North By Northwest's 7th Birthday
Posted Wednesday, January 12, 2005
What a fabulous night it was in November, as we celebrated North By Northwest’s 7th birthday with the Wheeze and Suck Band, a fine collection of floor spots and a super singing audience which was in top form! There were noteworthy performances by poets Robert and Lois Lennard, Penelope Grace (The Tragedy of the Lost Sporran!), Pip Griffin, and Aitch (in bush poet mode), and fine music from John Warner, David Spira and Tony Pyrzakowski, and Margaret Walters.
One of the things which makes a night with The Wheeze and Suck Band special, is the way they make us - the audience - a part of the joyful music-making process. They had us singing right from the beginning with “Here we come A’wassailing” and “Turpin Hero” There were beautiful harmonies from Lol, Nigel, Ian and Tony - there was Nigel on the “cricket bat” for “Yeller Girls” - another singalong. But the standout song of the night for me was their arrangement of “Johnny’s gone for a soldier” - haunting, beautiful and moving. There were plenty of the old English tunes they are well known for, like “Biker Hill and Elsie Marley” and “The Derby Ram”. Ian leapt around with the melodeon, John boomed on the drums and Tony played his amazing fiddle. The evening culminated in all of us singing “Down in the River”. Add to that a lovely birthday cake and a warm glow which came not only from the candles, but from the joy of singing with friends - it had to be one of our best nights ever!
