Come listen, talk and share your favourite sounds with some like minded people every month at The Wakes
By Mark Johnson
‘What did you do last night?’ my colleague at work asked. ‘Oh, I spent three hours listening to and talking about music with a group of people I barely know!’
He looked at me blankly.
‘Yeh, we played some vinyl, pulled up some YouTube clips of strange and obscure bands I’ve never heard of and talked about bands and musicians that have shaped and influenced music over the decades.’
I could see what he was thinking. ‘Why can’t I do that? It sounds great.’
Well he can…we all can.
It’s the kind of thing that normally only happens at a party or more often at the pub. You’re waiting for the band to come on and you get chatting to the weird looking guy sitting next to you and soon enough you find that you both love Queens of the Stone Age, both hate XFactor, both went to the same Damned concert and are both moved to tears by Patti Smith’s Because the Night, and he’s no longer weird!
But I don’t go to pubs that often anymore and I can’t remember the last time I was invited to a party! Increasingly I find myself with fewer opportunities to have a good old chat about music and to sit down and properly listen to something.
For The Record at The Wakes is on the first Thursday of each month does just that.
It invites people who just love to talk about and listen to music the chance to share their favourite sounds and hopefully find something new to check out.
May’s session was my third visit since it started and while a few faces come and go, there’s a core group of enthusiastic vinyl hugging, CD grabbing music lovers who enjoy sharing their favourite tracks, musical experiences but who also want to learn and experience new sounds and vibes.
I’ve met many interesting people at For The Record including Mike. He’s a fellow ex punk and we discovered that his band and mine played in the same month at The Star in Shifnal back in the early 80s. He also puts bands on at The Wakes and has amazingly eclectic tastes in music.
Jake writes about music, reviewing single and album releases on his own website. He bought in some singles of bands he had previously reviewed.
John loves Hip Hop and he played YouTube clips of Public Enemy and talked about some more of his favourite artists of the genre.
Ann loves Motown and Glen Hansard and even got us to play The Monkees’ I’m a Believer to end the night.
The great thing is that everyone’s opinions and musical tastes are listened to, all getting the opportunity to play and talk about their choices in a friendly, open, non-threatening environment.
The goal is to encourage people to talk, to meet and to share. It’s both enlightening and liberating.
Join us
There is something for everyone, so if you fancy a good night out, want to meet likeminded people and give yourself a break from the stresses of life then what’s to lose?
Come along and check For The Record at The Wakes out next time. Thursday June 6 – 6-9pm.
It’s free, they put on chip butties and there’s a bar…what’s not to like?
Visit the For The Record Facebook Page or the Forge Urban Revival website for details about the venue.
If you have any questions about For The Record at The Wakes please get in contact via email: communications@forgeurbanrevival.co.uk.