I'd been away from the spoken word/poetry scene in London for quite a few years, but on Wednesday the 22nd of February 2017 I was reintroduced to it in a big way.
Out-Spoken Live is an intimate night filled with hard-hitting and powerful poetry from some of the capitals up & coming and established poets and spoken word artists.
It was a surprisingly intimate event where the audience were all huddled together, which was unpredictably due to the almost sell-out crowd of 110. At one point my knees were in the back of the person in front of me and I could feel the breath of the person behind me on my neck.
But this was great - it meant that the energy supplied by the acts flew into the audience, which only helped to captivate us even more.
The venue even had the outdoors inside (left) - with foliage adoring the walls it felt like we were outside in a courtyard rather than a bar in Camden.
It was a surprisingly intimate event where the audience were all huddled together, which was unpredictably due to the almost sell-out crowd of 110. At one point my knees were in the back of the person in front of me and I could feel the breath of the person behind me on my neck.
But this was great - it meant that the energy supplied by the acts flew into the audience, which only helped to captivate us even more.
The venue even had the outdoors inside (left) - with foliage adoring the walls it felt like we were outside in a courtyard rather than a bar in Camden.
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The evening started off with a young up and coming talent in Jamal Khan, whose piece set the scene and tone of the night yet to come.
Next on stage was the lovely Selina Nwulu, who performed a couple of deep and heart-wrenching pieces about love. For me, there's nothing more poetic than love - so I thoroughly enjoyed all of Selina's pieces. We were then greeted by our first musical act Nia Ekanem, who performed a few of his pieces. Nia's music was gritty and earthy, it was so good we just had to sing along, "it's your love, it's your love..." |
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Pete 'the Temp' Bearder's natural and unique style then bursts onto the stage, where he enthusiastically told us stories about his time as poet in residence at Glastonbury festival and his time as a teacher. So inspiring.
The incomparable Joelle Taylor played host for the evening and done a sterling job of rallying the audience for every act on stage. She also performed one of her powerful pieces - encapsulating the audience in a Joelle Taylor bubble. Karim Kamar opened the second half with a composition of his so powerful that it hit me straight in my heart (Tweet and Clip left) - bringing forth all sorts of emotions. Such a lovely piece, Karim is certainly one to watch out for. The magic of John Hegley then graced the stage as the featured act of the evening, which is strange |
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to say because in a way they were all features.
However, his unique poetic yet musical style enthralled the audience hysterically - at one point having the entire audience doing physical movements to his poetry. It was great. I had seen John live once before at a different event, but he hasn't changed - he's still the same character he always has been, which is nice to see: even when I was being teased about wearing contact lenses! Eliza Shaddad(tweet and video right) closed the event with her hypnotic music serenading us. She had the audience in a trance from start to finish - I'll definitely be looking at her music on iTunes. In the end I was so glad to be back, it felt like I had been away for so long. I remember looking out across the audience and feeling my age, but it was a good feeling. I could see a whole new generation just waiting to absorb poetry, spoken word and music. It has given me faith, that in uncertain times in the world we live in, there is hope that the 'word' still caries weight. Essentially the event itself spoke to me. Saying that I was finally...home - experiencing what I love! |
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