Open Mic #2

Walking through Holmfirth with a bag of chips on the night of my second open mic was like being transported back in time.  UFO were playing at Picturedrome and the fans had arrived in their droves, wearing denim jackets with the band name on the back, blue jeans and boots.  It could have been the long haired 1970’s, except most of the fans had lost their flowing locks to the ravages of time. 

The aging biking community had also come out to play, leaving polished Norton and Triumph bikes to be admired like works of art all around the town centre.  It would be easy to forget how massive UFO once were, something akin to Kings of Leon, and having them playing here in Holmfirth was quite something.  In fact, if we leave it thirty years, we may even get Kings of Leon rocking up at the Picturedrome.

To think that my open mic was competing with the likes of UFO was kinda funny.  The voices of music past, present and the future would be ringing out in the valley tonight.  I had a packed schedule of sixteen musicians to get through this evening and as a result had to limit the songs to two per artist.

Two thirds of Old Man Pie kicked off the proceedings with renditions of The Poisoning of Captain Floyd and Beer Monster.  In what was typical bad timing I’d come down with a crap cold the day before and my voice was starting to ebb away.  But I reckoned that Jack Daniels was the perfect remedy for temporarily restoring the old vocal chords and that seemed to do the trick. 

Jacob Fullalove followed the pie guys with a couple of covers, Paul Weller and David Bowie songs.  Jacob is 14 years young and has just been selected to play for the prestigious National Youth Guitar Ensemble.  Afterwards he confessed to me that he’d been nervous about playing, but you wouldn’t have known it from his performance.

Tim Taylor played some of his own instrumental pieces on guitar, and Paul + Paul played some enjoyable songs, one of which had us singing along to something we heard on the grapevine.  Phil added his own original tunes into the mix supporting one of my aims of the night to promote new song writing and creativity.

I was so pleased that local legend Jimmy No Pants Dare (left) also turned up to play us a couple of songs.  I knew that he ‘couldn’t be arsed’ (his words) to go come out that night but had been persuaded by top mate Harry to contribute some music.  It’s always a pleasure to listen to Jimmy play and the audience certainly appreciated him being there.

We took some time out from the music to hear more about the charity skate4isaac from Paul Atkinson.  The aim was to raise the necessary funds to extend the skateboard park in memory of Isaac Atkinson, as it was a place he had loved to hang out with his friends.  A variety of events were taking place in Holmfirth to contribute to this important cause and you can find out more by following the link below.

The marvellous Darius Kanani joined us from Leeds and he’s a busy guy at the moment gigging all over Yorkshire and beyond.  Leo Brazil (top) brought his own songs on electric guitar and he is a fine musician.  And though I’m more than happy to listen to acoustic guitars, it’s also good to add some electrification into the proceedings.  Things got noisier after Leo had played, and a whole lot more lively.

The Graham Browning Trio provided upright bass, clarinet and guitar in a jazz tinged series of songs which, as Graham himself admitted, were about depressing things, but were delivered in an uplifting fashion.  The band were tight and Graham’s vocals were dark.  I’ve always enjoyed Graham’s song writing and his intense and sometimes self conscious delivery.

During the Trio set, Nig Richards and the Primates (right) arrived from Manchester having spent some time trying to find our hidden valley.  It was great to see them and they seemed relieved to have made it over the moors.  To celebrate we downed a round of Jack Daniels and from then on I found that the music sounded intensely wonderful and the place was full of incredibly attractive and talented people.   

Dan Gallo set the night on fire with some raucous stomp box and electric guitar.  He was shit hot this night and again, electrification took us to some new musical highs.  Nig Richards and the Primates – technically it was Nig Richards and the Primate, as only half the band were able to make it – played a scorching set with Nig himself using a one stringed instrument that he’d made from a broom handle and another guitar he’d fashioned from a toilet seat.  It was a rocking good set and I wanted to hear more, so I booked them for the Holmfirth Festival of Folk (they will be playing Cellar 88 on 10 May).

Decca, a true professional, ended the night with his anecdotes and a couple of covers, the last of which had me waving my pint in the air to The Fog on the Tyne.  It had been a night filled with surprises and a marvellous mix of all kinds of music.  The generous audience had raised over £200 for skate4isaac and hopefully had some fun along the way.  My only criticism, we would have have liked some female musicians and performers to join the entertainment.  The next event on 28 March will address this imbalance and is already shaping up to be another fabulous night with the brilliant Ottersgear (not to be missed) playing a full set and all in aid of the Holmfirth Festival of Folk.  Be there or be square – live music is back in town.

Watch out for more events in aid of skate4isaac right here:

www.skate4isaac.com