Anwyn Williams photographed by Alexa Hawksworth
In my blog entry for last Friday I mentioned how I had never formally met or spoken to a local singer called Alexa Hawksworth. Someone on Facebook pointed out that she played at the Rosie May Memorial gig in 2013 so we have exchanged a brief hello but besides that we have had little to do with each other. There is no real reason for this, in fact it is a bit weird given all the mutual friends we have and the fact that we are probably in the same room together quite often. Anyway, Alexa commented on the blog via my Facebook page that we should talk next time and I agreed. On my way to work yesterday morning I was scrolling through Facebook and I saw a post from Alexa saying that she had a gig that night. It wasn't until I was on my way to this gig on the tram that I realised that the post was a day old and I was travelling to a show 24 hours too late. Rather than turn around and go home I decided to stick with it as I knew that an open mic night took place on Tuesdays at Filthys, the same bar I was bound for anyway. I had the taste for live music now so to satisfy the craving (not been to a gig since Friday) I went with fairly low expectations. The reason for the low expectations was that I am not someone who ever fully embraced the open mic concept. I know there's a chance that you could discover the next big thing but a lot of the time that is never going to happen. My last visit to an open mic was a couple of years ago at Jam Cafe and it felt like the very opposite of a talent show.
Alexa runs this night so I knew it wasn't going to be another low quality night of tuneless caterwauling and this came true as I walked in to find Motormouf holding court. Hip hop is something that I don't activley seek out for some reason; it isn't dislike it is probably just not knowing where to start. The rappers I have come into contact with have all been great company, on NottinghamLIVE we were initially nervous about having to deal with what we soon learned was stereotypical ego and bluster as they were always the best guests to have on. What little exposure I get to it though has always been highly enjoyable (and I am aware that 'highly enjoyable' isn't rapper lingo) and having never seen Motormouf let loose before I was blown away. The guy is a magician who filled the place with noise thanks to his loop pedal, I had seen him joining Huskies and The Gorgeous Chans on stage at Rescue Rooms to freestyle (as I believe it to be known, 'freestyle' is rapper for 'making it up as you go along' - I'm so cool) so I knew that he had talent but this was something else. No disrespect to this gig but he is too good for this sort of thing.
Then again, this wasn't about who the biggest names were on the night. Alexa could quite easily have put herself on as headline but last night wasn't a clash of egos. She went on next and did a handful of songs that I hope she records, I heard mention of an EP in the pipeline! Next up was a young chap who played a covers set which in my opinion perhaps didn't show him in his best light, but he had a good voice and I would like to think he writes his own material too. He was doing medleys of two songs together, something Josh Kemp does a lot better. A young guy who fancied himself as a comedian wangled his way on the bill, and I came back from the toilet to witness him doing an observational piece about why pigeons can't just go into McDonald's and steal from there instead of from people sitting on benches, or something. He tried to paint a picture in our minds of hoards of pigeons flying overhead gripping burgers and chips in their beaks, you had to be there. I was there and went out for a cigarette rather than witness this. His friends had presumably told him he was funny and that he should try stand up, this in my mind means that they can't be real friends because real friends wouldn't allow you to put yourself through that torture. The poor fucker has to face his so-called friends at work/college/university today after dragging them out to watch him die on his arse.
The next turn was a good performer but had quite a bit of anger and attitude to spout from the stage as if he was at a march, and a guy I think was a member of bar-staff got up to play a set of covers albeit better presented than the first guy. I like cover versions when they are done differently and Johnny (I think was his name) played a blinder. Anwyn Williams turned up off duty but was persuaded to play which was a nice surprise. I will definitely make a point of attending this night on a regular basis, especially now I have spoken to Alexa who turned out to be a really nice person. Sadly I was bound by the last tram so couldn't stay for all of Anwyn's set, which was especially sad as she just kicked into a cover of 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night?' as I was walking out. I hope she plays it again next time I see her if the first line is anything to go by.
Weirdly, I shared this link on Facebook yesterday afternoon with the comment that I collect covers of 'I Love Rock & Roll', 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. When I got home I looked on YouTube to see if Anwyn had recorded the Leadbelly cover and although I couldn't find it (I didn't do an in depth search to be fair) I did find this!
This week's edition of The Sunday Alternative can be heard here.
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April housekeeping
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