Where’s Mary?
18th May - Performer's night featuring Where's Mary
Another fine evening of entertainment wase enjoyed at our latest meeting.The first half featured spots from club stalwarts Simon, Paul, Pete, John and Simeon along with humorous tales from Finbar and the return of the excellent Dave Fry.
The raffle moved to a new level with the first of the Jubilee theme prizes turning out to be a very fine red, white and blue feather boa. In the excitement I have completely forgotten who won it but I'm sure we will see it in all its glory again at the next club!!
The second half featured Pat Brennan on his first visit to the club. Ed joined Pat for a song and some tunes - great stuff. In Barry's absence we were then treated to a rare solo performance from Ed who got everyone singing along to that happy little ditty about the sinking of the Titanic!
And so to our featured artist. Where's Mary turned out to be Peter, Paul and ... err ... Laura! Their set included lots of chorus songs with everyone joining in with a mix of instuments and three voices. They were clearly having great fun! They ended the evening with a Peter, Paul and Mary tribute in the form of a fine rendition of Blowin' in the Wind.
Our next meeting is a performer's night on 1st June which kicks off a busy June schedule.
Annie Duggan rocks the club
Performer's night - 4th May 2012
What a fabulous evening we enjoyed once again at our latest performer's night. It was great to welcome more new faces to the club as well as the usual familiar faces.
The first half featured fine performances from Paul, Pete, John and Ray as well as the welcome return of Ric. We were then treated to an excellent spot by Ann Duggan and Rob who gave a great performance and sent us into the interval in fine spirits.
In the second half we heard a song from Betty and Simon played the tenor guitar for the first time at the club. Andy and Laura formed the latest collaboration of regulars playing a set of tunes and a song from Andy. The ever excellent Barry and Ed gave us some lovely ballads and we finished the evening in style with an encore performance by Annie and Rob. Great stuff.
We meet again on 18th May when we will have another performer's night with all welcome. The evening will also include a feature spot from Where's Mary?
Julian steers the evening
Performer's Night - 20th April
With Sue and Paul away on their narrowboat adventure, Julian stepped in as MC for the evening with Sue B on door and raffle duty, and ensured that the spirit of Shirley Folk Club remains alive. A break from tradition with Martin kicking the evening off with another couple of his own creative poems. Our man from Middlesborough Pete, subject of jibes about chemical works from the MC, was up next and Ray followed on with a couple of new poems which provided us with a history lesson and some romance. Simon Coverdale then treated us to a trio of songs and Mo made her promised return to everyone’s delight, and we were treated to more from her in the second half. Pete returned to close the first half including a new song he wrote in response to Lucy Ward’s about older men and young women!
The raffle included the usual banter and the delight as Geoff picked out his own ticket to win the latest "any old rubbish" prize!
The feature spot was the Odd Suits, Dave and Roger, who amped themselves up for the occasion and went down really well and were invited back for an encore. Last, but certainly not least, Barry and Ed sent everyone on their way with the usual mix of songs and humourous interludes whilst agreeing what comes next.
Our next meeting is a performer's night on 4th May. Do come along and join in with some great music and excellent company.
A Good Old Sing!
5th April - Performer's Night
With so many people away for the Easter weekend I was worried that I might be singing to myself tonight. Oh ye of little faith - over 20 people turned up and the evening evolved into one of those more intimate nights that we occasionally have when the attendance is low. The variety and quality of performances was as good as ever with great contributions from John, Simeon, Barry (a rare chance to hear Barry singing on his own) and Finbar. We welcomed Mo to the club for the first time and what a lovely voice she has! Quiet Joys of Brotherhood sung so beautifully was a real treat and Mo was certainly one of the stars of the evening. She has promised to return!
The big star of the evening, however, was the excellent Laura. Our planned MC was unable to make it so about 10 minutes before we were due to start I asked Laura if she fancied doing it. She didn't say no! Laura proved herself to be a natural doing a great job of managing the evening and entertaining us with some great songs. What a star!
The evening ended with a raucous singalong including a West Country spot with Widdecombe Fair and Drink Up Thy Cider followed by John, Barry and Laura leading us all through the Wild Mountain Thyme. Lovely.
We do it all again on 20th April. A warm welcome awaits!
Wowed by Lucy Ward
Lucy Ward - 30th March 2012
What a brillaint night we had in the company of the excellent Lucy Ward. Lucy took us through a whole range of songs and stories ranging from traditional songs, self-penned pieces and her own take on a couple of pop classics! Extracting laughter, singing and tears from the audience in equal measure Lucy demonstrated why she is rising rapidly through the ranks of performers on the folk scene.
We meet again on 6th April when we will have a perfeormer's night open to all comers so, if you are not away for Easter, come along and join in!