The Bedford Pub’s famous “Globe Theatre” venue had some surprises in store for attendees on this night. The anticipated trio of performers were joined by surprise guests Nizlopi, and the fifth act on the bill was a two week old kitten, brought along by an RSPCA volunteer and Rubylux fan, who needed to give it regular feeds. I’d be hard pushed to pick the biggest hit of the night.
Janet Devlin is a striking girl and truth be told, I want her hair rather badly. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and coupled with her pale skin and waifish appearance, she cuts a fey figure. The song “Delicate” kind of summed her up, and I couldn’t quite imagine how she coped with the meat mincer of The X Factor machine. Bailey McConnell, Britain’s Got Talent semi finalist, was new to me, and at 15 years of age, already had some young female fans in the audience. He has plenty to learn, but this kind of gig is exactly what he needs to do in spades to get that learning done.
Rubylux kicked off their set with a stunning a capella version of Because by The Beatles. They also included a Johnny Cash cover, Man in Black, along with songs from the album The World Goes Quiet, my favourite being Tell Me Where You Wanna Go. We didn’t get a surprise appearance from Lee Ryan for Lovers of New York, but to be honest there was enough going on already! Clarke let off a champagne cork (still residing in the bottom of my handbag as we speak – I like trophies) for his “almost birthday” and the boys managed to evade a possible ice bucket challenge, which everyone of any note in any public place must fear these days.
The surprise of the night was the appearance of Nizlopi. I’ll hold my hands up and say I know nothing of them apart from “that song” and yet there is so much more to them. The haunting vocals rattled round the circular venue, which they positioned themselves in the middle of, never mind the fact that there were piffling things like tables and audience members in the way. There is new material out soon and I will definitely be giving it a listen. At one point it seemed like the boys weren’t going to sing “that song” but the encore demanded it, and the fun of JCB Song mashed up with I Wanna Dance With Somebody rounded off the evening. Which incidentally was free, apart from donations. With such a lot of ripping off in the music industry, it’s a heaven sent bargain.
My final memory was the joy of seeing John Parker, double bass player of Nizlopi, taking a photograph of the kitten on the basis that it was his youngest fan. Who says you have to be tough to be in the Music Business?
music waffle. 