Saturday
night saw the hottest musical ticket in Oxfordshire take place at
Woodstock Social Club, with "Messy Fridays" pumping out some funky
tunage to its adoring mass of fans. But would it be a raving success
with lavish praise generously heaped upon them by the many volleyball
critics in attendance, or would it all be a big song and dance about
nothing?
Kicking off the evening was a
delightful "One way or another" hit by Blondie. Rather ironic really
when you consider the hair colour of the lead singer, flicking her
golden locks around like a slow-motion clip from a Timotei shampoo
commercial, Jess looked quite the part as lead singer of this jolly
quintet of musicians. And then she opened her mouth and, well, tickle
me pink and knock me down with a feather duster, *what* a voice! Smooth
as a baby's bottom, her dulcet tones were like golden syrup as they
filled the social-club airwaves. Dressed in a white top and with holes
in her navy jeans, further irony was apparent when she rattled off
"Torn" by Natalia Imbruglia as if she'd been singing for 40 years!
Delightful...
On we progressed with several
further rousing renditions of well-known tunes belted out, and then it
was time to turn down the pop and bring out the Kurt Cobain! The irony
this time was provided by the ever youthful Matt Smith. Plain T-shirt,
jeans and white trainers finished off with a flat-peaked baseball cap,
Smith-Junior certainly looked the part. He also looked like he was
about to graffiti the nearest wall, or perform some other street-related
mis-demeanour, but staying on the right side of the law he whizzed up
and down the guitar strings with arms like well-oiled pistons, some
excellent intricate rhythms banged out via the rather ample speakers
behind him to perfection, the moment certainly did seem to "smell like
teen spirit" to us all! Fine work Smith-Junior!
A
quick breather between sets allowed Jess time to guzzle down some more
honey and Matt a quick bit of artistry with the spray can out back. And
with audience members now populating the dance floor with glasses fully
re-charged, it was time to bring out the style and class of the big
fella on bass! Who's the daddy? Neil "Pappa Smith" is! And reeking of
cool and class he was too, black polo shirt, jeans, a healthy crop of
greyish-black hair, cheesy smile, 'nuff said - only a pair of shades and
a generous portion of gold bling around the neck were missing from the
appearance. Now then, Papa Smith's knees may creak a little on the
volleyball court these days, but nothing was creaky about this man's
bass fingers, providing stupendous support down in the lower octaves of
the overall sound coming from the instruments. Great stuff Papa
Smith... with the audience now well-oiled and Oxford's finest volleyball
players joined by a smattering of excitable locals, "I love rock and
roll" went down a storm with everyone!
But what
would a band be without that extra something? It wouldn't be right
without someone present who has at some point in life had to play C#
harmonic minor, 4 octaves with two hands. Said position in this band is
more than capably filled by Luca! Yes OVC's excitable pet spaniel was
well up for this little gig! Sporting jeans and a white space-man
t-shirt, after a strangely subdued first half, his customary red-bull
persona was kicking in at half time, and by the time we reached the
second half and the chants of "LUCA, LUCA, LUCA" could be hear emanating
from the buoyant audience, his hands were tinkling those ivories like
two daddy long-legs spiders having an epileptic fit, fine work from the
young Italian spaniel!
A brief mention to the
band's drummer - nobody seems to know who he is, but "number 5"
performed solidly all evening, a fine asset to the band. With the final
song over and the audience begging for more, a final repeat of Daft
Punk's "Get Lucky" bought the house down with a monumental encore to
round off a fine evening in the heart of Woodstock.
So
then, the final summing up! Would our quintet of musical talent be
sailing through to the next round, or would Simon Cowell be putting his
hand up, stopping the music and delivering a confidence-shattering
verbal slapping of the highest order?
Not a
bit of it! With a hugely varied repertoire of songs there was something
for every musical ear. Fantastic vocals by Jess, guitar excellence by
the Smith father and son duo, and nimble finger work all evening by
Luca. Messy Friday's?! This was a far-from-messy Saturday, Oxford Volleyball Club awards Messy Fridays "10 OUT OF 10"! :-)
Written by Matt Buckley
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