Open-mic hosted by Tony Brown
"Anniversaries"
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I saw Don McLean on TV last week, unbelievably it's the 40th Anniversary of American Pie which means that it is 20 years since I inadvisedly first played it in public in my first year of teaching. Does it make me feel old? Not really. It does make me aware of the passage time and question wtf have I done with it.
Anyway, I wasn't going to play American Pie last night: I'm conscious of becoming boring with it. However I did introduce it as if I was going to play it as I wanted to wind up our great host and sound-guy Tony Brown whom, by all accounts, hates the song. (Indeed, he usually calls me a "bastard" when I play it.)
I think it's overstating it to say "by popular demand" but after doing three songs (which felt really good by the way - maybe having last week off did me good) there was clearly some desire to have me play American Pie. So with a bit banter and fooling around, and getting John the landlord to join me on backing vocals too, I succumbed.
You know, it's great, bringing people together like that. I just love it. I just really love it.
The whole evening last night was really very enjoyable at The Jolly Anglers with great acts and great atmosphere. As Tony said when closing the evening, John must've put something in the beer as everybody was on top of their game.
Don't forget I have a showcase this Friday - more details here.
My Set:
- Cold Heart
- Tears of a Clown (Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Hank Cosby)
- Last Night I Saw You Standing There
- American Pie (Don McLean)
