| Reviews 2023 | |||
|
Woodman Folk Club - Reviews |
|||
| Dave Love |
|
||
| Woody* | 10 Feb 2023 |
Click on
photo to |
|
|
Hi everyone Woody here again with a review of another fabulous night at the Woodman Folk Club; and as the chimes of Left Bank Two by the Noveltones faded into the distance the evening was opened by our MC Mr Chris Irving. As is normally the case when writing a review I take the opportunity beforehand to read what I may have written on the artists previous visits. And so I did this time. It began: “Wow. That’s it. Nothing more to add. A wonderful time was had by all. Here’s to the next one.” Admittedly I did go on to review the evening properly but this is exactly how I felt again this evening. We have had some wonderful evenings this year with some talented guests this surely ranked amongst, if not the best to date. Dave is a performer like no other that we have seen at the club. His songs, with only one or two exceptions, were self-penned, hilarious, beautifully crafted, using words (long, posh ones) that are not often heard in normal conversation, placed carefully into tunes that required skill and a terrific memory to recall. Worthy of comparison with Tom Lehrer, Jake Thackray, and Randy Newman to name but three. It is fair to say that his style is so relaxed that the audience were in tune with him from the get-go. Over the course of two sets he sang a total of 20 songs. I have all the titles from his set list which he prepared for me earlier me. I will list them below for the record, but I cannot possibly convey the wit within them without writing them all out. Each song was preceded by a short/long explanation, which had us rolling in the aisles before he played a note. Having said that though most were given a comical setting the underlying meaning of some was thought provoking. He played two guitars during the evening one with 6 strings and another with 12 strings. If my memory serves me well he had the same problem as last time exchanging one for the other which involved; disconnection, walking to the other, swapping over and reconnection. Finding the hole to put the jack plug in was his biggest problem and he has still not mastered the art of talking and being heard while away from the microphone. Still give him another few years and I am sure he will have it sussed. As previously I find I do not have sufficient command of language or imagination to express the brilliance of the man. Perhaps I should have given Dave the task of writing his own review. I am sure he would have made a better job of it. I have listed below the songs to which we were treated. Set One: • “Fierce Creatures” or “I Wish I Was A Stegosaurus” – Charting evolution from dinosaurs to superior human beings (Or are they?) • “Mortality” – one of Dave’s list songs concerning some of those who did not reach Dave’s advanced years. Oh you may wish to know that Dave’s birthday is next Friday. • “Incompatible” – relationships are not always as they seem. • “Inter City’s Easy” – a lovely song by the late lamented Tony Jones. A permanent feature of Dave’s set list. • “Where Do All The Songs Go” – Very poignant. • “It’s Hard Being A Hedgehog In Gornal” – Sung at the request of “The Management”. Here Dave exposed the myth that surrounds requested songs. Often they have not been at all or even if they have it wasn’t that song or even today. Who would have guessed? • “Alia Iacta Est” or “The Die Is Cast” depending on how good your recall of Latin is. Sometimes we all overstep the mark, whether we know where it is or not. • “Brother Gorilla” from the translation by Jake Thackray of the Georges Brassens song “Le Gorille”. Me I would have preferred it in French so I could pretend I was on my holidays. Mind you knowing Dave he could probably have sung it. Another request this time from Malcy Jeffreys. But did he? I here you ask. • “Delicatessex” – About food scares “The Billericay BBQ and Bittern Roast. • “Simply Alright Right” – sung to a version of the Tina Turner hit you can all guess. Well more or less anyway. There was a raffle. I still didn’t win. Set Two • “Just…” – Have you ever noticed how many times we all say “Can you just?” • “Passion” – we should all have more. • “Bench” – a lovely little song the title of which never appears. who would have thought of this as a subject? • “Elocution” – we could all do with a little more. And no there is no R in Bath. • “Edington Churchyard” – sited in Wiltshire • “”Busker” – another of Dave’s compositions about Johnny Walker a busker Dave came across some time ago in Norwich, sadly now deceased. It seems this man was widely travelled and know in several countries. Strangely this song was performed at the club by Will Morgan only a few weeks ago. • “Responsibility” – well Ah day do it. • “Dirty Woman” – Dave reverted to the 12 string for this to get the gutsy, dirty sound he required. • “On Line Dating” – which is self explanatory and according to dave his wife’s idea. Who am I to argue? As is often the case we had been prepared for the fact that “Dirty Woman” was his make believe last song, just so we could cheer and demand an encore, which was not hardship. “The Fust Time Ever I Sid Yower Faice” is apparently the original version of the song that Ewan McColl stole from Dave to provide Roberta Flack with a pension. ???? As if Dave Love wasn’t enough we were treated to an excellent support slot from stalwarts Velvet Green which set us up for the main event: • “North Sea Flood” – Paul’s composition telling of the floods in the Norfolk village of Cley in the last century. • “Fear A Bhata” – a Scottish lament popularised by Capercaille complete with gaelic chorus. • “Amelia” – a beautiful performance of the John tams song. • “Crying In Your Sleep” – another one of {aul’s compositions – a club favourite. • “Your Rendezvous” – Lyrics by Tony Haycox and tune by Paul. • “Leaving On A Jet Plane” – a rousing finish. I am sure Sue claimed she didn’t know whose song this was, but I think she was kidding. To round this off I will quote from a facebook piece by Dave about the evening “Lovely opening set from Velvet Green – as I mentioned to them afterwards I could detect more than a shade of Waterfall in one or two songs…” I could not have expressed it better myself. It was a truly great evening. I shall conclude as normal by saying. A Wonderful Night Was Had by All. Here’s to The Next One. * Notes taken by Les Jones, who also typed up the review, but the views expressed are those of Woody, the club mascot. |
|||
