AS my late grandfather used to say, when one door closes another one opens.
Lovely bloke, but a terrible joiner.
Sadly, there’s been a few venues around these parts which have stopped having gigs or have even shut completely but these things move in circles, as my late grandfather once told me after he accidentally nailed his foot to the floor.
Take this Sunday, February 28, for example, when the Art Asylum at Brewers Quay in Weymouth’s Hope Square hosts its first live music event.
The good people there have been promoting and exhibiting work of local artists and photographers and now they’re branching out with a series of gigs on a Sunday afternoon.
"This weekend is the first of a series of Sunday Sessions," Art Asylum head honcho Felix Thompson tells me.
"It's kind of run on an open mic night style, so if you're a singer, musician, juggler, magician, comedian, spoon-bender or even one-armed goat herder, give us a shout or just pop in and we'll se what we can do."
First up this weekend are the rather cool and funky Fuzzy and the Grooveriders who, as you can see from the picture on this page, are essentially what the word ‘dude’ was invented for.
"Our set is around 80% original material," keyboard dude Barbara Whiteside tells me.
"And there's a definite Doors, Deep Purple and Led Zep feel to our sound," she added, which certainly floats my boat straight from the get-go.
They’re playing from from 2pm with more funk, soul and groovy sounds that you can shake a busted lava lamp at.
And looking ahead to next weekend, there’s a fun-packed night of top live sounds at The Factory in Weymouth on Saturday, March 5.
There’s three quality bands to entertain you, starting with Weymouth’s own rising starlets Cuba Libre who will be promoting and selling their fab new EP Stand Up 2016, which is full of bangin’ drum’n’bass and hip-hop choones, I’m assured.
Also on the bill are King Solomon, one of the south west’s premier reggae outfits.
They’ll be joined by the fabulously-named Popes of Chillitown.
It’ll be the Londoners first gig in Weymouth, so be gentle with them (yeh right) but it’s a pretty reasonable assumption their fat-ass brass section and spleen-adjusting bass will you have you bouncing of the walls.
Entry is free next Saturday, but get there early as you know it's going to be chicken oriental inside.
Right, that's it for this week.
No one-armed goats were harmed during the production of this article.
Till next time...
NICK HORTON
FRI Feb 26
Fairport Convention (Electric Palace, Bridport)
Fissure of Riddles, Codex, Alimenatrius, Kill All The Gentlemen, Stray Bullets Kill, Ascaris (Finns, Weymouth)
Darren H (Lugger, Chickerell, Weymouth)
Finn (Park, Weymouth)
Leggomen (Lazy Lizard, Weymouth)
Phil Denton (Weymouth Working Mens Club, Weymouth)
Chris Woodchuck (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)
Jim Hammond Duo (George, Dorchester)
Bad Intention (Golden Lion, Weymouth)
Billy Solo (Wellington, Weymouth)
Sway (Weymouth Pavilion)
Southern Sinners (Wyke Smugglers, Weymouth)
Aaron Carter (Drift Bar, Hope Sq, Weymouth)
Stacey Lou (Gloucester, Weymouth)
SAT FEB 27
Tripod (Finns, Weymouth)
Regulation 9 (Sailors Return, Weymouth)
The SIlhouettes (Wyke Regis Working Mens Club, Weymouth)
Barry Hobson (Conservative Club, Weymouth)
Duke and the Broad (Clifton, Portland)
Blazing Strings (Lazy Lizard, Weymouth)
Sheryl Lee (Park, Weymouth)
Sticky Jam Band (Weymouth Working Mens Club, Weymouth)
Kathy Boorman (Kimberlin Club, Portland)
Ricky Solo (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)
Mr North (King’s Arms, Weymouth)
Amy Mayes and Andy Grant Trio (White Horse, Swanage)
Hustle (Market House, Weymouth)
Total Madness (Tides Inn, Weymouth)
Maxine and Lacey (RBL Club, Portland)
Freezer (Tom Browns, Dorchester)
Splinter (Crown Inn, Bridport)
Tony England (Centenary Club, Weymouth)
Sun Feb 28
Robbie McIntosh, Steve Wilson and Jess Upton (King’s Arms, Portesham) 3-5pm.
Fuzzy and the Grooveriders (Art Asylum, Brewers Quay, Weymouth) 2-4pm.
Andy Matthews (Park, Weymouth) 4pm
Skint Imperials (Hope and Anchor, Bridport)
Finn and Steve (King’s Arms, Weymouth)
Ricky Solo (Sailor’s Return, St Nicholas St, Weymouth) From 3pm.
Jam Night (Sailor’s Return, Nicholas Street, Weymouth) Music from 8pm.
Open Mic Surgery (George, Dorchester)
Sheryl Lee’s Sunday Club (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth) 4pm.
Gut and Steel (Thimble Inn, Piddletrenthide) 4pm
Karen (Royal Oak, Weymouth) 3pm.
Bitter and Twisted (Britannia, Portland) 4pm
Dave Bowen Quintet (Trooper Inn, Stourton Caundle) 1-3pm.
MONDAY feb 29
Songwriters night with George Hall (Boho, Weymouth)
Acoustic session (Belvedere, Weymouth)
TUESDAY Mar 1
Singalong with Nigel (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)
Open Mic (Park, Weymouth)
WEDNESDAY
Dave Bowen and Jazz Friends (Three Compasses, Charminster)
Jam Night (Lazy Lizard, Weymouth) Hosted by Blazing Strings
Georgie Broad (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)
Dave P’s Open Mic Night (Rendezvous, Weymouth) From 8pm.
Wessex Folk Night (Sailors Return, Nicholas Street, Weymouth) Acoustic folk, here every Wednesday.
Open Mic Night (Belvedere, Weymouth)
THURSDAY
Leggomen (George, Weymouth)
Ricky Solo (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)
Open Mic Surgery (Tom Brown’s, High East St, Dorchester) All backline provided, come on down and have a play.
Open Mic (Drift Bar, Hope Sq, Weymouth) With Aaron Carter
Traditional Tune Session (Cove House Inn, ChiswelI, Portland)
FRI Mar 4
Blackwater County (Finns, Weymouth)
The Shakespearos (Park, Weymouth)
Operation Mad Hatters (George, Dorchester)
Billy Solo (Wellington, Weymouth)
Acoustic Session (Victoria Inn, Chickerell, Weymouth)
Retro (Weymouth Working Mens Club, Weymouth)
Theo Bard (Beach and Barnicott, Bridport)
Katz (Lugger, Chickerell, Weymouth)
Total Madness (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)
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