Monday, 24 October 2011
Open Mic Moves To Tuesday
The Market Tavern sesh has now moved from Monday to Tuesday nights, starting at about 9.30 pm. This is good news all round, as you’ve got to be pretty desperate to want to go out for a drink on a Monday. I went down with Nick to do a set this week and met up with most of the usual suspects. The audience was small but appreciative and unlike the usual Wednesday mob, they do seem to want to listen to the acts. Given time, I think this could build up a good word of mouth scene, so why not give it a spin?
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh fhtagn !!!
Last weekend, I met up with some friends in Newcastle for an art crawl. I missed the first half due to sloth, but eventually caught up with everyone at The Old George Inn, just off the Bigg Market. This is the oldest pub in Newcastle and was once a favourite of King Charles I back in the 17th century. It now does a very good pint of Bass and a rather less exciting chicken baguette and chips. One of the party did however have a Toffee Apple Meltdown, which sounds more like a 60s psychedelic group than a dessert but still looked pretty tasty to me.
After lunch, it was off to the Hatton Gallery to see Kurt Schwitters' 'Merz Barn'. This is the largest surviving Dada artwork in the world and was moved here by Richard Hamilton (who sadly died recently) back in 1965. Personally, I prefer Schwitters' Merz pictures, but the barn is an impressive artefact in its own right, consisting of (you guessed it) a barn with added detritus. The Hatton is also one of the hosts for this year's International Print Biennale 2011 Print Awards and had some intriguing works on show, though for me, the real juice was the display of old 50s and 60s exhibition posters from the Hatton Archive. There's an energy to these works, which all benefit from being hand-printed posters with a Situationist vibe produced on a shoestring.
We finished off with an extended trip around Newcastle's surviving record shops. I find these places a bit dreary to be honest, as they just feel like museums to former glories rather than nerve centres of a happening scene, but maybe I'm just getting old. We did however see the most impressive work of the day, a signed poster of George Best going for a mere £350. Now that's what I call art!
After lunch, it was off to the Hatton Gallery to see Kurt Schwitters' 'Merz Barn'. This is the largest surviving Dada artwork in the world and was moved here by Richard Hamilton (who sadly died recently) back in 1965. Personally, I prefer Schwitters' Merz pictures, but the barn is an impressive artefact in its own right, consisting of (you guessed it) a barn with added detritus. The Hatton is also one of the hosts for this year's International Print Biennale 2011 Print Awards and had some intriguing works on show, though for me, the real juice was the display of old 50s and 60s exhibition posters from the Hatton Archive. There's an energy to these works, which all benefit from being hand-printed posters with a Situationist vibe produced on a shoestring.
We finished off with an extended trip around Newcastle's surviving record shops. I find these places a bit dreary to be honest, as they just feel like museums to former glories rather than nerve centres of a happening scene, but maybe I'm just getting old. We did however see the most impressive work of the day, a signed poster of George Best going for a mere £350. Now that's what I call art!
Friday, 14 October 2011
Durham New Writing Festival 2011
One of Durham's best-kept secrets is the City Theatre, a tiny 100-seater venue hidden away behind the market place. The City is home to the Durham Dramatic Society who perform at least five plays a year here, many featuring certain well-known faces from the local open mic scene. This year's New Writing Festival showcased three brand-new plays and offered a welcome alternative to the usual Thug Pub Babylon available elsewhere on a Friday night.
First up was 'Plan C', a gripping play by Alan Godfrey about a bungled Irish terror plot. This was a great idea for a drama and featured some interesting merging of music and acting, with the singing of the old Irish ballad 'Reynardine' every time someone was preparing to go out on a mission. On the downside, the mixing of comedy elements detracted from the seriousness of the theme, but with an expansion of the claustrophobic central scenes, this could be a real runner. And of course, black berets and mirror shades always look good on stage.
Chris Neville Smith's 'First Sign Of Madness' was the meat in the sandwich and featured the best performance of the night, from Nicki Doyle (portrait below by Janiece Spence) as the bereaved girlfriend reflecting on her lost love. It was written in the Alan Bennett monologue style and had some excellent observation and good use of sound effects. Those tweeting birds certainly gave me the first signs of madness after 20-odd minutes.
Last up was Chris Joby's 'Crossing The Line', a high-brow comedy about obsessive Dutch Modernist Piet Mondrian. For me, this was the best-written piece of the night, with some amusing exchanges between Mondrian and the other 'De Stijl' artists Theo van Doesburg and George Vantongerloo. Like the previous play, it was ultimately a bit of shaggy dog story, but the punch-line was a killer.
Three entertaining plays for a fiver means great value and with a bar in the venue, where you can meet the cast and writers afterwards, the City provides a much more involving experience than the offerings at the Gala. The next performance will be Dennis Potter's 'Blue Remembered Hills' starting November 27th and running until December 3rd. Make a date in your diary and be sure to support your local luvvies.
First up was 'Plan C', a gripping play by Alan Godfrey about a bungled Irish terror plot. This was a great idea for a drama and featured some interesting merging of music and acting, with the singing of the old Irish ballad 'Reynardine' every time someone was preparing to go out on a mission. On the downside, the mixing of comedy elements detracted from the seriousness of the theme, but with an expansion of the claustrophobic central scenes, this could be a real runner. And of course, black berets and mirror shades always look good on stage.
Chris Neville Smith's 'First Sign Of Madness' was the meat in the sandwich and featured the best performance of the night, from Nicki Doyle (portrait below by Janiece Spence) as the bereaved girlfriend reflecting on her lost love. It was written in the Alan Bennett monologue style and had some excellent observation and good use of sound effects. Those tweeting birds certainly gave me the first signs of madness after 20-odd minutes.
Last up was Chris Joby's 'Crossing The Line', a high-brow comedy about obsessive Dutch Modernist Piet Mondrian. For me, this was the best-written piece of the night, with some amusing exchanges between Mondrian and the other 'De Stijl' artists Theo van Doesburg and George Vantongerloo. Like the previous play, it was ultimately a bit of shaggy dog story, but the punch-line was a killer.
Three entertaining plays for a fiver means great value and with a bar in the venue, where you can meet the cast and writers afterwards, the City provides a much more involving experience than the offerings at the Gala. The next performance will be Dennis Potter's 'Blue Remembered Hills' starting November 27th and running until December 3rd. Make a date in your diary and be sure to support your local luvvies.
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Open Mic Closed Down ?
Went to the Market Tavern Open Mic last Wednesday and was told that it was the last one. The pub is under new management and they've decided to replace it with a folk night for students. There was talk of the Open Mic restarting on Monday nights, but I'm not sure exactly what's happening at the moment. Actually, I'm not all that bothered myself, as I've been going every week since the start of May and could use some time out to woodshed new material and muck around in my home studio. The plan is to get some stuff up on Soundcloud in the near future, so watch this space...
Friday, 9 September 2011
Durham City Open Mic 7/9/11
In contrast to last week's low-key night, the Tav was rammed this evening and I ended up jacking my solo set to play a Crème Brulee giglet with Steve. We did four tracks, including our usual banging version of 'I Fought The Law' to finish. Can't remember much else, save a cracking version of 'Ziggy Stardust' from Ian. Apparently, he was nearly run over in the dodgy new market place/pedestrian death arena this week. I have been assured in a letter from our local MP Roberta Blackman-Woods that this will be sorted soon - but it was almost too late for Ian. Have the local Highways Department got no concern for the arts in our city?
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Back In Black
Big shout going out to Exposure Adjutant Dover ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajdover/ ) for capturing the moment.
Market Tavern Open Mic - 31/8/11
The open mic after a bank holiday is often quieter than usual, but I wasn't expecting to be one of only two singers to turn up! In the end, Nick G and me did 14 songs each, whilst rather stupidly failing to re-negotiate the one free pint deal.
Nick ran through a substantial chunk of his Robyn Hitchcock/Half Man Half Biscuit song-book and even chucked in a rare Status Quo number from their 60's flower power period. For my first set, I did the six songs I'd actually rehearsed, but when I was called up again, decided to wing it with songs I hadn't played since my folk club days in the Tap & Spile. Luckily, the small but vocal audience got behind me as I ran through another eight tunes, including a corking version of 'Sweet Jane' that seemed to get everyone going (and not just to the exits).
Our hosts Honest Jack also did expanded sets in their usual close harmony style and Neil got up without his bandmates to do some fancy guitar instrumentals. A good night all in all and excellent practice at live performance. In fact, that's the beauty of these open mics - you get a chance to try out playing live without the bother of bringing instruments and people usually clap politely even if you're shite. So why not come on down and have a go.
Nick ran through a substantial chunk of his Robyn Hitchcock/Half Man Half Biscuit song-book and even chucked in a rare Status Quo number from their 60's flower power period. For my first set, I did the six songs I'd actually rehearsed, but when I was called up again, decided to wing it with songs I hadn't played since my folk club days in the Tap & Spile. Luckily, the small but vocal audience got behind me as I ran through another eight tunes, including a corking version of 'Sweet Jane' that seemed to get everyone going (and not just to the exits).
Our hosts Honest Jack also did expanded sets in their usual close harmony style and Neil got up without his bandmates to do some fancy guitar instrumentals. A good night all in all and excellent practice at live performance. In fact, that's the beauty of these open mics - you get a chance to try out playing live without the bother of bringing instruments and people usually clap politely even if you're shite. So why not come on down and have a go.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Durham Open Mic On YouTube
Some kindly souls have been hard at work filming the Market Tavern scene for posterity. There's already five clips up, including these two of Honest Jack in flagrante:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmCGI0Mou2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S8QcaWOqns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmCGI0Mou2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S8QcaWOqns
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Durham Open Mic 24/8/11 - Enter The Hot Dream
As well as good performers, an open mic always needs a good audience. Last week though, the audience became the main attraction. I have no idea where the party of refreshed ladies at the front came from, but their spirited dancing and interruptions on the mic added a Bacchanalian vibe to a hot and jam-packed sesh. And despite the best efforts of Honest Jack, Fishburn Mafia and Crème Brulee, the evening's most memorable performance was undoubtedly their a cappella version of 'Ernie, The Fastest Milkman In The West'. Dionysus would have been proud.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)