Damn Hot, Strathpeffer Coffee House

[John Crosbie]

It was a damn cold night in Strathpeffer tonight, and where else would you want to be , but in the Coffee House, listening to good music, with an Americano express and some blueberry muffins?

Well the coffee and cakes made an impact, and you can't beat a cup of damn hot coffee, but after three covers from Damn Hot, the female belters of the cliche rock classics, using a highly clever trick of substituting original gender references to the opposite , eg The Girls are Back in Town instead of The Boys are back in Town, things were getting lukewarm

These girls were good to look at, in a Blackpool bingo club sort of way, but certainly not good to listen to.

There was energy, vitality, confidence in this place .....once upon a time.
A dutch tourist exclaimed " Ah Britain's Got Talent" well that was true, but only in the presence of the appearance of a certain two regular finger picking, singer songwriters, Maryann Frew and the South African guy , whose name for the moment, evades me.

Having not been in these parts for quite a while, it was irritating to have travelled 70 miles to watch a series of acts, that would have been, mostly better suited to a school talent show. The track record of this coffee house is of of showcasing quality acts from all over the globe for the price of a mere donation into the passed around hat.

It was damn cold outside, but that's where I preferred sitting at the end of the night to avoid any undue encore.


Damn shame.

[Matt Sillars]

I posted this on facebook, but as it is a bit ephemeral, so I thought I would add it here. I missed the evening in question and I am commenting in general - One of the strengths of the coffee shop is that it is a genuine open mic venue, so some days its great and on others its not. Also it is not licensed so young people can attend and get the opportunity to listen to live music often only heard in pubs. They get a real shot at honing skills and developing their repertoire in front of a live audience. I find the coffee shop audience generous and reflective as well as enthusiastic when real talent hits the floor. At times there are great touring musicians who drop by and play with commitment to small numbers. There are very few venues around that offer that so I hope it is supported for a long time yet.

Matt

[Lori Williams]

Hmm, well I can't disagree much with this. Rosie is young but has a lovely voice and she coped fantastically well with the mic dropping out on her. I definitely missed Matt on the sound mixer, and leading the bass line on the blues jam. Gil is the South African fellow and he was gorgeous, as usual. Maryann is just too wonderful for words. I thought the new 4 piece group were different, and the singer had a unique growl that suited the material perfectly. Damn Hot did say they had never played such a small venue and I think their act would have suited a larger hall with room to dance. They certainly had enthusiasm and it was good to sing along. I thought the red head had a voice w depth that suited the songs she chose.
Well, that's my opinion, for what its worth. I think anyone following the last coffee shop session, had some serious living up to do.