There is nothing worse than the stress of having to be somewhere at a given time and being stuck in traffic. As a consequence, where possible these days, we’ve taken to leaving very early for our gigs and parking up somewhere near the venue for refreshments before pushing on to the gig for the evening.
Our trip to Dartford Folk Club reinforced the benefits of this new discipline. The M25 was painfully slow from the moment we got on it at St Albans to just a few miles short of the Dartford Bridge. Things would have been very ‘sticky’ had we set off in ‘rush hour’.
So, we managed to cross the Bridge in decent time to execute our plan of parking up at a local Country Park on what was a splendidly sunny day for a restful half hour before finishing the journey to the wonderful Dartford Folk Club for our 6.15pm sound check. Infuriating then that, despite best endeavours we couldn’t locate the car park for the Country Park. Instead, we trawled the housing estates of east Dartford in vain, eventually admitting defeat and turning for Dartford town centre. ‘Aha!’, came the cry. ‘There's a park! Princes Park’. So, we veered off down a side road only to find out that said ‘park’ is actually the home of Dartford Football Club. Anyway, we pressed on a wee bit beyond the football ground and found an open area near some posh houses where we had our sarnies and juice in true rock'n'roll style.
From there it was only five minutes to the venue which we found easily. Many thanks to Alan, our sound technician for the evening for coming to say ‘hello’ and solving our parking query outside the venue. With his help we were able to park up very close to the gig entrance and unload our gear with ease.
The Dartford Folk club is now in its 50th year, 25 of which have been at its current venue, the Dartford Working Men's (CIU) Club. The folk club itself is held in an impressively large room with a low-level stage for performance at one end. Alan and his club colleague, Andy, immediately set about setting the stage up for us and the floor and support slots.
Dartford Folk Club has a great community atmosphere, with old friends meeting up for a chat well before the start of the evening. We too caught up with old friends. First, to arrive was our support for the evening, Dave Artus. We’ve been friends with Dave for many years and hadn't seen since before the COVID pandemic. So, it was great to hear all the things that he's been up to in recent years.
Next, we had a lovely chat with Dartford Folk Club organiser, Joe Whittaker, who we've also known for many years and who has been a forceful supporter and advocate for our music.
Finally, we got to meet up again with Doug Welch. Many years earlier, Doug had invited Na-Mara to perform live and discuss our music on his Radio Kent folk programme which, along with many other specialist radio programmes the length and breadth of the UK has, in our view, recently been cruelly axed by the BBC. It was so good to hear that he was still actively promoting folk music in the Kent region.
Dartford Folk Club is a large club and, by the time the music started, audience numbers had built to 50 to 60 strong. The room itself is set out with rows of chairs set closer to the stage, with the regular room tables spread out towards the back.
Alan had done a great job with the sound and MCs for the evening, Jim and Alison, started the evening off with three beautifully delivered songs with guitar and sweet harmonica, ending with Nina Simone's classic, ‘I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free’. Gorgeous.
Dave Artus then took to the stage. A fine singer and guitar player, Dave entertained the room with Huw and Tony Williams’ ‘Morse Code Song’ followed by two of his trademark self-compositions, ‘Wheelbarrow and a Dream’, about the amazing orange groves of Baldassare Forestiere, and ‘Times Decay’, with its reflections on life.
We then took to the stage for our first 45-minute set which, this time, included a rendition of The Bite. The Dartford Folk Club is a truly great chorus singing club and the audience immediately joined in with our traditional and self-penned songs
The half-time feedback was excellent and CD sales were brisk.
The club doesn't have floor spots to open the second half and so we were straight back on stage again after the break and the raffle (which, unusually for us this tour, we didn't win).
The second set flew by and we were almost surprised to be at our last couple of numbers. Audience energy kept up throughout the course of the second set and we finished, as we have been doing recently, with an encore of Maid of Culmore.
We stayed on after the gig to chat again with Joe Whittaker, Doug Welch and a number of audience members who had questions about our songs and instruments.
With the car just outside, we were soon back on the road to St Albans with the ever helpful Dave Berry at the wheel. The M25 was again frightful even at that time of night but.... mercifully not on our side of the motorway. Those travelling east that evening might well have grown old sitting there but we were scooting home for a bite to eat before bed.
Very many thanks to Joe Whittaker for giving us our first headline gig Dartford Folk Club and for his continuing support for all we do. We wish him, his shanty crew ‘Swinging the Lead’, and all at Dartford Folk Club the very best for the future. Likewise, well done Dave Artus. We wish you all the best and hope to see you again soon.