REALLY like - I like his style of lyric writing. I'm a proud Uncle LOL. Dirty Hippy (Del) gave another huge performance - choosing to go with the party atmosphere and give us "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Born to be Wild" - i'd be curious to know what he was gonna do as he changed his mind. He really is the star of the club though. - then it was my mate Richard - who did a beautiful version of Damien Rice's "Delicate" and a song I don't know - that had swearing in it (he did for me as I mentioned it in the blog last time - he thinks it's big and clever now) I'm so glad he has decided to play there though, he has such a beautiful voice I think. Then there was me - me and Ritchie Rizuan - like a pheonix out of the ashes of Bonobo Road - doing two songs without a proper rehearsal - I think it went ok - I enjoyed it certainly - there was a bit of messing about with the chords at one point LOL - but that was part of the enjoyment last night - almost jazz like! LOL - it felt good to be with him though. Hope he liked it as much as I did. Karaoke John ended the night with a reprise of his star talent. That man should be on X Factor! Classic. - I hope I have given an idea of how wonderful last night was. Gareth
80.3.160.12
Party at the Barn - part 2 !!!!!
Current mood: high
Category: Music
Well i'm gonna try and write part two now...after i've made a cuppa...
Thanks!
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