JAM SESSION CD: Rob Dee
has very kindly compiled a CD featuring virtually all of the singers who
performed at the Friday night jam session (regrettably, Phil Jennings'
epic performance of Eve Of Destruction slipped through the net).
He will supply a copy for just £6 (£5 of which will be donated to our
Alder Hey charity appeal). Cheques, please, to Mr R Duncan at 20
Coed Cae Road, Abertridwr, CF83 4EH.
Pics below kindly supplied
by John Burke, Rob Dee, Babs Hughes, Dean Hubert, Alan Coombe, Maureen Whitehouse
and Harry Whitehouse.
Sorry, but pics of the
Friday night jam session at the Sunley Management Centre, and Saturday's
show at the Sunnyside aren't
separated.
Performers in order of appearance at the Sunnyside were Dave Jay (MC),
Dave Michael, Jon Stack, Dave Wilcox, Snowy, Paul Ritchie,
Chris Eley, Jane Hubert, Roger Sea, Johnny Storme, Russ Dee, Dean
Hubert, Michelle Gibson, Creeping Bentgrass,
Laura and Emily Buckley, Johnny Red. What a line-up!
Report by John Burke:
We got there on Friday to find a few
groupies hanging about the bar area... Well we'd have been
disappointed otherwise wouldn't we. Rob Dee had arrived at the same
time as we did and after bringing in the luggae we unloaded
instruments and set up to run through a couple of songs, Rob joining
us to sing Simon & Garfunkel's The
Boxer.
Pierre and his brother Nino arrived and told us the sad news that
Jet Harris had passed on.
Then Miss Franny and Jeannie grabbed our ears and led us off to get
changed before the meal. Great to eat in the dining room with
like-minded souls on every side. 3 Daves on our table. Conversation
followed the format "What?" "What?" "No not
you..." The kitchen and waiting staff could have done with some
help but they worked wonders to get us all fed and watered.
The Friday night jam session was excellent - who could forget Phil
Jenning's excellently raucous Eve
of Destruction? Several singers came on to help David and
myself on Johnny B Goode and
we were very pleased to be asked to provide a live backing for
everyone to sing Halfway to
Paradise at the end of the night.
Nice to meet Dave Michael and Daniel for the first time - I loved
Dan's sense of fun.
Saturday dawned and we sat down to an excellent cooked breakfast
before heading into Northampton for a look round. In past years
we've gone into Wellingborough so it was a morning of discovery
before heading for the Sunnyside to suss out the new layout.
Very different. The bar at the back had disappeared and a wall
separated the old stage area. We set the stage at the side of the
ramp from the upper balcony but another new wall blocked the view of
the side balcony so artists faced the ramp and turned from side to
side occasionally to make sure the audience were still with us!
We had been asked to bring our own kit this year and needed a full
half hour to set up. We decided to leave this until later as once
Johnny Red had set up his very comprehensive stage gear a crowd of
singers gathered to test their tonsils around the mic and we walked
back to the hotel to get showered and changed.
Then I got the PA, speakers and keyboard set up and we blasted
through our version of Bad Moon
Rising to test the sound, Jeannie and Miss Franny running
round the different areas of the place to listen for any
imperfections in the sound - hiccups, burps, slurred words, bum
notes, swear words, that sort of thing...
We'd had to crank it up a bit because of the size of the room and
standing just in front of the speakers, I have to say we enjoyed
ourselves immensely on that test and it was a struggle to force
ourselves off, but we did!
More new faces - I'd never met Russ Dee or Roger Sea before and it
was great to shake their hands and catch up.
And then at 4:30 the music started. Dave Jay, thwarted from walking
into the audience by the new layout, still delivered some cracking
numbers and then switched on his polished MC mode, introducing each
act. There are very few seats now with a view of the stage. It did
make it a bit frustrating but the sound carried and there was plenty
of applause and cheering and a really brilliant atmosphere and there
were some absolutely superb acts.
Jane Hubert made her Sunnyside debut with some fabulous vocals. She
sang a fast Helen Shapiro song and then started "Funny... but
it's true..." and I went cold and all the small hairs on the
palms of my hands - er... I mean back of my neck - stood up.
Wonderful!
Roger Sea had a brilliant mirrored jacket - I want it when he's done
with it ha ha! We followed Michelle Gibson onto the stage. David had
blabbed it was my birthday and Dave Jay got the audience to sing
Happy Birthday to me. As he said, "suitably
embarrassed"!
Harry (who has obviously got to know us by now) came to whisper in
my ear to make sure we finished our set on time! We started with an
Elvis number, Suspicion and
then went through our set, ditching a planned number in order to get
in a request from the audience dedicated to the perfect woman - When
You Say Nothing At All... We had to ditch another song in
order to finish on time (a Cliffy too - Moya would have loved that
one...) as both having to bring instruments forward and the Happy
Birthday bit had eaten into our time, but when I checked my
watch we had finished on the dot of our allotted time - by heck, and
I still had a joke or two in hand...
Laura and Emily followed us after the raffle. A brilliant set and
two great girls - we were chatting with them later. Johnny Red
delivered a great tribute act to Billy and then we all came on for
the traditional rendition of HTP to finish the night.
A brilliant night! Everyone calling for a repeat next year. Everyone
happy. Everyone quite willing to have stayed another few hours and
sung some more. Harry, we salute you.
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