MOTF SWITCHBOARD Gig Reviews

MOTF THOUGHTS: The ability to stir emotions - whether it be laughter or sadness, is the art of the entertainer - Pete Perry 1964 

<PREVIOUS PAGE * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *NEXT PAGE>

IF THERE IS ANYONE OUT THERE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN TO CLUB 85 IN HITCHIN, HERTS, WE WOULD STRONGLY ADVISE THEM TO GET THEIR ARSES THERE TUT SUITE...

Run by our old mate and local impressarioBOB MARDON (pictured below with Pete and below right with Nikki) and his team, (who also, incidentally organise the phenomenon that is known as RHYTHMS OF THE WORLD ) it is like stepping through a time-warp into the Sixties, with it's psychedelic decor and bloblamp light shows.

But it is much more than that!

CLUB 85 is the home of original music in North Herts, and here you can see some of the best live bands around, at a very reasonable price...

We hadn't been for a while, so we thought we would turn up on Saturday 19th May 2012 to watch SAM KELLY'S STATION HOUSE, THE COALHOUSE WALKER BLUES BAND and soloist JAMES BAY, who, we assume, replaced LANA FREEMAN, whose name appeared on the poster (Left) - and were we glad we made the effort!

* * * * * * *

JAMES BAY (pictured below right)gave a relaxed, laid-back and highly professionalperformance, with simply himself and acoustic guitar, which was ideal forsettling down, getting your drinks in, and generally getting ready for the treats which were to come,

- and treats there certainly were!

* * * * * * *

We also met some old friends, as we often do, including Rob, who runs the Goth and styleshop UNICORN in Stevenage. You can catch a glimpse of the back of his dreadlocked head in the title picture!

* * * * * * *

After James Bay, came THE COALHOUSE WALKER BLUES BAND, who lived things up with some superb blues, with a bit of boogie and Rock 'n' Roll thrown in.

Everything about this bandwas superb.

Great vocals and blues harp, terrific bass playing,wonderful keyboard work, and good solidpercussion from the drummer.

Indeed, the music was so infectious, that not only did we get rocking in our seats, but a young couple actually took to the floor with some classic jiving, whilst others were doing their own thing on the dancefloor...

In our humble opinion, you cannot beat the blues.

It took us both back to another era, one that Pete remembers, and Nikki has grown to love...

We were actually discussing something with the poeple on the next tabel to us: The Blues Harp seems such a small and insignificant instrument, and yet it adds soul to any blues number, and the guy who plays it in this band (centre picture above) is certainly a master of his art, - and, indeed, are the other members of the band.

* * * * * * *

Then we came to thepice de rsistance - the headlining band. SAM KELLY'S STATION HOUSE, - who simply blew us away!

* * * * * * *

Not only were this band masters of their craft, but they had a wicked sense of humour to go with it, - particularly the lead vocalist and the drummer, who entertained us with some wonderful patter between them, and between numbers.

As for the music, - well, we could hardly believe our ears, - old faves of ours from Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, - we were in our element! BUT this band played all these classics in their very own individual style.

To be honest, we were both getting tired when Sam Kelley's Station House came on, - but there's no way we could have walked out in the middle of this performance!

WE CAN HONESTLY SAY THIS IS THE BEST CLUB GIG WE'VE BEEN TO IN A LONG TIME...

Love & Peace

PETE & NIKKI XXX

* * * * * * *

J C McKAY

at the Marquis of Lorne

in aid of the Alzheimer's Society

Well, it turned out to be yet another adventure for Pete & Nikki when they visited The Marquis of Lorne in Stevenage to support their old friend J C McKay and his wife Kay in aid of The Alzheimer's Society.

Indeed, KAY is running in the Great North Run in aid of the disease, and there was a raffle that night to raise more funds.

This charity is very close to Pete's heart, as his older sister Patricia suffers from the disease, so it was a double pleasure for Pete & Nikki to help the society and catch up with their old mates at the same time.

You may remember that JC and The EGG & BACON BAND played at their wedding in 2009.

But this adventure began even before they got to The Marquis of Lorne.

Stevenage High street is notorious for parking (or rather, lack of it!) So our intrepid pair had a fair walk from the parked car to the gig.

On their way there, they came upon a load of girls celebrating a Hen Night, and were immediately roped in to join them in the photographs that they were taking!

(We are still waiting for the bride-to-be to email them to us, but we will share them with you when they arrive!)

That done, back on their merry way went our loving pair to settle down for a great evening's entertainment in the presence of a great guy.

No sooner than they had sat down, when a guy came over to them.

'I'm a heating engineer', He announced, 'and about six years ago, I came to fix your boiler. Me and my mate were so impressed with how positive you were, that we never forgot you!'

He went on to explain that Pete was alone in the house at the time, as Nikki was stillworking as a Health Care Assistantat Lister Hospital Stevenage, but Petekept going on about what a lovely young wife he had, and what wonderful children he had!

The man'snameis Gary, and that's him, - pictured aboveright with Pete.

Later in the evening, another guy came over to introduce himself to Nikki & Pete.

'I'm David,' He told our intrepid pair. 'I was sitting over there with my mates, and I just had to come over and talk to you. '

I said to my mate that you are a Hippy Guru, and you and your wife seem to be spreading positivity and happiness all over the pub.'

It eventually turned out that hehad attendedat the same school as Nikki, (Giles Junior, Stevenage) - just a couple of years ahead of her.

Small world hey?

That's David, picturedat the picture above,with Pete.

After that, it seems everyone in the whole pub wanted to know them, and they even won a bottle of Pinot Grigio in the raffle!

As ever, JC gave a great performance, with Rock 'n' Roll numbers, standards, a bit of blues, and, of course, he was as humorous andentertaining as ever.

JC announced that his wife, Kay was taking part in The Great North Run, in memory of her mother, who died from the advanced effects of Alzheimer's.

Indeed, you couldn'tmiss this fact, as there was a notice right in front of JC as he performed! (See picture on the left)

If you want to helpKay outwith this, please go to

http://www.justgiving.com./kay-smith17kay-smith17

Well, eventually, of course,our happy couplehad to leave the gig and head off back home, takingtheir prize bottle of wine with them,towarm farewellsfrom JC, Kay, and family,plus everyone else in the pub, who seemed intent on either waving at our couple, - or givingthem a hug, - or both!

Unfortunately, JC's granddaughter, YASMIN CROTCH of BGT's FOUR CORNERS dance troupe couldn't be there, as she had to attend a party given by SIMON COWELL (All right for some hey?)

But that wasn't the end of their adventure...

Astheyheaded back out into Stevenage High Street, someone pushed anINFLATABLE SHEEP into our arms!

(see below...)

THE EVENT RAISED 211, but if you want to add to this amount, go to:

http://www.justgiving.com./kay-smith17kay-smith17

WATCH OUT FOR THE VIDEO VERY SOON...

* * * * * * *

BEL CANTO

A Classical Concert with The Carmen Duo

on board the MV Marco Polo

By Pete & Nikki

It is quite unusual for us to review a classical concert, but we believe that music of any genre should be included on these pages, and as we watched these two lovely musical talents whilst on our Norwegian fjords cruise, it ties up nicely with our Norwegian Adventure.

The Carmen Duo consist of violinist OLGA ALTUKHOVAand pianist TETIANA SEMINDIEIEVA from The Ukraine, and between them, they present a formidible musical force.

The concert consisted of Bizet's Gypsy Song, Jerome Kern's Smoke gets in Your Eyes, Mozart's A Little Night Serenade N.13 in G,John Williams Theme from Schindlers List, Rossini's Tarantella, Massnet's Meditation, Brahms Hungarian dance No.5, Tchaikovsky's Waltz of The Flowers, and Johan Sebastian Strauss's Trich-Trach Polka.

We cried at the sheer joy of such pieces as Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Schindlers List,whilst our feet couldn't stop tapping to Gyspy Song and Hungarian Dance No 5.

THESE LADIES ARE SUPERB MUSICIANS, AND WE CAME AWAY WITH A FEELING THAT OUR VERY SOULS HAD BEEN REPLENISHED.

Look them up for yourselves on YouTube at

youtube.com/user/OlgaViolinPlayer.

* * * * * * *

THE MIGHTY WONDERFULS

at the Peartree Pub, Stevenage

Friday 24th February 2012

By Pete & Nikki

Well, what can we say? Ray Cordell, like many of our old musician mates,(Terry Chapman, Dave Barber, Aitch, Bill Lennon, Lucy-Sianet al) isa part of the musical heritage of North Herts, and as such, Legends in the own lunchtime!

So we turned up, ordered our drinks from the bar, and then sat back and soaked up all the good sounds, from Rock to Reggae,Punk toFunk, that these guys serveup so effortlessly.

Unfortunately,Petecame over rather unwell, just as the second half was about to commence, and, with a history of angina, (not to mention two previous heart attacks) we weren't going to take any risks, and had to leave abruptly.

EVEN SO, WHAT WE DID STAY FOR WAS, AS YOU'D EXPECT FROM THESE OLD PROFESSIONALS, THE MUSIC WAS SUPERB AND VERY ENJOYABLE.

Love & Peace

Pete & Nikki x

* * * * * * *

CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE