Out of the Bedroom 665 review – Thursday 22nd March 2018 – Woodland Creatures

Running order: Scott Candlish, Tau Boo, Tina Louise Avery, Michael, Dow Joan, Suzanne Dyson, Rosie Smith, feature act Ewan Stein.

With Craig manning the mixing desk for the night our host Scott Candlish played us in with ‘Two Feet’ and ‘Flea’, which was a jolly start to the night.

Craig then donned his Tau Boo persona to provide the next entertainment. Despite recovering from a cold and having a sore throat Tau Boo was straight into his deep sonorous tones on ‘Reverie’ and followed this with two shorter songs ‘Windmills’ and ‘Other World’.

Next up was Tina Avery who said she had looked out some old favourites for us but was also worried she had left her house in such a rush that she hadn’t applied any makeup. She shouldn’t have worried, starting with an assured performance of ‘Dance to the Edge of Time’. The next two songs both had introductions with ‘Mrs Fouracre’ being inspired by Tina’s first music teacher, and ‘Skidding but in Control’ taking its cue from Tina’s 14 year old son who enjoyed taking his bike to its limits…

Rounding off the first session before the break was Michael McAneny who brought us four songs in the best of American folk tradition. His first was a cheery number simply entitled ‘Love’. ‘I’m Back Working for the Man’ definitely had a gospel feel to it. Michael introduced his next song joking it was written in Hawaii, with the title ‘Honolulu Nights’ but then quickly confessed it was actually written in Blackpool. His final number was ‘Little Bird’ which returned to the American songbook vibe. Michael has a YouTube channel which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ZX05n9wjWspXn-5XmFlCQ.

First on after the break was husband and wife duo Dow Joan. Their first song ‘Insincere Sympathies’ demonstrated some lovely close harmony singing. Song number two was dual titled: being either ‘Misanthropy’ or ‘Miss Saint Tropez’ depending upon how you took it. This was a more bouncy – almost pop – song. Finally, a much more dark jazz – with flamenco – sound for ‘Took 5’.

Taking a break from note-scribbling Suzanne took to the stage for a not singer/songwriter set. Using a hip-hop backing track the first number ‘Change’ implored our audience to support social change with some fantastic rhyming for a better life. This was followed by a jazz/swing backing track for the jolly ‘It’s Love’. Finally, an a cappella performance of an envisaged better future with ‘rapping good lyrics’ in ‘Proud’.

We were back to singer/songwriter mode for Rosie Smith in her debutant Out of the Bedroom performance next [Ed’s pedantic note: actually Rosie’s second performance after OOTB 662]. Her first song ‘How Do I Learn’ was very moving with references to crying. However, it and all the songs were carried along on Rosie’s lovely singing voice. The second number ‘Just Tell the Moon’ was delivered with growing confidence. Finally, ‘Gentle Words’ was indeed a gentle song with lullaby qualities. Well done to Rosie.

Following another short break it was time for our feature act – Ewan Stein. Ewan treated us to seven songs in all in a variety of tunings. The first two songs were untitled but the first of these was up tempo with good lyrics and was inspired by Egypt. The following slower song inspired by Tunisia – shows Ewan has certainly travelled. Another country – this time Ireland – and another song but with a title, ‘Falling Rocks’ was a mid-tempo, break-up song. The fourth song was Ewan’s oldest song, written when he was just sixteen, but involved some risky up-tuning and some updated lyrics for ‘Clock’. ‘Baby Chains’ followed and was an instrumental demonstrating Ewan’s fingerpicking tunefulness. His sixth song was ‘Yellow Mountain’ which was a bit troublesome since he hasn’t really decided on the final lyrics for it yet! Finally, going for a lower tuning this time Ewan finished the evening on a moody vibe with ‘Dirt’.

Reviewed by Suzanne Dyson