11 replies to this topic

[paulh202]

Hello Everyone,especially Susan, Celia and Domi, well what a superb night!got down to the club around 8pm, there was quite a few people outside,on the door there was a notice "Fully Booked" gutted! I said to the doorman "I rang up last week and they took my name, Mr Harrison" he then pulled out a clipboard "ok your name's on the list,take a seat at the bar" yes! what a relief! Mitch was already doing his first spot with the band,he was singing "Close your Eyes"
 mitch2.jpg   88.36KB   33 downloads

The club is tiny and the walls are covered with Sams potraits of Amy, they are incredible (look up "art by sam shaker" on google) I was sat at the bar as Mitch was on his way out so I introduced myself, he asked who I was and I explained I was just a fan and how sorry I was for everything that had happened, I chatted with him a couple of minutes and also I asked could I have a foto taken, "course you can Paul" he said he would be back later and left, there were quite a few people taking photos outside the bar as he left with rather large cameras, not sure who they were?
 mitch1.jpg   47.03KB   38 downloads
　
I then decided to get some food and sat at a table near the door, Sam Shaker was stood right next to my table!,I told him the oil paintings he had done of Amy (which cover all the walls) were fantastic, He said that Amy told him to keep them and they would open a gallery together when all the paintings were finished but sadly she now wasn't here and he didn't know what to do, I asked him about when Amy first came to his club and he said she was sixteen when she first sang there and had been a regular visitor ever since and she always used to call him her "second dad" I could tell he was really proud, I'm not ashamed to admit I was holding back tears at one point, what an honest and open person Sam is, to talk like this to someone he had never met before, I can see now why Amy thought so much about him.
(If Sam or anyone that knows him reads this I hope they don't mind me sharing some of this conversation with the forum)

 sam.jpg   35.07KB   33 downloads
　
When Mitch returned at around 10:00pm the place was absolutely packed solid! and couldnt see a thing,I ordered a "Black To Black" cocktail which was created for Amy and that was my last drink of the night, I'd set out from Manchester at 8am only got back to my hotel from the Expo at 6pm and was absolutely shattered! getting old?? haha!
Hope this has not been boring, just a post of my personal experience on my night at Jazz After Dark and I hope to get back there soon!
　
Paul.

[Cecilia]

Thank you for sharing your experiences and of course for the lovely pictures Paul! It's so cool you got to meet Mitch and Sam Shaker as well. I'm glad the place got fully booked (not that I doubted that), the money is going to a good cause. I wish I could have made it too...

[paulh202]

Aw, thanks Cecilia I only noticed when I downloaded my camera pics that the one with Mitch and myself, the walls behind were full of the potraits of Amy, only one showed up on the photo, right at the side of my head if you zoom in you can see it,
It looks like she's smiling, I have the full resolution one as the one on my post is only low res.
Although not sure if its me cracking up!

[LaPeep]

That's awesome! I would love to see Mitch. Thanks for sharing!

[JamaicaAndSpain]

Thanks for telling the story, Paul! The picture of Mitch performing in this room full of Amy paintings is just great.
One thing I am really curious about, what was in that drink? I love the idea of calling it something Amy-related

[paulh202]

I asked Brigitte who served me exactly the same thing! the ingredients were not listed only Vodka, it was vodka,black vodka (Eristoff) and lemonade with a twist of lemon, looked strange as the black vodka seemed to float on top, unless I'd had too many!

[tunisianswife]

wow, Paul! I got goosebumps reading and looking at your pics! that is so darned cool. I too noticed all of Sam's pics of Amy in the background as Mitch was singing. Isn't that Sam at the bar in the pic of u and Mitch?

what a memorable evening. so glad u got to go, and so thankful that you shared.

[JamaicaAndSpain]

unless I'd had too many!

:D Thanks for the reply! I wanna have a Back to Black now (not really in the mood for Uni haha)

[Tiny Penny]

Thank you for sharing Paul - sounds amazing! I will definitely have to go there when I am in London! Your pictures are amazing, I love Sam Shaker's work - some of the best paintings ever done of Amy in my opinion!

I'm wanting to try that drink as well (although never heard of black vodka - be a good one for Halloween parties I think!!!)

[Mama_Haze]

Glad to hear you had a nice time at Sam's place - isn't he just the loveliest guy? I only wish I could get down more often.

Will be going down next month for his art show, can't wait to see him again. He always speaks so very fondly of Amy and her family.

[africanfusion]

thank you for sharing. sounds like a great night was had by many, also the foundation twitter account said they raised some money for AWF which is always a plus.

[paulh202]

Isn't that Sam at the bar in the pic of u and Mitch?

Well spotted Susan! thought it was one of the bar staff at first, now I come to think Sam did escort Mitch out of the club,he was probably waiting till I had my photo took, Mitch did say "lets do this later" and then changed his mind and said, "no, lets do it now" so glad he said that, as later I would have had no chance of a photo as there were so many people in there.