A storming night!
I had a call from Becky Menear - she helps runs the Open Mic Night at Bookmark Bloxwich - asking if I would compere the event because their regular MC Tony Barratt was unable to attend."No probs", I said. I would do anything for Becky. Anything......My job involved booking in performances, allocating them a slot and then introducing them on stage. Doors opened at 7pm, show started at 8pm and ran until 10.30pm. It was free admittance but with a well-stocked bar and full PA system.By 7.20pm all the available (15 minute slots) were taken and still people wanted to perform. Slots were reduced to 10 minutes and we started 30 minutes early with a running list of 18 performers on 10 minutes each to finish bang on time!As I do poetry performance myself, there was a definite poetry vibe about the night with the amazing Jack Edwards, Alex Bardzo and Colin Bird making their debut, alongside Brendan and Kerry from So It Goes, promoting their new CD. Brendan helped run Poetry Wednesbury with the late, great Geoff Stevens (alongside Alex Bardzo) and is poet-in-residence at Wightwick Manor and the Crystal Tea Rooms. Their were regular performers in abundance, with great sets from Damp Squib doing an interesting performance (percussion on a wooden box?), Freeze, the Hit Squad and Get Set - plus the world`s unfunniest comedian - but I was very proud to hear the performance poets getting well deserved encores. Brendan interspersed his Black Country dialect poems with acoustic guitar work and harmonies with Kerry - all copies of his debut CD werre sold - thank you! Colin Bird, (I hope you got your well-earned pint off Brendan!) and the audience were delighted to hear Alex`s delivery with keyboards. Jack Edwards, who everyone claims is Brendan`s young pretender, had the audience howling with laughter and performers flocking to guest at his open mic event the following night at The Holly Bush in Cradley Heath.Jae Alexander Linsey, the Bard of Bloxwich, sold all copies of his new poetry book (Life, the Universe and Poetry) as did Colin. Kristina V Griffiths (there is a photograph of her in this weeks Walsall Chronicle) had a double encore and made this her third appeareance at Bookmark Bloxwich.A storming night by some very accomplished performance poets, proving once and for all that poetry has NOT been replaced by lyrics AND that poetry is not a lost, boring, forgotten art form.The next open mic night at Bookmark Bloxwich is 10th August, Brendan and Kerry play Wednesbury Town Hall on 8th August (with guest readers Dr Paul McDonald, University of Wolverhampton & Gregg Stokes, Kates Hill Press) and Alex Bardzo hosts Purple Penumbra at The Barlow Theatre (aka Oldbury Rep) on 14th August. All events have free admittance with well-stocked bars and great performers. What you have here is proof positive that poetry, the spoken word and acoustic music is alive and kicking here in The Black Country; ours is not a cultural wasteland and requires pioneers like Jack, Kerry & Brendan, Alex, Jae, Colin Krissy (and if you have never heard Dr Paul McDonald or Gregg Stokes - why not? Go and see them on 8th August!) to burn the light brightly in all of our hearts and act as cultural ambassadors for us all.Go and keep music and poetry alive!
This was a Great night... 18 acts each as good as the last, great atmosphere, meeting new people.
ReplyDeletePlus got my Debut on stage (drum roll)
And all thanks to Ian Henery, cheers mate.
Well, from here, I have published 2 books on lulu.com... become a part of Bayards Colts (only went as a stage hand lol) but ended up being a part of the street performance starring as 'Danny Darlo' 'Wow' how ones life can change indeed.
I know of how the 'cause' means to all you folk here and commend each and everyone of those able to contribute.