Loading

Open Mic With Plumhall

Venue: Sparrow Bar
Town: Bradford
Date: 30th June
Website: http://www.plumhall.co.uk/

The Sparrow opened a smidge over two years ago in one of central Bradford's more attractive streets and has proved to be an invaluable element of the city's regeneration as well as a great place to chill out with some excellent real and 'craft' ales on tap and a huge range of bottles. The draught Czech Bernard lager is pretty impressive stuff too! The pub hosts 'Street Food Fridays' and the occasional music event of which this was the first I have managed to attend, though it is rare a week goes by that I don't pop in for a beer.

The upstairs is fairly compact, with basic tables and chairs and the bar is at the far end of the room next to which the stairs lead down to the even tinier basement room where this afternoon Open Mic session was being held. I arrived about thirty minutes in and found the place packed which bodes well for future events - especially considering that the promotion had been deliberately minimal to avoid overcrowding.

Most of the performers I knew, some better than others, from the Yorkshire music scene and a fine and varied sound they all made. There was also a songwriter from north Nottinghamshire who was new to me, Nat Morven, who took the afternoon to a whole new level, especially when in a moment of informal brilliance Nick Hall joined her on guitar and Tim Moon provided harmonica. The audience contributed too during the choruses and suddenly we were all in a very special emotional place indeed. I can only urge you to see Nat when you get the chance!

Amongst all this talent it was particularly good to see Mic & Susie Darling performing their inimitable Romany songs which always get a great reception from the audience - another high spot was the performance of a harpist whose name I did not catch unfortunately.

With Plumhall bookending each half of the afternoon with a few of their own superb songs (Michelle Plum's 'Trophy' creating its usual spine tingling effect) it was an ideal way to spend a Sunday.

Due to gig commitments and the desire to keep each afternoon special these will be occasional events but I recommend you keep an eye out for them if you love great music in an informal setting - especially if you like great beer too!

Joe Grint