Distraction Club Christmas *do* and The Hunter
Here's a thing. Most of you know, because I keep banging on about it, that I go every month to the gig in London called The Distraction Club.
It started some while back when I had a phone call from Mitch Benn. You may know of this gentleman. A comedic musician with an open mind, a powerful voice and a social conscience. He's the regular musical contributor to The Now Show on BBC Radio 4, and has been since forever. His music on that show consists usually of short songs of social comment about the news that week. He needed to borrow my amplifier for a show he was doing locally. I went to the gig and although I knew of his stuff from R4 I'd not seen him live, and was awestruck...
In his spare time (heh...) he has modern musical combo called The Distractions. Kirsty Newton is the fantastically talented bass guitarist, keyboard player and vocal accompanist. Ivan Sheppard is the percussionist, professional clown and energy of the trio.
Matt Blair is a quiet chap, a musician, writer and performer. He, Mitch, Kirsty and Ivan own/run/present/control The Distraction Club. On the first Tuesday of every month the dungeon of the Phoenix Pub awakes to the roar of a couple of hundred noisy, hungry and thirsty fans who queue whatever the weather to see the shows. And what shows!
The club is small and intimate. The guest turns mingle with the audience. And when I say turns I mean the likes of Boothby Graffoe, Phill Jupitus, Neil Innes, Rich Hall...top of the top of the tree acts headline, and the other acts are not any less. The lovely Segue Sisters are a regular monthly delight, in one form or another. This Christmas the delightful Kerrie Fairclough was not so much a soul sister as the Sole Sister, but as usual she rocked. Sadly Carrie Marx is poorly. I hope she's on the mend. And Jess Robinson has just finished touring with a hugely brilliant production of Little Voice. I saw it in Wembley. It made me cry.It was incredible.
The Xmas gig was supreme. There were a millionty acts including Thomas Nelstrop, Waen Shepherd, Miles Lloyd, Kate Lucas, Jay Foreman, Paddy Cullivan, Rayguns Look Real Enough (Paul Flannery and Ryan Beange), Matt Blair, Ivan Sheppard, Kirsty Newton, her hubby Nick Doody (who sang about Llamas. He doesn't know much about llamas), and Mitch Benn. Mitch brought his mum. Ivan brought his Mum. Matt brought his Dad. Which rather pleased Random, 'cos Matt's Dad is Lionel Blair, and Random has been a fan since forever...
I'm at a loss to say what my relationship is with the club. I'd hesitate to say *friends with* any of them, I've never so much as bought any of them a drink. Although Ivan and Matt do say Hi, which is nice. Mitch, I think, isn't sure what to make of me. Which is fine. I'm not sure what to make of me. I like these people a lot, and admire them a lot more. I travel 250 miles every time I go to see them...but I am not a sociable animal, terrified I may say something stupid, which inevitably means I say something stupid. So I tend to hide out the way and say nothing.
But...here's to all of them. The club is brilliant. It is therapy for the stressed and relaxation for the weary. it is a belly-laugh from start to finish. It is masterfully run, and I would miss it were it not there. So, here's to them. Thank you, all of you. And Merry Xmas!
It started some while back when I had a phone call from Mitch Benn. You may know of this gentleman. A comedic musician with an open mind, a powerful voice and a social conscience. He's the regular musical contributor to The Now Show on BBC Radio 4, and has been since forever. His music on that show consists usually of short songs of social comment about the news that week. He needed to borrow my amplifier for a show he was doing locally. I went to the gig and although I knew of his stuff from R4 I'd not seen him live, and was awestruck...
In his spare time (heh...) he has modern musical combo called The Distractions. Kirsty Newton is the fantastically talented bass guitarist, keyboard player and vocal accompanist. Ivan Sheppard is the percussionist, professional clown and energy of the trio.
Matt Blair is a quiet chap, a musician, writer and performer. He, Mitch, Kirsty and Ivan own/run/present/control The Distraction Club. On the first Tuesday of every month the dungeon of the Phoenix Pub awakes to the roar of a couple of hundred noisy, hungry and thirsty fans who queue whatever the weather to see the shows. And what shows!
The club is small and intimate. The guest turns mingle with the audience. And when I say turns I mean the likes of Boothby Graffoe, Phill Jupitus, Neil Innes, Rich Hall...top of the top of the tree acts headline, and the other acts are not any less. The lovely Segue Sisters are a regular monthly delight, in one form or another. This Christmas the delightful Kerrie Fairclough was not so much a soul sister as the Sole Sister, but as usual she rocked. Sadly Carrie Marx is poorly. I hope she's on the mend. And Jess Robinson has just finished touring with a hugely brilliant production of Little Voice. I saw it in Wembley. It made me cry.It was incredible.
The Xmas gig was supreme. There were a millionty acts including Thomas Nelstrop, Waen Shepherd, Miles Lloyd, Kate Lucas, Jay Foreman, Paddy Cullivan, Rayguns Look Real Enough (Paul Flannery and Ryan Beange), Matt Blair, Ivan Sheppard, Kirsty Newton, her hubby Nick Doody (who sang about Llamas. He doesn't know much about llamas), and Mitch Benn. Mitch brought his mum. Ivan brought his Mum. Matt brought his Dad. Which rather pleased Random, 'cos Matt's Dad is Lionel Blair, and Random has been a fan since forever...
I'm at a loss to say what my relationship is with the club. I'd hesitate to say *friends with* any of them, I've never so much as bought any of them a drink. Although Ivan and Matt do say Hi, which is nice. Mitch, I think, isn't sure what to make of me. Which is fine. I'm not sure what to make of me. I like these people a lot, and admire them a lot more. I travel 250 miles every time I go to see them...but I am not a sociable animal, terrified I may say something stupid, which inevitably means I say something stupid. So I tend to hide out the way and say nothing.
But...here's to all of them. The club is brilliant. It is therapy for the stressed and relaxation for the weary. it is a belly-laugh from start to finish. It is masterfully run, and I would miss it were it not there. So, here's to them. Thank you, all of you. And Merry Xmas!