Gig 2: The Festive One!

 It’s that time of year again - yes, Christmas, if you haven’t noticed by the endless loop of jingles blaring from speakers and OTT decorations littering the streets. But also, Gig 2 here at Westwood Campus!  

 On the 14th of this month the Music Department will be hosting their second gig and final one of 2016, which overall, hasn’t been the best year what with saying goodbye to over 150 famous faces over the past 12 months including iconic artists such as Motorhead’s Lemmy, Prince, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen and jazz artists including Sharon Jones and Mose Allison; as well as many other actors, radio presentors, and well-reknowned artists and individuals. On top of that we’ve had Brexit; seen Donald Trump win the US presidential election, gained a new female Prime Minister, and more personally, discovered we will be losing our beloved building and some of our tutors... I’m sure this year has blindsided us all at some point.

 All the more reason to get our creative juices flowing and work on sending a message out to the world: this year may have been crap, but that’s all the more reason to show we won’t be defeated and convey our feelings through our work.

 Acts from all the different levels will be performing on Wednesday night, collaborating with one another to showcase some amazing talent. 

 Acts will include the band Sheepskin (see their interview on pages 5-6), a festive Christmas Elf Band, a funk DJ set from Warm Dogs Milk,  and other music from Eva Donkin, Megan James, Emily Mulford, Jessie Law, Beth Harrop, Kayleigh Williams, and more.

 Everybody is welcome - doors open at 7pm, with entrance just £2 on the door for non-students. A physical copy of What's Up? Westwood Magazine will also be available for free at the entrance!

Open Mic Musings: The Nelson Inn

THe Nelson Inn Open mic

 What is open mic, you may ask? Open Mic is a bit like karaoke where anyone can get up and perform what they want; whether that’s playing the guitar and singing, reading some poetry, or even stand up comedy if that's your cup of tea.

 Usually one person is in charge of running it and at the Nelson Inn, that person is the lovely and eccentric Mr Dan Parker (seen right); a former Westwood College student who studied on the Level 3 Performing Musician course a few years ago.

 It runs every Wednesday from 9 through til 12 (although you don’t have to stay till then if you don’t want to of course!), and Dan normally sings a few songs while playing the acoustic guitar to accompany him at first to get the night started off. After that there’s usually about 5 musicians (the more the merrier!) that take it in turns to get up and play/sing there hearts out. The genres of music that are played can vary hugely, from pop, to rock, country, rap, jazz and instrumentals - whatever you like!. You can play either covers or originals or both if you would like, at any skill level, be you a beginner or a veteran. Usually you play 3 songs and you get a free Carlsberg after you have played.

 If you are a singer and cant play an instrument then you can just ask Dan or any other musician down there to play for you and they will quite happily help you out! It’s a very warm, friendly community down there. Most of the musicians and people who turn up are currently studying at Westwood (or have previously) and it’s a regular haunt for our lot as its very affordable for students that range from pints for £2.90 upwards, to shots for £1 to 3 Jagerbombs for a £5 - and of course soft drinks too. The bar staff are really friendly and accommodating. There's also a free pool table if you don't feel like performing, or you can sit, listen and have a natter with some of the other regulars!  Plus of course Wednesday is student night so there's plenty of places to go after and party until the wee hours of the morning (unless of course you have college in the morning, in which case you best get straight to bed!). If you're unsure of where the venue is check out the google map below!

 We look forward to seeing you there - in the wise words of Dan Parker, “It's proper sick bled - turn up!”

Where to Find the Nelson Inn:

Photos and article by Kayleigh Worth, edited by Jessie Law