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January 26, 2008 |
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Saturday nite was a magical nite for Country music fans and Suzy Bogguss fans in particular down by the banks of the River Tyne. The show was in a very small venue called The Round which is next door to a rather larger venue/pub called The Cluny ('The Cluny Warehouse was built as "˜The Northumberland Flax Mill" in 1848, to the design of John Dobson for the firm of Plummer & Cooke. Originally steam powered, the adjacent free-standing, truncated but recently restored chimney formed part of the complex. Its life as a flax mill was short, and the building became a Whisky store; it is now a music venue and bar.'). As a native of Newcastle I am ashamed to say I have never previously been down to the area so, on Saturday afternoon I did reccie and walked past The Round several times before asking someone where it was. Having found The Round, I needed to find somewhere to eat that nite and was told The Cluny did food till 9.00 pm - perfect. Parking was a bit restricted - narrow streets and no carparks so my wife Kath & I decided to go down early and got there about 5.30 pm. After finding a parking place we went to The Pub and as we had our meal I was fantacising quietly to myself how great it would be if Suzy just wandered in. And, would you believe it, in she wandered with the 3 lads from the band - Tom (guitar), Dan (bass) and Will (keyboards). It was just like a friend wandering into your local pub, great. I didn't want to interrupt their meal but I did say hello and I think Suzy was quite pleased to be recognised. The pub is really a student bar so it became reasonably obvious when anyone else going to the show wandered in. Two ladies sat down right next to Suzy totally oblivious as to who she was but eventually did a double take and said hello. Trying to get in the appropriate mood, Kath and I were drinking Coronas with lime and eating chilli and nachos - not traditional Tyneside fare - but when I looked across I noticed Suzy and the boys at the bar ordering their food and Suzy wandering across with a pint of lager in her hand. It was all a bit surreal to see a CMA Horizon Award winner and platinum selling Country music artist (who I have been a fan of since "Somewhere Between") in these surroundings. We left them in peace and went nextdoor to The Round and found our way to another bar where we bumped into a couple of friends we had no idea were fans, and the only local Country Music DJ we have in the area now, Brian Clough of Smooth Radio. So the nite was getting better by the minute. Brian said the "auditorium" was a bit claustrophobic and suggested we wait till nearer showtime before going in - a bit of a gamble as it was general admission but, I reasoned, very small so we should be okay. So we hung around in the bar till almost showtime @ 8.00 pm and went down. The show was in the round and the instruments were set up. It was necessary to walk across the "stage" to get to the available seats but the view was reasonbly clear (apart from a wooden pillar, which threatened to interrupt our view). Not long after 8.00 the support act, Elizabeth Cook walked on with her guitar player (Tim Carroll). Apart from being introduced by the MC as "Heather", which she took in good part, the show started well. She did about 40 minutes which included mostly self penned songs which were very traditional Country apart from the title of the main track from her latest CD "Sometimes It Takes Balls To Be A Woman" - her words not mind but a great Country song nonetheless. Then there was a break and Suzy and the boys came on. I was too absorbed to take a list of the songs she sang but she gave us all her most familiar tracks including (if memory serves) Drive South, Aces, I Want to be A Cowboy's Sweetheart, Letting Go, Outbound Plane, Just Like The Weather, Someday Soon, Hey Cinderella, Eat at Joes, Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me, Cupid (I've missed some) and three from Sweet Danger - Bus Ride, If You Leave Me Now and In Heaven. She kept singing and playing for just under 2 hours and it was absolute magic. After the show, she set herself up in the bar and signed everything put in front of her and chatted like an old friend to everyone who was willing to hang around long enough. Great show, great evening and did I mention Elizabeth did a bit of clog dancing for us as well!! Suzy was a bit put out. She said as she came on "I planned to do some tap dancing for you tonite but ..." I could go on but I think you will have the gist. It was just the best nite I am likely to have in the middle of Newcastle until, well, until Wine Women & Song comes back. But when all 3 ladies were here, we didn't get enough of Suzy!! Mike in Newcastle |
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www.bogguss.com: © 2007 S.F. Promotion Group. All rights reserved.
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Any/all of Suzy Bogguss´ music, sound recordings, musical works, pictures and audio visual works are protected by copyright laws. Those laws prohibit all unauthorized reproduction and all unauthorized distribution of any items in all/but not limited to the categories listed above. Anyone engaging in such activities could be liable for substantial financial damages. |
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