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Stars appear and the shadows are fallin'
Well, I'm sure no one will be terribly surprised by the idea that I went out to a gig this evening. Samantha and I headed down to a pub near Maidenhead, because a friend of hers was playing there. That was about as much as I knew.
Y'see, Mike's band is the sort of house-band which, on Thursday nights, takes over the pub for a musicians' night. Anyone who wants to can take their guitar (or keyboard, or Mongolian noseflute) along and have a bit of a join-in.
I was curious as to how this worked, so quizzed him about it. Some people turn up in groups, as full bands. Some people turn up with just a guitar, see what songs anyone else knows, grab a few bodies to make up a backing band, and off they go.
It's all very laid back, and a lot of fun. The resulting sound isn't a polished performance - as Mike said, they all know the middles of the songs, but the beginnings and endings are sometimes a bit shaky. Mike's band had their deputy deputy drummer with them - who'd only been roped in at six o'clock. It doesn't sound rehearsed, because it isn't - though there were some very fine musicians on the stage at various times.
This evening, it was very much rock'n'roll, veering towards blues and country (although apparently it varies depending on who's along). Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley. Ry Cooder. Bob Dylan. Songs I didn't know, but could hum along to anyway. People shuffled on and off stage without a clear delineation of who was who - the backing band segued neatly from classic 50's rock'n'roll (pausing only to let the bassist swap for a guitar, and grab a spare bassist from a nearby table) into accompanying a lady with a banjo who was singing songs by Elton John and 4 Non Blondes.
There were bits to sing along to, and a bloke with proper teddy-boy hair. And that beautiful, clear, chiming guitar sound which went right out the window when rock discovered feedback.
The pub even had three handpumps (Pride, Bombardier and Spitfire!), but sadly Pintwatch had had to stay at home - Pintwatch is scared of carkeys, so doesn't come out when I've got them with me.
Even so, my ginger ale and I sat happily, chatting and singing along. I've found the rock'n'roll equivalent of a folk club :)
Y'see, Mike's band is the sort of house-band which, on Thursday nights, takes over the pub for a musicians' night. Anyone who wants to can take their guitar (or keyboard, or Mongolian noseflute) along and have a bit of a join-in.
I was curious as to how this worked, so quizzed him about it. Some people turn up in groups, as full bands. Some people turn up with just a guitar, see what songs anyone else knows, grab a few bodies to make up a backing band, and off they go.
It's all very laid back, and a lot of fun. The resulting sound isn't a polished performance - as Mike said, they all know the middles of the songs, but the beginnings and endings are sometimes a bit shaky. Mike's band had their deputy deputy drummer with them - who'd only been roped in at six o'clock. It doesn't sound rehearsed, because it isn't - though there were some very fine musicians on the stage at various times.
This evening, it was very much rock'n'roll, veering towards blues and country (although apparently it varies depending on who's along). Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley. Ry Cooder. Bob Dylan. Songs I didn't know, but could hum along to anyway. People shuffled on and off stage without a clear delineation of who was who - the backing band segued neatly from classic 50's rock'n'roll (pausing only to let the bassist swap for a guitar, and grab a spare bassist from a nearby table) into accompanying a lady with a banjo who was singing songs by Elton John and 4 Non Blondes.
There were bits to sing along to, and a bloke with proper teddy-boy hair. And that beautiful, clear, chiming guitar sound which went right out the window when rock discovered feedback.
The pub even had three handpumps (Pride, Bombardier and Spitfire!), but sadly Pintwatch had had to stay at home - Pintwatch is scared of carkeys, so doesn't come out when I've got them with me.
Even so, my ginger ale and I sat happily, chatting and singing along. I've found the rock'n'roll equivalent of a folk club :)
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Good grief! You mean that people know more than one 4 Non Blondes song?
(I suspect you don't, in which case this is a grammar post. Not that I'm really sure what's wrong with that construction. Just my gut instinct. Let's not go there ;-)
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