FaB Club Review -
18th March 2007
Get a Floor Spot Session
+ Tim Almond's CD launch...
On this Mothering Sunday, it was nice to see so many familiar faces at FaB Club, for its Get a Floor Spot Session… Important event as we are all witnessing
the launch of Tim Almond’s first CD into the real world….
Ken is our penless compere… Indeed, like the naughty children in my class, he waits until the last minute to ask for a pen… We are all rearing to go! Our friend quickly recovers to tell us about the romantic holidays he recently had in Snowdonia with his wife and how he inspires him to talk about the birds and the bees today at FaB Club! By this time, our music stand is showing sign of finding it difficult to keep erect…
Ron, Havering’s over 60 musician of the year doesn’t need anything but Claudine’s guitar to tackle two foot-tapping bluesy numbers with enthusiasm and the easiness of an established singer and guitarist.
Our next guest is Norman’s grand-daughter Jessie who brightens the room with her sweet and confident voice. Her guitar playing is pretty confident too and for a while we are transported to the world of West End Musicals where “Any Dream Will Do”. Her rightly proud grand-father joins her for her second number: George Formby’s “ Sunbathing in the Park”. Good to see that the new generation can keep such precious songs and artistes alive. What a talented family! We all hope to see Jessie at FaB Club again!
Liz, our resident poet, is nostalgic once again today and takes us back to her grand-father’s clock shop and then to her childhood in Sussex…
Bill is inspired by Jessie today and sings a Cornish story about a mermaid where the audience joins in with all the “ooh oohs” and “hmms” in the song. For Bill’s second number we have to join in with our feet and drum the story of Southend Pier. “Where was the rain and the water when we needed it?”.
Dennis Homes is next and reminds us that Saint Patrick’s Day was yesterday’s celebration. He explains that his favourite Irish song is “ Danny Boy” but that, as his vocal range does not permit it, he will have to use an harmonica to perform. The song gets a blues feel from Dennis’s playing and I am sure our Margaret would approve of his sucking and blowing technique! Well done Dennis! “London at Dawn” is the theme of his second number, a poem turned into a beautiful song.
After the break, a new duo takes the stage. Ken explains how watching Liz from different angles made him realize she looked like Joyce Greenfeld and how it gave him the idea to ask Liz to join him for a song! “Who wants to be a millionaire?” well apparently not Liz who puts on her best posh accent to explain why…
These two could only be followed by our glam-folk duo, the Tone Deaf Leopards who are to launch their first CD on the 1st April! As Gordon Shears pointed out recently in one of our phone conversation: no other date would have been suitable! Well spotted! But for today we are going to Tesco’s in a 4 x 4 (it is lucky Gordon Brown has not announced the new budget yet!), and then we find out about rebels who have no bladder control to finish off with teenagers who have too much control over the family bathroom!
Was it Either of Us or Both of Us next? Either way an improvised reunion of our folk duo. Some English words, a French tune, a Balanese beach, and Irish guitar and a Chilean rainstick, the international theme is launched for Tim for whom it is now time to introduce his recent work…
Tim Almond’s Cd Launch:
Dancing in Darfur
Tim Almond has visited some of the poorest and most deprived areas of the world in the past ten years. His songs are true renditions of special encounters with the locals, their problems and sometimes desperation. His first song “ Finger of Fruit” also depicts how language and differences of culture make it difficult to communicate with the local especially when one would need to do it most.
Through his second number, we meet Eva from Cebu who does the world oldest job to survive.
The next song is called “Pole Dancing” but not the type that us westerners are familiar with. This is about walking on poles over foul smelling water…
To introduce his fourth composition, Tim explains how while watching BBC World during one of his journeys, he was moved by the story of a farmer who was so disgusted by his government agricultural policy, that he committed suicide as a form of protest. When Tim came back to the UK, no-one had talked about the incident, which is why it became a song: “The Two Farmers”.
A famous dictator gave inspiration to the next number “ Champagne and oysters and a girl on each knee”… Pinochet must have started a trend…
Dancing in Darfur is the title track of Tim’s CD and the final song of Tim’s set. A haunting crescendo carries a powerful melody and has the audience participating on the chorus. What a charming way to close Tim’s CD launch!
Lucrèce and Isidore