Thanks to everyone who made it another great Loudhailer Acoustic last night, there are always so many brilliant moments. I only got back from playing with Celtarabia at the Leeds Beeston Festival in the nick of time, so Dexter helped out and opened the show for us with a lovely piano piece – ‘The Treasures of Time’ which he learnt from a Studio Ghibli film, Lupin III.
Charismatic singer Edina Molnar teamed up with Jeff Parsons to perform three jazz classics sung in English and French with a good measure of Edina’s native Transylvanian charm.
Next up, great to welcome Andy Pyke with a special guest -Alfie Juckes -whose tasteful cajon playing was a joy to listen to, and perfectly matched Andy’s style. Their last track, one of Andy’s own, had some fine sounds coming from his guitar – overtones, harmonics matched with a good bass boom Alfie conjured from his cajon.
Great to welcome back Jeff who celebrated England’s first World Cup game with a wry smile and a spirited performance of his provocative ode to the occasion ‘Sport is War’. Jeff was indeed sporting a snazzy matching sock and shirt combo for his birthday burlesque and his descriptive look back at life ‘Crystal Clear’ was a perfect contrast to his protest songs. Happy Birthday Jeff!
The guitar-star of Grimsby Dick Appleton closed the first half with his inimitable droll humour and amazing playing. Dick always has a good tale to accompany his songs and his stories of Pete Winchester’s 70th swim across the Humber to accompany ‘King of the River’, and Grimsby’s Yardbird Club, a certain rock band’s rider, an oxygen cylinder and a doctor on standby formed a highly entertaining introduction to Dick’s mandolin song ‘Looking on the Bright Side’.
Half time cake break, and a special thanks to Maria for baking her legendary Cheese and Spring Onion Flapjacks and for Jeff’s Birthday Banana Loaf. Together with a selection of cream cakes and chocolate nibbles, they were polished off in no time to the strains of Neil Young favourite, Rust Never Sleeps.
Second half kick off was Graham Beck with his Song for those not listening (although of course the fabulous Loudhailer Acoustic audience lapped up every word), followed by his space speed record breaking ‘If I could get to the moon and back’ – any song with Captain Quirk in it is great by me – and finally a sing along with GGB, ‘Lego Man comes to Town’.
It was great to welcome back – from the Hornsea Massive – The Virtual Cowboys to Loudhailer Acoustic. Chris Brown’s delightful guitar playing and Marvin Close’s crafted lyrics combined a classy and engaging performance with some perfect choruses. Their trio of originals, the reflective ‘Saviours’, delicately portrayed love song ‘I watch you sleep’ and twin truths tune ‘Life is a bittersweet waltz’ were a treat.
Next up, a first time welcome to Terry Igoe, who threw his head back and belted out a reinterpretation of some storming Mississippi Delta Blues, and then wowed us with his sensational original, ‘When I’m Dead’. Not dead and gone, just dead. Who knows, but we loved it.
The grand finale of the evening was a fabulously funky dance set from Rosie Queenan and John Cox. Rosie’s big acoustic bass, Johns guitar chops and their musical harmonies had me dancing at the back – a fabulous performance to top off the evening.
Thanks to everybody who came to play and listen, and to Chris and the Willerby MC Hall for having us. See you next time, second Saturday of the month as usual, so July 12th.
Have a look Richard’s and Dexter’s photos in the gallery below click on an image to enlarge and scroll through…
Just before we sign off, it would be great to see all our Loudhailer Acoustic friends at the launch of the 4ourth4loor album that I have been lucky enough to sing the vocals on – Songs from the Fourth Floor. It’s on Friday July 4th at PoP Art Space, Level 4, Princes Quay Shopping Centre, Hull at 6 pm. Family friendly, free of charge all welcome.
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