Friday evening went to a friends 50th Birthday party and what a real treat it was. Graham, the birthday boy, is heavily steeped in music. He plays fiddle [or perhaps he would prefer me to say violin], whistle, saxaphone and oh, loads more - you now how these musicians are. Not content with having the talent to play just the one instrument, they take on an entire orchestra's content. His wife, Jules, sings in a choir and of course together, they have musical friends. And so we were invited to the '08 Event' at the Standard Triumph Club in Coventry.
Apart from great food and an unbelieveable birthday cake in the style of a sheet of music and the top's crowning glory being several musical instruments, we had hours of wonderful live music. Starting with The Show Girls which were Jools and some of her pals from the choir she belongs to. Mostly show tunes, they sung with much gusto and Jools did a brave rendition of Prince's Nothing Compares which received enthusiastic applause.
Danny & Ben were next, 2 young guys with guitars and of course vocals and they were good, really good! As I was then at that stage stuffing my face, I failed to note any of the songs they played. Struck me at the time that I don't think I could ever do any live stuff [not that I ever aim to anyway] as I couldn't play over the constant hum of folks talking, but then I guess it's all about the ambience it creates.
Next up was the Celts, billing themselves as 'the Fake Dubliners' and featured Graeme himself on mean fiddle and whistle and Danny O'Keefe, a local singer/songwrite and guitar, mandolin and banjo player. Danny actually played at my wedding 2 years ago. He seems so focused when he plays which always inspires me to carry on with my pathetic banjo plucking but he also has a voice which commands a listen as he waded through some well known Irish song. Check him out yourself and download some of his tunes at www.dannyokeeffe.co.uk
There is nothing more earthy and toe tapping than an Irish Jig and this got the house going. I wanted them to carry on all night. Then they introduced a 'real Dubliner' Carmel Sliver. Carmel sang a couple of traditional Irish songs with a voice that held so much sweet emotion that you could not but listen. I know nothing of her but I get the feeling she has been singing all her life. A nice touch was that on the tables was a sheet of chorus lyrics so that we could sing along. How cool was that.
The night ended with The Blushing Crows, a 4 piece band which rocked the house. The young guy on the elctric guitar was phenominal and the female, lead singer was very cool. It got us on the dance floor and we really grooved to a great version of Play That Funky Music!
All in all, a great party and a joy to listen to live music courtesy of your hosts. Well done Graham and Jules!
