Ross Stewart and Band - Sells Out Voodoo Daddy's Showroom

...and there were tears!

Nancy Dunnell at Last Pub Standing, Norwich

Sunday 15th December, 2024

Nancy Dunnell opened for Aphra this Sunday past at The Last Pub Standing, King Street, Norwich.  Nancy hasn’t been on stage singing solo since before the Pandemic and a lot of water has flowed under the Novi Sad Friendship Bridge since then, for us all.  Nancy brought along couple of new songs, some well-loved oldies and a beautiful interpretation of of I Want To Make It With You, the David Gates song made famous with Bread in 1970.

While not singing her own material, Nancy Dunnell has been doing sterling work providing backing vocals for the quixotic Vieira & The Silvers, (who are now London-based retaining only slivers of the Silvers known to Norwich fans).  In that backing role, Nancy displayed a tremendous facility to add harmony and a sweet counter-point to dirty blues rock, whether solo, or in partnership with Trish Margolis, but there is so much more to Nancy Dunnett’s voice and music than backing vocals.   

 

Three blokes in the corner, mulling over Norwich’s home defeat against Burnley, turned down the volume of their post-match analysis, to respect that the audience had turned up to listen to this beautiful set.  

 

Mx Dunnell set up her mic with a touch of bass-echo, which turned her voice to rich, smooth, dark chocolate.  Her lyrics were sung with clarity and she has an entertaining variety of rhythm in her songs, that retain a liveliness, contrary to the sombre reflective mood of many of the words. 

 

With early nerves ebbing away, the introductions to each number were cut to the essential minimum and Mx Dunnell turned her attention fully to her songs.  Several in the audience were familiar with the older material , but these tunes had survived coronavirus, possibly gaining further depth and meaning on the way.  The last number of her 30-minute appearance brought several of those present to tears - I have never seen that many people moved to cry at a pub gig ever, (I mean for the right reasons).

 

That Dunnell's guitar-playing was not quite up her own high expectations was irrelevant.  Everyone was here for her songs and that pure-velvet voice.  From the centre of the poorly lit, low-level stage, Nancy Dunnell had the audience hanging onto every note and each line.

 

After the high jinks of the Pleasure Inc. Xmas party at The Waterfront the night before, that for some closed a little after 4 a.m., Nancy Dunnell’s set was a perfect head balm.  The enthusiastic applause ringing out at the end of the set from an audience rammed with local musicians was whole-hearted and genuinely given.  Welcome back to the mic, Nancy.  Keep an eye out for more from Nancy Dunnell in early 2025. Hopefully the success of this short solo appearance will give her the boost to press on in the new year with her song-writing and performing.   A perfect end to 2024, not with regret, but with the exciting promise of what 2025 might bring!

Spencer Ide

15th December, 2024