Wicked Poetry at the Wicky February 2008
The call went out and we few, we very few responded and I have to say the response was magnifico.
A new poetry night kicked of last night in Nantwich and what a night it was. The pub regulars at the Wickstead Arms on Mill Street didn’t know what to expect and there was an air of curiosity (what was this poetry lark all about?) and a healthy cynicism (I’m leaving if it’s crap) that was blown away as soon as the poets took to the stage.
Host Dennis Just Dennis created the right kind of atmosphere with friendly repartee and his own diverse poetry, which raged from the funny to the serious to the award winning and excellent “alphabet prophecy” (listen to it at http://www.myspace.com/dennisjustdennis), he even sang a song a one stage! Though the guest poets were a little under-whelmed when he promised the event “would get better and better” over the coming months – thanks Dennis!
The first up of these said guest poets, was Manchester’s own John G Hall whose performance style, always good, has developed into a really powerful stage presence to match his excellent poetry. His work ranged from the funny through intimate & moving personal poems ending with part of his classic, signature piece “And still I cannot wake from their war” which I believe should be heard by everyone.
Next up we had “The Dick Van Dyke of Rap”, as I call him, Write Out Loud stalwart and all round good egg Mr Gordon Zola. Gordon kicked off with his signature piece “Cheese”, followed by Mr Tambourine man (nothing to do with Bob Dylan I promise you) and finished with one of his funniest and best loved pieces “Folk song”.
After the break it was my turn and though modesty forbids me saying how good I was Tony Walsh did say, “You rocked like a bastard!" However, later, in the cold light of day he clarified his comment with: "Sorry, typo - I meant you're off your bastard rocker!"
The next poet had guts (I nearly said “balls” but that would be totally inappropriate) to stand up and take to the stage. Introduced by Dennis as “Helen of Troy” she was the only person making her first ever, public recitation, though you would never have known. She came over as confident and assured with some lovely poetry, I was particularly impressed with the poem about the seasons. The lovely crowd gave her a deserved warm welcome and I hope she’ll have gained confidence from this outing & be back next time.
Finally, to round off the night in fine style came one of the giants of Manchester poetry Tony Walsh himself. Tony has recently been making a name for himself further a field in such places as the British Library with his stunning poem Zeros and Ones – see http://tinyurl.com/2f5kkd and his next big gig is for the British Council in Warsaw.
But tonight he was back to his roots performing in his own inimitable way to a packed pub of people who knew nothing about poetry. As usual he took us on a journey from knock-about fun and sometimes gut-bustingly funny verse (Culture Vulture, Bop till you drop, Haikus,) through deeper, darker social commentary poems (Binbags, A Girl Like - You Know, Shot At Dawn), lightening the mood again with walnutwhip.com & funny Haikus and concluding with an awesome rendition of his seminal piece “Rock and Roll” which had the whole pub joining in.
A night so great and so well appreciated that the audience were buying us drinks for sometime afterwards (you should have come Dave), so much so I think I may come by train next time and sleep in the gutter – well it is Cheshire innit?
For more details about the night or to book a floor spot contact Dennis at dennismonaghan60@hotmail.com
A new poetry night kicked of last night in Nantwich and what a night it was. The pub regulars at the Wickstead Arms on Mill Street didn’t know what to expect and there was an air of curiosity (what was this poetry lark all about?) and a healthy cynicism (I’m leaving if it’s crap) that was blown away as soon as the poets took to the stage.
Host Dennis Just Dennis created the right kind of atmosphere with friendly repartee and his own diverse poetry, which raged from the funny to the serious to the award winning and excellent “alphabet prophecy” (listen to it at http://www.myspace.com/dennisjustdennis), he even sang a song a one stage! Though the guest poets were a little under-whelmed when he promised the event “would get better and better” over the coming months – thanks Dennis!
The first up of these said guest poets, was Manchester’s own John G Hall whose performance style, always good, has developed into a really powerful stage presence to match his excellent poetry. His work ranged from the funny through intimate & moving personal poems ending with part of his classic, signature piece “And still I cannot wake from their war” which I believe should be heard by everyone.
Next up we had “The Dick Van Dyke of Rap”, as I call him, Write Out Loud stalwart and all round good egg Mr Gordon Zola. Gordon kicked off with his signature piece “Cheese”, followed by Mr Tambourine man (nothing to do with Bob Dylan I promise you) and finished with one of his funniest and best loved pieces “Folk song”.
After the break it was my turn and though modesty forbids me saying how good I was Tony Walsh did say, “You rocked like a bastard!" However, later, in the cold light of day he clarified his comment with: "Sorry, typo - I meant you're off your bastard rocker!"
The next poet had guts (I nearly said “balls” but that would be totally inappropriate) to stand up and take to the stage. Introduced by Dennis as “Helen of Troy” she was the only person making her first ever, public recitation, though you would never have known. She came over as confident and assured with some lovely poetry, I was particularly impressed with the poem about the seasons. The lovely crowd gave her a deserved warm welcome and I hope she’ll have gained confidence from this outing & be back next time.
Finally, to round off the night in fine style came one of the giants of Manchester poetry Tony Walsh himself. Tony has recently been making a name for himself further a field in such places as the British Library with his stunning poem Zeros and Ones – see http://tinyurl.com/2f5kkd and his next big gig is for the British Council in Warsaw.
But tonight he was back to his roots performing in his own inimitable way to a packed pub of people who knew nothing about poetry. As usual he took us on a journey from knock-about fun and sometimes gut-bustingly funny verse (Culture Vulture, Bop till you drop, Haikus,) through deeper, darker social commentary poems (Binbags, A Girl Like - You Know, Shot At Dawn), lightening the mood again with walnutwhip.com & funny Haikus and concluding with an awesome rendition of his seminal piece “Rock and Roll” which had the whole pub joining in.
A night so great and so well appreciated that the audience were buying us drinks for sometime afterwards (you should have come Dave), so much so I think I may come by train next time and sleep in the gutter – well it is Cheshire innit?
For more details about the night or to book a floor spot contact Dennis at dennismonaghan60@hotmail.com
Fri, 8 Feb 2008 11:03 am
Cheers Paul - nice review of what ended up being a really enjoyable night.
Cheers To Alan/Gordon, John Hall and yourself for making the trip down and for playing a big part in making it the night it was. You stormed it, mate!
Although initially an unsettling set-up, in the end it was a real buzz to win over a completely non-poetry audience who had no idea what to expect. Dennis tells me that we're still the talk of the town!
Well done to Dennis for organising the night and for compering so well. Lovely town, nice pub, nice people with the possibility now of a poetry tent at the forthcoming Jazz Festival. Poetic Missionaries - we can notch up a couple of dozen new converts to the cause!
Amen.
Cheers To Alan/Gordon, John Hall and yourself for making the trip down and for playing a big part in making it the night it was. You stormed it, mate!
Although initially an unsettling set-up, in the end it was a real buzz to win over a completely non-poetry audience who had no idea what to expect. Dennis tells me that we're still the talk of the town!
Well done to Dennis for organising the night and for compering so well. Lovely town, nice pub, nice people with the possibility now of a poetry tent at the forthcoming Jazz Festival. Poetic Missionaries - we can notch up a couple of dozen new converts to the cause!
Amen.
Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:59 pm
