Sustained Class

With apologies to a great songwriter...
On the first day of October Danny Schmidt took to the stage
Thank God that a troubadour still lives in this day and age
Crafting songs as a prophet for arts sake and not just money
One solitary finger stuck up to the record company

The intimate setting is the award winning Green Note
Who with a sustained class of gig won London’s best venue vote
Where all that glitters is not gold but lasting music alchemy
Two more defiant fingers held to the music industry

By eight o’clock the venue’s full and there’s standing room only

Again I’m watching from the wings yet I am far from lonely 
As strangers we stand too close together in expectation
And when Danny takes the stage – we’re joined in acclamation

We all came for different reasons but all reasons to rejoice

One was his guitar playing and another was his voice
And another was to hear the true depth of Danny’s songs
To find where our love, hope, despair and anger belongs

It’s a double blessing tonight – as its buy one get one free!

With harmony, with humour by Danny’s side is Carrie
There’s deep love, joy and musical grace and a mutual respect
Uniting them and audience till we all combine and connect

From the first chords that are struck to the last notes that are bent

Dramas played out through stained glass windows smashed during lent
Fairy tales, protest songs and odes to love reach out to us
All of our lives reflected through his musical genius

Every song seems to melt and blur all of our lifelines

As his word’s deep insight shine a bright light upon our times
His words are blood-stained and red and they're teardrops and blue
The silence we need not fill - all the love that we never knew

Then the venue fell to silence, it was more than just fear

As the sincerity of sound slid its tongue across our ears
And shivering from exposure like babies born again
In every phrase of song was all the joy and pain of man . . . 

There was every fearful smile, there was every joyful tear
There was each and every choice that leads from every there to here
There was every cozy stranger and every awkward friend
And there was every perfect night that’s left initials in the sand
There was every day that filled so full the weeks would float away
And there was all those days spent wondering what to do with all those days
There was every lie that ever saved the truth from being shamed
And every secret you could ever trust a friend to hide away
There was the fortune of discovering a new face you might adore
And the thrill of coming home to find her clothes upon the floor
And the prideful immortality of children in the home
That the storm can’t grind the mountain down, it can only shift the stones
And there was everything your mouth says that your lips don’t understand
And every shape inside your head you can’t carve with your hands
And every slice of song revealed another slice of life
Emblazoned imperfections in a perfect stream of light
It all flooded through the music like rapids made of fire
And then God rode through on sunshine as the music took us higher

Even higher. 

As the thunder drum and guitar settled back into their place 

The music of the evening filled the tiny silent space 

And some folks prayed in reverence some folk drank their beer 

As all the shades and chaos in the songs became a mirror

Gig: 24 of 50
Date of Gig: Thursday 1st October 2015

Venue
Green Note

Artists
Danny Schmidt & Carrie Elkin

Running total of artists seen 52