Arising like a brown bear from hibernation, now the Quality Street tin is all but empty wrappers and toffee pennies, I dropped briefly into The Three Crowns yesterday, to catch Adam Woodhouse strumming George Michael’s Faith….
Admist a quiet Devizes town, the faithful central perk was modesty busy under the circumstances, and this lively acoustic sololist was breaking January blues in the alcove. Perpetual drizzle reasoned me to drive, ergo it was more dipping my little toe into the live music water again, rather than the awakening of a standing dive; I’d rather be writing ‘Barbadoszine’ this time of year!
Though it was plentiful to acknowledge, through misty memories of the utterly spectacular show at Long Street Blues Club last year with Errol Linton, which could’ve obscured any support act, Adam Woodhouse is worth his weight in gold when it comes to putting a man with a guitar in a pub.
My reasoning thus; this guy’s repertoire is carefully selected not to be cliché, but still covers songs the audience will love. I collared him during his break, to question this; does he even do Wonderwall if requested?! He joyfully replied words to the effect of everyone had to have that under their belt in case of emergency cliché request, but asserted he favours an assortment of songs not so commonly covered.
In this, Petty’s Free Falling or Dylan’s Knocking on Heaven’s Door might not be the best examples, though Adam still comfortably rinses them with finesse. No, what I mean is Dire Straits’ Walk of Life, or Billy Bragg’s New England, but more so his affection for early rock n roll classics.
I noted a fair quantity of Elvis Presley covers when I saw Adam play Long Street, but was unsure if this was playing to the audience. Delighted to affirm now this wasn’t the case, when last night he knocked out great covers of rock n roll singalongs, Dion’s Runaround Sue, Cochran’s Summertime Blues and even some Monkees. But as I said at the beginning, I sauntered in to George Michael’s Faith, and he covered The Cure’s Friday, Im in Love too.
Confining himself to an era simply isn’t a thing for Adam, as we mutally agreed those rock n roll classics are timeless, but equally will any cover choices he makes be a delight to the audience. He does this comfortably, with slight banter, making Adam Woodhouse a perfect booking for the universal type pub where age demographics don’t exsist, and everyone enjoys singing along. And that’s precisely
the spirit in The Three Crowns, it’s forward-thinking, fresh and hospitable and caters for everyone.
Food is being served, tasty pub grub, but music is live and frequent. It is, however, elongated enough to hide away at another end for communal chat or eating, and its spacious fully-covered garden with heat lamps acts as a perfect extension to the pub, rather than the unsuitable and unkempt allotment-fashioned beer garden of others. Yeah, I feel at ease in the Three Crowns, it’s nice, and their affection for supporting local acts on the circuit is both popular and welcoming. Check our event calendar as shows at the Crowns fill most weekends.
That’s it, broke the seasonal spell, I’m back on the streets after yule, looking for quality entertainment, and Adam is one to watch.
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