Had I Known Or Thought...
The Happy Cats concert would overrun by twenty five minutes I would have booked a taxi from my home town to meet me and though alone that would have cost around £14(My friend could not make it tonight so I had no one to share the taxi with that comes in at around £7 when shared)but I decided to get one from the taxi rank near the venue and that added another £6 but I did not want to miss what was a wonderful night of entertainment. So I paid £20 altogether.
But to wait probably would have meant not getting home before Midnight. And with the hospital appointment in the morning I did not want to hang around. Though I left twenty five minutes after the last bus to home, I arrived about the same time that I would've by bus. I'll get the money back if I am careful for a few weeks. And hey use it whilst you are able as one day, it won't be there.
Or I won't be...
Perhaps I'll win a game of bingo and get some of my money back. Most prizes only are between £3-£8)Line/full house. Sundays are better at around £20-£28.
So I got to the venue easily with time to spare and managed to get a place at the front of the room.
The first forty minutes were in the capable hands of Jack Burness who has been on the circuit for many years and is very popular around the North East of England and to call him a folk singer seems unfair because many of these artists can sing anything thrown at them, they often compose their own songs and are called "Folk" singers just because they perform usually alone and accompany themselves on guitar.
We are fortunate in that though very busy Jack often gives us a few songs at the Music Club I go to on our open nights and he does live a fair distance away.
Then the stage was taken by The Happy Cats who it turns out appeared(to be honest I would have to check my blog)the compare said January but I suspect it was January 2013(where did those 15 months go?)
The lead singer is Marty Craggs(ex member of the North East group Lindisfarne)I say ex but as the group does not exist anymore, any living member of the group could be called that. He has an engaging open personality, is able to play a variety of instruments from saxophone to small accordian to harmonica to flute to penny whistle to a frame drum.
In the above image is Leonard Brown(with the large accordian)who is once again the Scottish Accordian Champion.
What type of music do The Happy Cats play? Easier to ask what they don't. The set tonight was different to the last time even though some favourites have to be included by the audience insisting. There is Celtic, reels and jigs, standards, ballads and fast numbers to get the feet tapping and hands clapping. And yes the audience are encouraged to join in and sing along.
It was a bit of a girls night at the venue as some of the regulars who attend the Music Club on my town were in the audience and on the same table was one of my favourite performers who again guests at my club and lives locally Flossie Malavialle(yes, she is French)and Flossie got up and sang "Just One Night" in the following image she is with Les Dodd on guitar(not in the image was Leonard Brown on accordian)
In the last image of the night are all three members of The Happy Cats.
On the last appearance at the Town Hall they sang amongst all the songs "Can't Help Falling In Love" a favourite of Mum's and poignant as she had not passed away very long. This time we had an Everly Brothers song included and handled very well vocally by Marty and Les " Let It Be Me"
Which considering Les said he was losing his voice and Marty had windburn and was red in face, they were did well. You'd have never known. With the lighting the windburn was not very visible.
A great night. Lovely to forget your troubles for a few hours even if they are still there to face another day.
But to wait probably would have meant not getting home before Midnight. And with the hospital appointment in the morning I did not want to hang around. Though I left twenty five minutes after the last bus to home, I arrived about the same time that I would've by bus. I'll get the money back if I am careful for a few weeks. And hey use it whilst you are able as one day, it won't be there.
Or I won't be...
Perhaps I'll win a game of bingo and get some of my money back. Most prizes only are between £3-£8)Line/full house. Sundays are better at around £20-£28.
So I got to the venue easily with time to spare and managed to get a place at the front of the room.
The first forty minutes were in the capable hands of Jack Burness who has been on the circuit for many years and is very popular around the North East of England and to call him a folk singer seems unfair because many of these artists can sing anything thrown at them, they often compose their own songs and are called "Folk" singers just because they perform usually alone and accompany themselves on guitar.
We are fortunate in that though very busy Jack often gives us a few songs at the Music Club I go to on our open nights and he does live a fair distance away.
Then the stage was taken by The Happy Cats who it turns out appeared(to be honest I would have to check my blog)the compare said January but I suspect it was January 2013(where did those 15 months go?)
The lead singer is Marty Craggs(ex member of the North East group Lindisfarne)I say ex but as the group does not exist anymore, any living member of the group could be called that. He has an engaging open personality, is able to play a variety of instruments from saxophone to small accordian to harmonica to flute to penny whistle to a frame drum.
In the above image is Leonard Brown(with the large accordian)who is once again the Scottish Accordian Champion.
What type of music do The Happy Cats play? Easier to ask what they don't. The set tonight was different to the last time even though some favourites have to be included by the audience insisting. There is Celtic, reels and jigs, standards, ballads and fast numbers to get the feet tapping and hands clapping. And yes the audience are encouraged to join in and sing along.
It was a bit of a girls night at the venue as some of the regulars who attend the Music Club on my town were in the audience and on the same table was one of my favourite performers who again guests at my club and lives locally Flossie Malavialle(yes, she is French)and Flossie got up and sang "Just One Night" in the following image she is with Les Dodd on guitar(not in the image was Leonard Brown on accordian)
In the last image of the night are all three members of The Happy Cats.
On the last appearance at the Town Hall they sang amongst all the songs "Can't Help Falling In Love" a favourite of Mum's and poignant as she had not passed away very long. This time we had an Everly Brothers song included and handled very well vocally by Marty and Les " Let It Be Me"
Which considering Les said he was losing his voice and Marty had windburn and was red in face, they were did well. You'd have never known. With the lighting the windburn was not very visible.
A great night. Lovely to forget your troubles for a few hours even if they are still there to face another day.
posted by The Great Gildersleeve | 1:21 am
2 Comments:
I'm green with envy reading this..."Just One Night" is my favourite Happy Cats song, and to think you saw that talented French lady singing it!
Have you seen the youtube video of her singing this song? It is absolutely beautiful, especially when she sings in French..even Marty Craggs seems stunned at how beautiful the song is when she sings it.
Still feeling good this morning and it was a great night. Flossie does appear all over the North and you will not be disappointed if you see a concert. She is also entertaining between songs.
I haven't seen the You Tube video but I will hunt it out.
I have seen two full concerts with Flossie, missed one because I had another event booked but have been fortunate to catch her when she does a guest appearance like this occasionally.
We are a bit low on live entertainment in this area but a few clubs are filling the gap.
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